Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (May 07/99) - The Fort Simpson Historical Society is looking well into the future.

That might sound contradictory, but since no one can relive the past, the group has aspirations of recreating it with a twist.

Take the old rectory for example. There are plans to move it next door to McPherson House, which is undergoing renovations. Once there, the rectory would also be overhauled.

The buildings, which will form the backbone of Fort Simpson's Heritage Park, will retain their rustic qualities but there will be modern elements to them. The three-storey rectory is to become a museum, art gallery, tea shop and, in the basement, a conference centre. "Adaptive re-use," Historical Society member David Lehmann calls it.

The society gathered Saturday for its annual general meeting and discussed these plans and others. The meeting happened to fall on a significant date -- the ninth anniversary of the formation of the Historical Society.

Martina Norwegian, who was elected president for the second consecutive year, said she became a member of the group because of its vision and objective of preserving history. Norwegian, who said she considers the Fort of the Forks to be rich in history and artifacts, was thrilled when society obtained the McPherson House plot from Doc Marion's beneficiaries in January 1998.

"Perseverance just kept us going until we got to the bottom of it... to finally have that piece of land was the greatest," Norwegian said of the property, which overlooks the flats and the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard rivers.

The Heritage Park is slowly taking form. McPherson House is expected to be completed by the end of this summer. The rectory is to be moved next summer. There is little in the way of immediate gratification for members of the society, Norwegian acknowledged.

"It takes a long time. The know-how has to be there and you have to think in the future," she said. "We're just finally starting something and people are listening to us... we know it can be done. It just needs a lot of commitment, I guess."

The society has plenty of time, what it needs is helping hands and some financial support. There will be a renewed effort to sell Heritage Park square-footage certificates. Corporate sponsors will be sought in the south.

A proposal has been submitted to have four summer students hired. They would be primarily responsible to digitalize the society's archival collection and put it on-line.

There's also talk of an archaeological dig for the original Fort of the Forks someday.

It won't happen overnight, but there's been steady progress since historically-passionate Stephen Rowan spearheaded the group nine years ago.

"He was always the one who was inspiring us and keeping us going and believing in this," said Norwegian, who added that Barb Tsetso and David Lehmann have really fuelled the momentum as well.

"The help of the little bit of people who are there, with their enthusiasm and their commitment, it kind of keeps the rest of us going."