From left: Ryan Clarke, Board Member, Kim Skjonsby, Secretary, Ann Black, President, Martha McSherry, Treasurer, and Beverley McChesney-Rumble, Vice President
Saving the Museum of Northern History, Kirkland Lake
The Oakes Project: Heritage, Arts & Tourism (OPHAT) is a group of passionate individuals who came together to save Northern Ontario’s Museum of Northern History at the Sir Harry Oakes Chateau in Kirkland Lake. Operating since 1967, the museum closed its doors in 2024 due to changing municipal priorities. OPHAT incorporated the museum as a not-for-profit and secured ongoing funding. Through ingenuity and community support, inspired by a love of museums and local history, OPHAT reopened the Museum of Northern History in 2025 with an exhibition and art gallery, heritage building, research facility, archive and event space. The museum has seen a vast increase in community participation, reinvigorating ongoing projects and new partnerships.