The manager of the Mountain View Museum will be leaving at the end of the month to take a job with the Roulston Museum in his home community of Carstairs.
Michael Dougherty, who was hired on as museum manager in 2008, said his decision to leave his post in Olds was a difficult one, but he will be staying on as an advisor to the Olds Historical Society as it transitions to a new leadership.
“The experience here has just been wonderful,” he said.
Geoffrey Kearney, the museum's archivist, will be acting as the interim manager until a successful candidate is found. It's hoped a new manager can be in place by June. Dougherty will continue to provide school programming, when required, to area schools. He will also continue to perform his functions as heritage coordinator for Uptowne Olds and coordinate the Main Street program in Olds as set out in his contract with the Olds Historical Society.
“The historical society holds a contract with Uptowne Olds and with the Olds Institute (For Community and Regional Development) to provide heritage services for the town. Those contracts, we will honour, we will respect, and we will be sure we meet every condition of, and I will help to be sure that we do that,” he said.
Dougherty said while he had a lot of previous experience working with communities on heritage preservation prior to coming to the Mountain View Museum, he had never worked at a community museum before Olds. When he assumed his full duties in early 2009, he quickly found a sense of community that he hadn't had previously. He also said he was pleasantly surprised by the support he received from town council for heritage preservation.
“To be honest, I went in expecting a fight (with council) because any other community I've gone in front of council in, I've gone in to fight for heritage and walked into (Olds) council and there was no fight. Council was really on board and really interested in preserving their heritage,” he said.
Dougherty moved the museum from a part-time operation during winter to a full-time one. When he took over, the museum was in financial difficulty and was within about a month of permanently closing its doors.
“It was a hard transition at that time but we pulled through,” he said, adding, “there was always sound museum practice here.”
Dougherty, who has been in the historical preservation field for about 10 years, said he is looking forward to working in his home community for the first time.
“It will be my first time where I'm actually working in my own community, which is a wonderful idea. (It's) very intriguing and I really … like that idea to be able to work in the community where … we live. And that was really a huge deciding factor in moving to Carstairs,” he said, noting he will have to get up to speed on what the Roulston Museum has to offer.
“I've always been focused on other communities … so I've really neglected my own community, which I feel is very regrettable and I hope to correct that in the future,” he said.
Murray Ball, treasurer for the Olds Historical Society, said the museum will miss the leadership that Dougherty provided.
“Michael has made an incredible contribution to the museum and the town,” he said, noting that the museum has come a long way in fostering partnerships with various community organizations. “One of the things I'm really pleased to say is heritage (in Olds) will continue.”
Ball said with Dougherty moving to Carstairs he's excited to explore regional preservation possibilities.
“Another piece of the puzzle that I think is wonderful is having Michael working in Carstairs, I can see opportunities for the museums in our county to maybe begin working together a little more and expand the preservation … of all of Mountain View County. We have very good museums at the local level. I think by working together, this creates an opportunity to make the whole bigger than the pieces,” he said.
"The experience here has just been wonderful."Michael Dougherty, manager, Mountain View Museum
