The District of Sechelt has signed a five-year lease agreement with Trail Bay Properties Ltd. to relocate the Sechelt Community Archives to Trail Bay Centre.
Their new home will be in a space in the mall above RBC Royal Bank.
The archives have been housed in a room at the Sechelt Public Library for almost 25 years, but the collection has outgrown the space available, according to the district.
Siobhan Smith, the district’s arts, culture and communications coordinator, said the new space is nearly double the square footage of the former space in the library and is located inside a central and accessible building.
Finding a space for the archives was a gesture in keeping with the Clayton family’s commitment to preserving local history, most recently demonstrated by the purchase of the last operating Union Steamship, Lady Rose.
“The archives are an important cultural resource for Sechelt,” Dick Clayton, CEO of Trail Bay Properties Ltd., said in a release issued Monday by the district.
“My family has a long history here in Sechelt, and we are pleased to have the archives in the Trail Bay Centre.”
The Sechelt Community Archives are a publicly-owned collection of historic documents and other materials dating back to the 1870s. Donated to the District of Sechelt in 1996, the collection is primarily focused on the settler histories of Sechelt and contains a variety of documents and artifacts including photographs, letters, interviews, and newspapers.
The archives are currently closed to prepare for the move.
Starting March 5, the public can visit the archives at their new location, #206 – 5760 Teredo St., on Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
For more information about the Sechelt Community Archives, visit their website archives.sechelt.ca or contact archivist Ann Watson at [email protected]
