Mississauga museum that tells story of Sikh Canadians suffers water damage from fire
CBC
A museum in Mississauga that tells the story of the Sikh community in Canada has suffered severe water damage from a fire, and staff are now trying to salvage artifacts from its collection.
The small fire broke out in an unit above the gallery of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada on Feb. 26. While firefighters contained the fire, the museum, located on Drew Road near Airport Road and Derry Road E., was flooded when the sprinkler system above went off.
Pardeep Singh Nagra, executive director of the museum, said books, artifacts, furniture and other resources were damaged. Some items were soaked beyond repair, including some from the 1800s.
"The museum itself has to be gutted. The total structure of it has to be rebuilt. And so, very sad, very devastating. But we say, we're hurt but not we're not broken," Nagra said Tuesday.
While the museum space will have to undergo extensive repairs, many of the salvaged artifacts have been moved to a nearby location to keep them away from smoke and dampness.
Nagra said the next step is to evaluate the damage. The museum and its board of directors are insured but the insurance is limited, he added.
"You'll never be able to replace something that's not replaceable," Nagra said.
Nagra said the museum has played an important role in the national identity and social fabric of Canada and is internationally known, having staged exhibits in the U.S. and U.K. As it works to get back up and running, he says its work as a community resource will continue.
The Royal Ontario Museum and the City of Mississauga museums have reached out to offer help, he said.
Jaspreet Kaur, a member of the Ontario chapter of World Sikh Organization, said the loss of artifacts is a huge blow to the Sikh-Canadian community.
Kaur said the museum is a hub for women's empowerment, human rights, children's books and mental health.
"It was such a critical space. To know that we've lost not only the stuff that was in the space, but that the space itself has been damaged was quite sad," Kaur said.
"The art of Sikh storytelling and preserving our heritage and our identity is crucial to who we are."
Stephanie Meeuwse, supervisor of museums preservation and collections for the City of Mississauga, said she has given some advice to the museum on saving the artifacts, including some "phenomenonal" photographs.
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A museum in Mississauga that tells the story of the Sikh community in Canada has suffered severe water damage from a fire, and staff are now trying to salvage artifacts from its collection.
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