The Vanier Museopark is born of a long-lasting dream. Action Vanier, which brought together various neighborhood organizations, set up a committee to create the Vanier Museum. The first meeting took place at Action Vanier’s sugar shack in 2002. It brought together people from Vanier, including former mayors and councilors involved in the community and concerned about preserving the heritage of the ancient city of Vanier. newly merged with the larger city of Ottawa.
The group, chaired by Raymond Hotte, receives a grant of $ 250,000 from surpluses accumulated by the city of Vanier before the merger with Ottawa. Despite threats of cuts hanging over the community museums of the City of Ottawa, the Vanier Museum Committee, later renamed the Vanier Museopark, will renovate the second floor of the Richelieu-Vanier Center to local.
The Vanier Museum’s committee includes Diane Doré (former councilor), Robert Crête (former councilor), Guy Cousineau (former mayor), Gilles Ladouceur, Jean Durocher, Roger Crète (former mayor) and Gisèle Lalonde (former mayor) , Ginette Gratton and Irene Franklin.
With financial support from the Vanier Heritage Fund, along with a contribution from the Trillium Foundation and the federal government, the Vanier Museopark unveiled its visual identity in April 2005. On October 11, 2006, the Vanier Museopark officially launches its first permanent exhibition entitled “Vanier-sur-l’Outaouais, today for tomorrow”, 10 years ago.
In addition to preserving the heritage of the ancient city of Vanier, Ottawa’s Francophonie and Richelieu Park, the Vanier Museopark is the first and only Francophone museum in Ottawa.
The founding idea of the Vanier Museopark stems from the intense desire of some long-time citizens of the ancient city of Vanier to preserve the heritage of a municipality that was long considered one of the bastions of Ontario’s Francophonie. This exhibition, in addition to marking the institution’s 10th anniversary, also wishes to highlight Vanier’s heritage through these hundred or so years of history.
