The Nelson Electric Tramway Society is ready to officially open their latest project, the Car Barn Museum. On Monday they are inviting the entire community to come on down from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with free streetcar rides and museum admission. At 1 p.m. there will be a special grand opening ceremony with ribbon cutting, tours, cake, refreshments, classic cars and special guests.
The tramway society has been working toward this goal ever since they rolled out Streetcar 23 in 1992.
The idea was to create a working museum of Nelson’s history. The first phase of this project was to get Nelson’s original streetcar operational and then over time create additional opportunities to enrich and educate the community. The goal was to create a dedicated space for displays and historical artifacts.
Over the past two years the car barn, with the help and love of volunteers, has been renovated to include a dedicated museum space and displays throughout the barn.
Over the years, many artifacts and photos have been entrusted to the society by community members who wished to keep Nelson’s streetcar heritage alive for future generations. The museum project has given the society an opportunity to present these items to the public.
The artifacts are now housed in a dedicated museum space with additional equipment displayed throughout the car barn.
“The Car Barn Museum will have many benefits for the community, from keeping our history fresh and accessible to tourists and students, to giving retired people an opportunity to still be engaged with the community,” says Jim Robertson, the project manager.
“The best thing about this project is that it will always be growing and developing, we are looking forward to helping keep Nelson’s history alive.”
For more information call 250-352-7672, email info@nelsonstreetcar.org or come on down and visit the car barn in Lakeside Park, right beside the soccer fields and next to the Nelson Rowing Club.