This article was written by Jack
Woolard and originally published in "The Vintage Car" Vol. 48, No.
1. It is reprinted here courtesy of the editor of "The Vintage
Car", along with photos submitted by Dave Dickinson. It is a great example of what our club can accomplish when a group of us join to together for a community project. |
| Back in 1997 Les Batchelor was wondering what the Kamloops Chapter could do in the way of a community project that would be a benefit to the city. He came up with the idea of developing an automotive display at the Kamloops Museum and took it to a chapter meeting. An initial committee was formed consisting of Les Batchelor, Ron Buck, and Jerry Wallin. They developed a presentation and met with the Museum Board who enthusiastically approved the concept. A series of meetings were held to discuss what would be in the display and where it would be located in the building. The decision in early 1998 was to use the lower mezzanine which the Art Gallery had vacated. Before anything could be done, the Museum Board hired a new Curator and in consultation with the Board, it was decided to approach City Hall for approval and funding to totally renovate the building from bottom to top including the installation of an elevator to make the premises “wheelchair accessible.” This put the club display on the back burner for approximately one year while an overall plan was developed. The end result was the decision to create our display on the 3rd floor which would have a central rotunda with a number of display rooms off it. In 1999 the design for the club space was developed awaiting the renovations. It took a while. |  |
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In April 2002 the building renovation had reached the 3rd floor and an
expanded committee of club members was organized. The design was
changed to fit the newly allocated space. In August negotiations
began with the Museum and, through them, the City and its unionized
employees as to what work our chapter members could do in the building
of this display room. The city workers would frame the room and
install the electrical at museum expense. A budget was developed
to estimate the costs the chapter would be responsible for. The
committee members went looking for donors. Jerry Wallin was able
to obtain donations of the lumber and drywall and a contractor donated
his time to install and finish the drywall. Once the framing was
up and before the drywall installation could be completed, the Wolseley
had to be moved from the 2nd floor to the 3rd and moved into the
display space. This required a bit of engineering as the elevator
doorway was not big enough to roll the car into it. Jerry Wallin
constructed a custom dolly on which the Wolseley was laid on its side
after the fenders had been removed. The dolly was rolled into the
elevator, raised to the 3rd floor, and rolled out. The car was
put back on its wheels and rolled into the new space through a hole
left in one wall and covered with plastic awaiting the completion of
the walls and ceiling. |
 Julian Slotylak was able to get paint and flooring donated for the project. Chapter members completed the painting of the walls. During the fall of 2002, a fundraising booklet was developed by Les Batchelor, Jack Woolard, and Museum curator Cuyler Page, In early 2003, Les, Jack, and John Foley met with the principals of the 5 major auto dealers in Kamloops with an appeal for funds to assist our project. We were met with positive responses from Smith Chevrolet Oldsmobile, Dearborn Ford, Kamloops Ford Lincoln and Zimmer Wheaton who each contributed $500 towards the project. We thank them very much for their support. |
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This was about the time that the decision was made by the museum to have the entire building fitted with a sprinkler system which delayed things a little longer. Jerry Wallin constructed the facade of the garage building which was subsequently glazed and painted. A retired carpentry instructor from the college, Dennis Morin, was contracted to build the large display cabinet. In October 2003 we had a volunteer professional floor layer, Gary Van Dyke, install the donated black and white checkerboard floor tiles. Club members were asked to look through their collections of memorabilia and consider donating at least one item to the museum for the display. They were also asked to give Ron Buck a list of items that they would LOAN to the museum display. A large number of items were collected over a short period of time to enable the display to be filled. Loaned items will be returned to each member when no longer required. |
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 During a good part of 2003, Harry Morrow and the late Roy Moldenhauer spent one or two mornings a week digging through the archives at the museum looking for old photos that related to the automotive business in the Kamloops area. They found many good pictures and these were reviewed and a number were selected and printed. We were also able to borrow some archival photos from the auto dealers with permission to reprint them. Les was able to obtain some old carpet sample loose leaf style folders from Jordans, Bridgeport Carpets, and Kamloops carpet Warehouse and with the help of Julian Slotylak created a floor stand with a number of 20 x 24 display leaves. With Noella Dickinson’s assistance they filled both sides of the leaves with the matted photos. |
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Unfortunately, Roy Moldhauer passed away
before the museum display was opened. From January to April 2004,
the donated and loaned items were catalogued and listed with the
museum. A 50s vintage gas pump was purchased from Julian
Slotylak’s collection. An art student from the college was hired
to paint a small mural on the back wall. The Wolseley was
polished up and a mannequin was dressed up by Noella Dickinson with
clothing from her collection. Finally on the evening of June 16th, 2004, the official opening of the “Vintage Auto Room” display was held to show the “ West End Garage”. A special sign was unveiled above the door on the facade. It reads ‘Les Batchelor, Manager’ as a tribute to the person who guided the development and completion of the display. The display has been very well received by the visitors to the museum and the chapter members are very proud to have been able to contribute something to the community. |
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Next time you are in town, drop in to the Kamloops Museum at the corner of 2nd and Seymour streets and have a look. |
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