Tour Schedule Links

Welcome

Welcome to the Ecomuseum

This guide is intended to provide information which will help you to better understand and appreciate not only the exhibits, but also our wonderful St. Lawrence Valley.

What is an Ecomuseum?

The trademarked word Ecomuseum comes from the French word écomuséum; éco, being the shortened form of the word écologie, is defined as the biological science which deals with the relationships of living organisms and their natural habitats. Muséum is defined as a public collection used for the study of natural sciences.

A word about the site in general

Up to 1960, part of this site was used for agricultural purposes but mainly it consisted of a large marsh covering nearly all the flat land from Chemin Ste-Marie to within a few meters of the northern fence line. A small part of the northern extremity of the marsh was in the process of being filled with farm refuse but this was only a modest indication of things to come.

Through the early sixties when the Trans Canada Highway (hgwy 40) was being built, the marsh became a dumping ground for the waste surface materials of the highway. This fill is approximately 2 m thick at the water faucet near the gate house.

In the early seventies, stone from excavation, materials from former roads, sidewalks and building demolition materials generated by the reconstruction at Macdonald and John Abbott campuses were all dumped here to form the 4 m terrace in the northwest corner of the site.

In the mid-eighties the St Lawrence Valley Natural History Society began the agonizingly slow task of recovering the wasteland, thereby satisfying the Society's mandate to conserve. We could not restore the marsh to its former splendor, but we are converting as much of the landfill site as possible to displays, which we hope will make visitors a little more sensitive to their environment and to the creatures that share it.

Occasionally you will see pieces of old buildings or slabs of sidewalks piled into little monuments, reminders of history of the site.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the many people who contributed to the development of this text. In particular the staff, Anne Bérubé, Derek Delutis, Stéphane Poulin and Debbie Roffe, who wrote most of the original text. Cathy Rankin, Shirley Bock, Ann MacLeod Barclay and Florence Weigens all contributed in the revision of text. Dave Brown who revised text and contributed in the preparation of this booklet, and Sylvie Matte who prepared the manuscipt.

Visitors to the site must also be thanked because the topics discussed under the different headings, were often inspired by the most frequently asked questions put to us.

This booklet will have to be revised from time to time as the Ecomuseum develops. Comments or more questions will always be welcome.

Roger Bider, President, May 1991