Former name | Musée Bernier |
---|---|
Established | 1968 |
Location | 55 chemin des Pionniers Est L'Islet, Quebec |
Coordinates | 47°07′43″N70°22′17″W / 47.128677°N 70.371364°W |
Collection size | 12,000 objects and documents |
Visitors | 15,000 |
Founder | The Association for Sailors, St. Lawrence Valley |
Website | www.mmq.qc.ca |
The Musée Maritime du Québec (English: Maritime Museum of Québec, also known as the Musée Bernier) is a maritime museum located in the centre of the municipality of L'Islet in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada.
The museum consists of an outdoor park that includes three separate museum ships, a historic building with exhibitions on the theme of the sea and a hanger-workshop with exhibits on the building of small wooden ships and vessels.
The museum is located in the municipality of L'Islet on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Québec City. [1] The municipality has a rich maritime history, including the training of maritime navigators associated with the Canadian Merchant Navy. [2]
The museum's mission is to safeguard, enhance and enable the study of the maritime heritage related to the St. Lawrence River, from the Great Lakes to the high seas, including the Arctic territories. [3]
The museum was previously named the Maritime Musée Bernier in honour of Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (1852–1934), a L'Islet native and mariner who explored the Canadian Arctic. [1]
Three museum ships on display are:
The maritime history of the L'Islet region dates to its New France period. [4] In 1853, the Christian Brothers created a school and taught maritime navigation. After a slow start, the school took the form of an "Industrial College" in 1873, better known today as the l'École des marins (School for sailors), providing seamanship training. In 1920, navigators who trained at the school founded the Association for Sailors in the St. Lawrence Valley. They organized several exhibitions in the local maritime college and founded the museum in 1968, Canada's first maritime museum. [3]
The region of Quebec that lies in the St. Lawrence River valley, from Levis to Kamouraska, has a history of shipbuilding with over 2,000 vessels built in the 19th century. [5] From its inception, the museum benefited from the help of local agencies and the Ministry of Culture of Quebec. [5] This support allowed the museum to collect hundreds of maritime objects in its early years, objects that form the core of its collection. It was recognized by the Ministry of Culture of Quebec in 1975 and is the proprietor of the National Maritime Collection of Quebec. [3]
In 1979 Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) donated the JE Bernier II, a maritime museum-boat which it had sponsored on a journey through the Northwest Passage in 1977. The museum acquired a second ship in 1980, the CCGS Ernest Lapointe, a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker used on the Saint Lawrence River. In 1983 the museum acquired a third ship, the military hydrofoil, HMCS Bras d'Or of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command, which became the world's fastest warship in the early 1970s.
In 1983, the museum expanded and underwent a major renovation to meet current museum standards.
In 1997, the museum began construction of a hangar-workshop to house the collection of traditional small wooden boats. The project proved controversial among locals because of the architectural style of windowless building and because its location west of the convent blocked the view of the river and its museum-ships. However, the museum's management argued that the site chosen was the only possible one and that the building could not use another location. The construction ended in June 1998, and the museum then possessed a collection of 35 vessels from most maritime regions of Québec (Île d'Orléans, Île aux Coudres and Kamouraska).
In 2001, the museum received an award from the Québec Ministry of Tourism. This award recognized the efforts of the museum over the previous 33 years and invited visitors to make "an appointment with naval history" through its exhibits and its museum ships.
In January 2007, the museum received a grant CA$1.35 million from the Quebec Department of Culture and Communications to help its expansion plans and the preservation of its collections. [6] Financial assistance also allowed the museum to improve its reception area, and its maintenance and repair of the main building. The total cost of the work is estimated at $2.25 million. [6] At the end of 2007, the Canadian government announced its participation with a grant of $950,000. [7]
The expansion work and restoration of the museum began in September 2009. Renovations were carried out on the former convent building of the Surs du Bon-Pasteur such as restoring its windows, masonry and roofing. The museum was expanded by adding a section between the convent and its chapel. [8]
The museum also took possession of a former National Bank branch building located next to the convent, which was converted into a conservatory storage facility. [8] The space recovered in the convent building increased the exhibition space, especially for the collection of 200 boat models, and added a theatre that will be used mainly for maritime heritage films. [8] Work was completed in July 2010. [9]
The total project cost was CA$4.4 million, with the Quebec government contribution increased to $3.05 million to allow completion of the work. The J.E. Bernier Foundation also contributed $250,000 in order to restore museum vessels. Other local agencies completed the financing of the project.
