SCHREIBER — After some hard work getting ready, the Schreiber Discovery Centre and Railway Museum is ready for its 2023 opening.
The museum, built to model the look of a modern train station, is set to open its doors on June 1 and will be run entirely by volunteers for the first month and then by summer student employees during the summer.
The museum was first opened in 2022.
Schreiber CAO and clerk Nathan Dias said that the attraction is something genuine and unique that visitors can enjoy.
“[It’s] a combination of those two factors and I think that's what people want to see, our history and heritage is unique to Schreiber and it's part of our story and it's really an asset altogether and something that we can take advantage of for our brand,” he said.
“It’s just something that's not easily replicated by anyone else, so it gives us a bit of a competitive advantage, telling the story of our history and the railway itself is something that has been a major industry for Schreiber CP Rail specifically for years, and basically was the founding industry that led to the real establishment of this town.”
With the museum being such a new addition to the local tourism industry, Dias said that part of the challenge in helping it grow has been advertising, and so the town plans to substantially advertise the museum.
“Part of that is looking at it from a marketing perspective to try our best to [promote] the museum really as a one stop shop for all things Schreiber,” he said.
“Part of the goal for the township is to have the museum as that stop along the highway, where visitors could stop by, and then we will also then aggressively market our local accommodations, restaurants, local landmarks for them to hopefully go out and visit.”
While most of the exhibits won’t be available until the official opening, Dias said that people can already visit and see the main exhibit — the historic train engine.
“They can drive by at any time and stop by to the museum and see the locomotive, that is the sort of main exhibit,” he said.
“The real benefit of coming when the museum doors actually open is to go inside the VR car and watch the movie in there, it's brought a lot of people to tears and they feel emotional when they see it. the VR car is sort of built to replicate what it would be like sit in a train and we have amazing footage that gives a great experience.”
Along with the VR Car, the museum car offers guests the opportunity to see all sorts of relics and antiques from the town’s history.
For more information about the museum as well as to view this seasons schedule, visit the museum’s Facebook page.
