Musée Maritime du Québec facts for kids
The Musée Maritime du Québec
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| Former name | Musée Bernier |
|---|---|
| Established | 1968 |
| Location | 55 chemin des Pionniers Est L'Islet, Quebec |
| Collection size | 12,000 objects and documents |
| Visitors | 15,000 |
| Founder | The Association for Sailors, St. Lawrence Valley |
The Musée Maritime du Québec (which means Maritime Museum of Québec) is a cool place to visit. It's a maritime museum located in the town of L'Islet in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. It was also known as the Musée Bernier.
This museum has an outdoor park with three amazing museum ships you can explore. There's also an old building with exhibits about the sea. Plus, a special workshop shows how small wooden ships and boats were built.
Contents
Discover the Museum
The museum is in L'Islet, a town right on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. It's about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Québec City. L'Islet has a long and interesting history with the sea. Many sailors for the Canadian Merchant Navy were trained here.
The museum's main goal is to protect and share the history of the sea. It focuses on the St. Lawrence River, from the Great Lakes all the way to the Arctic.
The museum used to be called the Maritime Musée Bernier. This was to honor Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier. He was born in L'Islet and was a famous sailor who explored the Canadian Arctic.
You can see three awesome museum ships on display:
- HMCS Bras d'Or (FHE 400): This was a super-fast Canadian Armed Forces hydrofoil.
- CCGS Ernest Lapointe: This ship was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker. It helped clear ice on the water.
- J.E. Bernier II: This is a sailboat with an interesting history.
Museum's Story
How It Started
The history of sailing in the L'Islet area goes way back to the time of New France. In 1853, a group called the Christian Brothers started a school. They taught people how to navigate ships. This school became known as the l'École des marins (School for sailors).
In 1920, sailors who trained at this school created an association. They put on several exhibitions at the local maritime college. These efforts led to the founding of the museum in 1968. It was actually Canada's very first maritime museum!
The region around the St. Lawrence River, from Levis to Kamouraska, was famous for shipbuilding. Over 2,000 ships were built there in the 1800s. From the beginning, the museum got help from local groups and the Ministry of Culture of Quebec. This support helped the museum collect hundreds of sea-related items. These items are now a big part of its collection. In 1975, the museum was officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture of Quebec. It now owns the National Maritime Collection of Quebec.
Growing the Maritime Park
In 1979, a company called Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) gave the museum the JE Bernier II. This boat had traveled through the Northwest Passage in 1977. The museum got another ship in 1980, the CCGS Ernest Lapointe. This Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker was used on the Saint Lawrence River. In 1983, the museum added a third ship, the military hydrofoil, HMCS Bras d'Or. This ship was once the fastest warship in the world!
In 1983, the museum grew bigger and was updated to modern museum standards.
In 1997, the museum started building a special hangar-workshop. This building was made to keep its collection of traditional small wooden boats safe. The building was finished in June 1998. The museum now has 35 boats from different parts of Québec.
In 2001, the museum won an award from the Québec Ministry of Tourism. This award celebrated the museum's hard work over 33 years. It also invited visitors to learn about naval history through its exhibits and ships.
New Exhibits and Updates
In January 2007, the museum received a grant of CA$1.35 million from the Quebec Department of Culture. This money helped with plans to expand the museum and take care of its collections. It also helped improve the visitor area and repair the main building.
Work on the museum started in September 2009. The old convent building was renovated. Its windows, stone work, and roof were all fixed. The museum also added a new section between the convent and its chapel.
The museum also took over an old bank building next to the convent. This building was turned into a storage area for collections. The extra space in the convent building meant more room for exhibits. This included a collection of 200 boat models. A new theater was also added, mainly for showing films about maritime history. All this work was finished in July 2010.
The total cost for these projects was CA$4.4 million. The Quebec government increased its contribution to $3.05 million to help finish the work. The J.E. Bernier Foundation also gave $250,000 to help restore the museum's ships. Other local groups helped pay for the rest of the project.
On September 15, 2010, the museum received another $500,000. This money was for building a new permanent exhibit. The goal was to completely update the main exhibits and help visitors understand shipbuilding better. The new exhibit opened to the public in June 2013.
See also
- List of museum ships in Canada
