The Peace River Museum has received a grant from the federal government for working on the site of a former residential school.
Museum curator Laura Love says they’ll be doing some upgrades to historical signage and landscaping at the St. Augustine Mission.
“What we’re hoping to do with this grant is we’re looking to enhance that landscape to better demonstrate the scope of the St. Augustine Mission. This will hopefully take the form of marking out the foundations of three former buildings, the priests’ residence, the convent and school and the laundry house.”
Love adds that they’re they’re hoping to make the work at the site more of a community endeavor.
“Hopefully an opportunity to bring land based learning and hope ceremonies and to host educational opportunities for not just the people that live here in Peace River but for our visitors. Collectively, we’re hoping that these upgrades to the site will increase awareness as well as honour those residential school survivors and families and bring way more awareness to that site then it has today.”
The Mission was the site of a residential school that was established in 1888, and closed in 1950.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
Proposed site plan for St. Augustine.
