Region of Waterloo wants public input as it reimagines Doon Heritage Village | CBC News

The Region of Waterloo is looking for public input as it examines opportunities for future programming and potential new uses at Doon Heritage Village.

The 60-acre living history museum opened in 1957. However, operations were paused in 2023 to allow for the replacement of utilities. This provided an opportunity to pause programming, as well, and “reimagine how we tell stories in Doon and what stories we tell,” said Julian Kingston, manager of Region of Waterloo Museums.

Kingston said Doon currently recreates the year 1914. The decision to recreate that specific year was made in the late 1980s, and hasn’t really been examined since.

“What’s going on, not just at Doon but at living history sites everywhere, is a recognition of the need to tell more inclusive stories, and to make sure that the activities, the narratives, the things that are shared at the site actually are relevant to and reflect the communities that they’re in,” he said.

To that end, a public survey has been launched and the region is also planning in-person feedback sessions; the two in-person sessions will take place in April at Doon Heritage Village itself.

As well, conversations are planned with local community groups and organizations.

“We’re also doing a very conscious and very careful series of consultations with equity-deserving communities,” Kingston said. “We’ve engaged a consultant that does a lot of work in this area.”

“One of the things that we’ll be doing is a large, full-day intensive workshop with a diverse group of community champions who will be coming in,” he said. “We’ll give them context around the village, explain what it is that we’re trying to do, and then really start to hear from them about the stories and perhaps that we’re not telling.”

Kingston said the feedback will be used to develop a draft interpretive plan.

The survey, and information about the public engagement sessions, can be found on the Engage Region of Waterloo website.