Clockwise from left, SLSA Museum committee member Mike Waschuk, left, joins SLSA President Heather Maloney at the grand opening ceremony, visitors take part in a tour of the museum Friday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Heritage site

SLSA Museum celebrates grand opening

Jul 8, 2022 | 4:02 PM

The Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association (SLSA) celebrated the official grand opening of the SLSA Museum with a special ceremony Friday.

Located south of Battleford, off Old Highway No. 4, the site briefly opened for two months in 2019. But the official opening was postponed to now due to the pandemic.

The museum features early land surveyors’ equipment and artifacts that were used throughout the province many years ago.

“It’s great, education-wise,” said Mike Waschuk, who is on the SLSA Museum committee. “We have lots of people who worked in the survey field that are now retired. They get a big kick out of coming out and [seeing] instruments we used back in the 1800s.”

Waschuk, based in the Battlefords, also used to be a surveyor himself.

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Retired land surveyor Gordon Webster who attended the ceremony has many memories of working in the industry.

“My uncle was a surveyor and gave me a summer job. I retired from surveying 50 years later,” he said.

Webster noted he has seen massive changes in the field over half a century.

“When I started in 1966 we were basically using the same type of equipment that they used in the early 1800s when they were surveying in Western Canada. From that time we’ve graduated to all new technology.”

The museum is situated in Saskatchewan’s oldest brick building, which was built in 1877. The site was designated a Provincial Heritage Property in 1983.

The SLSA initially looked at creating the museum in the former St. Vital Church building in Battleford, but there were some issues with the structure’s foundation. So the town instead offered the non-profit permission to use this site, the original Land Titles (Registry) Office building.

Representatives from the Town of Battleford, Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Rosemarie Falk and Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill took part in the opening ceremony and tour.

Cockrill believes the museum gives people a glimpse into the history of the province and the Battlefords.

“It’s exciting to see this specific building, the old Land Titles building being used,” he said. “It’s great to see an organization like the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association really take the lead on that, and bring this to our community.”

Town CAO Ash Alam said the museum will be something that people will come to visit in the future.

SLSA President Heather Maloney thanked the town for all their support to make this project happen. She hopes to see many students come to the museum to learn about the province’s history and the history of surveying.

“The Town of Battleford has been instrumental in making this happen,” she said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW