THUNDER BAY -- A man whose family has deep roots in the shipping industry in this city leads a not-for-profit corporation hoping to establish a Grain Elevator Museum at the Lakehead.
"It's just one of those things you really can't say no to," said Robert Paterson, president of the group which is now incorporated in the province of Ontario, explaining his and the other members' motivation for supporting the project.
Paterson said the story of the grain industry in Canada is a story that needs to be told because it's such an important part of the country's history, "and Thunder Bay is the place to tell it."
He estimates that the dream of establishing a museum was first raised a dozen years ago.
"We've been at this a long time," he said. "I think really that it's the site and what this project will look like in the end that's the big challenge for us."
Help with overcoming the challenges may come if the group's application for charitable status is approved, as Paterson said that will open opportunities for fundraising if they decide to pursue it.
Science North and the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, chaired by former Thunder Bay resident Gary Polonsky, are also in discussions with the group.
The corporation operates three museums including an Agriculture and Food Museum.
For Nancy Perozzo, a main instigator of the grain elevator museum project, the effort she has put into it over the years have brought both hope and frustration, but she has seen some recent progress.
An application to the federal government for a marker to recognize the construction of the CPR between Thunder Bay and the prairies has been approved.
"Parks Canada is working on the plaque script now," she said.
The group also applied for historic site status for the Western Grain Elevator and is waiting for a response.
Perozzo said "we're going to keep plugging away," and pointed to ongoing conversations with potential partners.
"We knew there was not a lot of extra cash floating around the municipal coffers...so our aim was always to bring in money from outside the city." She described the discussions with outside groups "our little beams of light...(but) by no means a bright spotlight going forward."
A spotlight has not fallen as yet on a specific concept and location for a museum. According to Paterson, the Western Elevator "is sort of a natural place, but it's a working elevator." The group has also discussed placing a museum in a stand-alone building in the shadow of a grain elevator, and has looked at other options, "but we haven't really settled on anything."
