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May 1994 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Page 7 HOW THE MUSEUM CAME TO BE ..,it takes persistence, dedication, hard work, generosity, and the breaks. TO MAKE A DREAM COME TRUE ,...but the dream comes first. By: Peter Hall When the Museum at Gertmde Lawson House opens on Friday July 1st - fittingly on Canada Day - and you go inside, stop for a moment and reflect on how it all happened to happen. Consider the beauty of the lovingly restored rooms, the furnishings which match the Scottish style of the house and, indeed, its owner and resident for some 50 years. For what you see aU started fourteen years ago - in April 1980 to be more precise - when the Ways and Means Committee and Projects Committee of the West Vancouver Rotary Club met and decided to propose to their full membership that the Club should sponsor the establishment of an historical society. Item five of the minutes of that meeting states that “(An) eventual goal (be) to buy and furnish an old original house to be set up as a museum.” The Rotary Qub didn’t waste any time once they decided to act. On May 1st they officially notified the Municipality of their intentions and by mid-July they had received a Certificate of Incorporation certifying that the West Vancouver Historical Society had been incorporated. Part of the Rotary Club’s concept was that they would provide continuing support to the new Society as it found its feet and its members took on the responsibility of running things. Harvey Hill was Rotary President at the time, and continued to serve the Historical Society as a director for many years. And Hugh Johnston, who was chairman of Rotary’s Projects Committee, is stiU a Society director. Bemie Holt, then Rotary Secretary, soon became the Society’s President and served it in that capacity for several years. But to turn the dream of a museum (and an archives was also part of the scheme) into a reality takes artifacts and a place to store and display them. The latter takes money and lots of it, and so the fledgling Society concentrated on collecting photographs, documents, memorabilia, stories, recollections and what not. But the aim of having a dedicated museum never wavered. To get the ball rolling, the Society sold life memberships to those over 60 for $100. To this nest egg was added surpluses from the Memory Cruises on the Hollybum, donations to the cause (and for $300 the donor received one of Laureen Jones’ drawings of the Lawson House), and the proceeds of a rummage sale. All of this, carefully saved, came,by 1991 to the surprising total of$47,000! and became the seed money which helped to get the rest In the mid 1980’s there was the prospect that the Ferry Building might be available for a museum and archives. But there were other plans for this little jewel, and on close inspection it was found that it would not be suitable anyway. So it was a case of carrying on but not letting up on the achievement of the dream. All through the 1980’s the Historical Society kept Mayors Derrick Humphreys and Don Lanskail, and Municipal Manager Terry Lester apprised of their aims and efforts and received encouragement to press on. To the great regret of her former students and friends, Gertrude Lawson passed away in 1989 at the age of 97. This gentle compassionate lady, daughter of John Lawson, the ‘father of West Vancouver’, was dearly loved and fondly remembered. To the people of vision and who had a clear sense of what West Vancouver was all about must go the credit for purchasing Gertrude Lawson’s house. The Municipal Council of the day moved quickly when the property came available, purchased it, and then said to the Historical Society, (paraphrased) “Okay, you always wanted ‘an old original house’ for a museum. Here ’ s your chance - make us aproposal - but don’t expect us to pay for any renovations.” At this critical point, the Society had the right men at the right time and in the right place. Jack Leyland as President and Hugh Johnston as Vice President strongly and ably supported by their fellow Directors offered to transform the multi-roomed interior of the House into spaces fit for a museum and archives - complete with a temperature and humidity controlled atmosphere. The exterior would retain its integrity except for a new roof. No doubt there was more than a trace of faith and hope in the proposal, but then this was an opportunity that only comes along once, and in nine years of dreams, this was the first really creditable chance to put it all together. And so they went to work, and this is where we begin to experience the goodness and generosity of people. Even before the cost of renovations was known, the Lawson family came forward and offered $100,000 towards them. They wanted Gertrude’s home to be a community place to be enjoyed and cherished, to be a fitting memorial to her life of community service. This extraordinary gift was, without question, what propelled the balance of the fund raising. A big balance it was. The estimated cost of doing the job right was $450,000. The job was done right and it did cost $450,000, and not a penny of it came from the municipal taxpayer. Leyland and Johnston successfully sought grants from GO BC and the B.C. Heritage Tmst which provided $168,000. And the Rotary Club, who started the whole thing off in 1980, committed to provide $75,000 - a tmly enormous undertaking for a local service organization. There were donations of consulting services, the earlier mentioned $47,000 from the Society, and - the job was done! Well, not quite. There was still the matter of a curator for the museum, an archivist for the archives, equipment for them both, and the big matter of furnishings and display cases. It was not an easy thing for West Van’s Council to hire a curator and an archivist, even on a part-time basis when recession and tax revolt were the political realities to be faced. While the building was ready for occupancy at the end of 1991, it would be nearly a year later before even a part-time curator could be contemplated and a year after that again before the budget could be stretched to provide the full-time needed if the curator was to get the museum open in 1994. Continued - See ‘THE MUSEUM STORY^ - Page 8