On 15 September 2010, the museum received an additional $500,000 for the construction of a new permanent exhibit. The permanent exhibits are to be fully restored and the grant will aid the interpretation of shipbuilding. The public should have access to the new exhibit in June 2013[ needs update ]. From the summer of 2012, the museum will be open to visitors through guided tours.
L'Islet is a regional county municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada.
Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It was created in 2003 from Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and Bellechasse—Etchemins—Montmagny—L'Islet ridings.
L'Islet is a municipality within L'Islet Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada.
Marine Industries Limited (MIL) was a Canadian ship building, hydro-electric and rail car manufacturing company, in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, with a shipyard located on the Richelieu river about 1 km from the St. Lawrence River. It employed up to 8,500 people during the World War II support effort.
HMCS Bras d'Or was a hydrofoil that served in the Canadian Forces from 1968 to 1971. During sea trials in 1969, the vessel exceeded 63 knots, making her the fastest unarmed warship in the world at the time.
CCGS N.B. McLean was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker. Constructed in 1930 at Halifax Shipyards, she entered service as CGS N.B. MacLean and served in the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship". The ship was transferred into the newly created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962. She served in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence until she was decommissioned in 1979, and taken to Taiwan to be scrapped in 1989. She was replaced by CCGS Pierre Radisson.
CCGS D'Iberville was a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that was in service from 1952 to 1983 and was Canada's first modern icebreaker. The ship commissioned as CGS D'Iberville for the Department of Transport's Marine Service, using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship", D'Iberville was transferred into the newly-created Canadian Coast Guard in 1962. When launched, she was the largest icebreaker in use by Canada post-World War II until CCGS John A. Macdonald was put in service. In 1984, the icebreaker was renamed Phillip O'Hara before returning to her old name in 1988. In 1989 the vessel was sold for scrap and broken up at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The Ouelle River is a tributary of the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. This river flows successively in the MRC of:
CCGS Pierre Radisson is the lead ship of her class of icebreakers. Constructed and operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, the vessel is based at Quebec City on the Saint Lawrence River. The ship was constructed in British Columbia in the 1970s and has been in service ever since. The vessel is named for Pierre-Esprit Radisson, a 17th-century French fur trader and explorer.
CCGS Martha L. Black is the lead ship of her class of light icebreakers of the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship was built in 1986 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Versatile Pacific Shipyards Limited as part of the CG Program Vessels. The vessel was mainly designed as a high-endurance, multi-tasked boat. Most of her duties are along the St. Lawrence River and St. Lawrence Seaway as she is able to handle the ice thickness there.
François Lapointe is a Canadian politician who served as MP for the electoral district of Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. He was defeated in the 2015 election.
Côte-du-Sud is a provincial electoral district in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Chaudière-Appalaches regions of Quebec, Canada, which elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It includes the entire territory of the following regional county municipalities: Montmagny, L'Islet, Kamouraska. It notably includes the municipalities of Montmagny, La Pocatière, L'Islet, Saint-Pascal, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Cap-Saint-Ignace, Saint-Pamphile, Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, Saint-Pacôme and Berthier-sur-Mer.
Réal Bouvier was a Canadian navigator and a Quebec journalist.
CCGS J.E. Bernier was a Canadian Coast Guard medium Arctic icebreaker with a steel hull. The vessel was in service from 1967 to 2006. The ship was initially based at Quebec City but finished her career at St. John's. The ship was named for Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, captain of CGS Arctic which explored and monitored the eastern Arctic for the Government of Canada in the early 20th century. The vessel was sold in 2006 to private interests.
CCGS Ernest Lapointe was a Canadian Coast Guard light icebreaker that served for 37 years. Completed in 1941, Ernest Lapointe was taken out of service in 1978. The ship was active along the East Coast of Canada and in the Saint Lawrence River. In 1980, the vessel was turned into a museum ship in Quebec.
The Gobeil River is a tributary of the Big Black River, flowing through:
Kamouraska was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East, in a rural area in the Gaspé region. It was created in 1841 and was based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. It was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.
The Grande Rivière is a tributary of the Ouelle River which flows on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.
The rivière du Petit Moulin is a tributary of the south bank of the Tortue River South-West, which flows north-east to empty on the west bank of the Tortue river; the latter flows north and empties onto the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, east of the village of L'Islet-sur-Mer.