Every Thursday for the last 22 years, volunteer Ron Pilfrey has made his way to the Elman W. Campbell Museum on Main Street to help visitors discover records about Newmarket’s rich history or accept a donation of a potentially valuable historical item for the Newmarket Historical Society Archives.
Only Thursday, March 7 was different.
Pilfrey and fellow volunteer Norm Friend turned up for their 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift to learn that their services were no longer required in the archives that is home to thousands of Newmarket-centric historical photos, documents, some video, family biographies of the town’s early settlers, historical books, bound copies of the Era newspaper from about the 1900s, and more.
“We no sooner get in there than someone from the Town of Newmarket in charge of the museum told us we had to leave because they were going to inspect the place,” Pilfrey said. “They said we had to get out for the day, but it turns out they changed all the locks and closed the archives to the public.”
It appears a lack of information about the reason for the archives’ closure and the locks being changed on the door that secures the historical documents caused a stir. Pilfrey and others in the community expressed concern for the future of the archives specifically, and what it means for the museum generally.
“I don’t think it’s personal, but nobody knows what’s going on,” Pilfrey said, who is a longtime member of the Newmarket Historical Society, the independently run, 100-member strong group responsible for oversight of the archives. “If they want to reorganize and get some kind of professional in to be the chief, that’s one thing, but there’s no reason for the archives to be closed. We’re really, really upset. There’s no reason we can’t be in there continuing to help people and do what we do in the meantime.”
Turns out the Newmarket Historical Society was attempting to keep under wraps a new restoration project in partnership with the Town of Newmarket that’s been in the works for some time and isn’t scheduled to be announced until April.
“We, at the Newmarket Historical Society board, have some very exciting news that will be coming soon,” society president Erin Cerenzia said. “Each year, the board sets our priorities and goals for the society, and we’re really very excited to announce that for 2019 the focus is on our archives.”
Cerenzia said there has been a lot of time invested and planning going on behind the scenes with respect to the as-yet-unnamed project and the society’s membership and the community at large will learn all the details next month.
“Unfortunately, the cat was let out of the bag earlier than we anticipated,” Cerenzia said. “For now, we just ask that our members and the community at large sit tight and trust that the board is working very hard to ensure the best possible outcome for the society, and we’re very excited to be working with the Town of Newmarket.”
The society’s volunteers who work in the archives and who have dedicated their time and effort to the archives were the first people informed that changes were coming, Cerenzia added.
The museum’s archives room is closed temporarily while the town modernizes the space, Newmarket’s community services commissioner Ian McDougall said. That modernization included updating the locks at the 134 Main St. S. building, which the town took ownership of in late 2018 from the Regional Municipality of York.
“The archives will be very much a part of the museum moving forward,” McDougall said, adding there are no plans to close the museum in its current downtown location.
Rather, Newmarket’s art, culture, heritage and history will take centre stage this year as the town begins the process of developing a new cultural master plan to replace its decade-old plan that’s nearing the end of its life cycle.
The museum will be a key component of that plan, McDougall said.
“We’re going to initiate a second cultural master plan and that will really inform where we want to move as a community as it relates to art, culture, public art, heritage, and celebrating our history,” McDougall said. “What we would be looking to do within a cultural master plan would be to look at the museum, and a likely outcome that could come out of the larger master plan process would be to do a more specific plan around the museum, and how best we can expand beyond just those four walls, and expand the history and heritage within our community,” McDougall said.
Richard MacLeod, widely known by the moniker the History Hound and a local historian for more than 40 years who conducts heritage lectures, walking tours of local interest, and writes a weekly history column at NewmarketToday, said the archives are important to him for research purposes.
“My family has given a ton of stuff to the archives over the years, and I’m wondering what the next step is since the archives are locked up,” MacLeod said.
To learn more about the town’s current cultural master plan, in effect from 2009-2019, visit here.
The town is just beginning the process of developing a new cultural master plan and extensive public engagement is planned around all aspects of arts and culture, with Newmarket’s heritage, history and the Elman W. Campbell Museum expected to play a key role.
If you have questions or concerns, and for more information on Newmarket’s archives housed at the museum, email Newmarket Historical Society president Erin Cerenzia at [email protected].
Visit here for more information on the society.
