In Charlottetown
they have just opened the Founders Hall Museum which tells the
tale of the confederation of the Canadian Provinces into one
country through some very modern and visually delightful
multimedia sensations. On the day we visited the museum they were
having a musical presentation on the outside. Bagpipes being one
of our favorite instruments Bob and I stopped to
listen before going inside.
Some of the ways they offer the presentation was through the Time
Travel Tunnel which began our journey into the pages of history.
Then there was the Queen Victoria Theatre located in the hull of
the S.S. Victoria Ship. This theatre offered a multi-screen
presentation on the Confederation.
After this was the Hall of the Delegates which is a
stately hall dedicated to the founding fathers with a holovisual
display and life-size statues of the founding fathers.
Next came the Stormy Weather Threatre which presented modern TV
shows in 1864 style. This one was definitely a bit different and
refreshing.
The Road to the Provinces had highly realistic displays and sets depicting each provinces' critical reasoning for
joining Canada. You get to walk through a railway tunnel in
British Columbia and a goldmine shaft in theYukon.
We were able to get a picture of some young Canadians looking
over a display dedicated to the newest territory of Canada, Nunavut.
Again an excellent presentation of the growth of this northern
territory.
Finally the Canada Today Theatre was an exciting finale
presentation that presented ordinary citizens of Canada from
Coast to Coast. I particularly liked this one. I think they must
have picked every odd named town from one side of Canada to the
other to find people for this film. What really caught my
interest though was the obvious pride that each of these
Canadians took in their country.
I can't recommend this museum highly enough, although I'm not
Canadian, it amazed me how interestingly they were able to
present what could have been a dull, boring piece of history. I
really enjoyed this museum and would suggest you set aside most
of a day to see it properly. Their website address is: http://www.foundershall.ca.
Laura