Mark Lyon likes museums.
And that will no doubt come in handy in his new role as general manager of the Hay River Heritage Centre.
“I have been to many, many museums in my lifetime,” said Lyon, noting that includes the Louvre in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and other famed museums in London and Brussels.
And while he has no previous experience working at a museum, he said he will be jumping feet first into his new role at the Hay River Heritage Centre.
Lyon officially started that job on May 10.
“I think that I can maybe bring some freshness,” he said. “It’s a different person looking at how it’s set up and maybe some improvements and changes, and hopefully the board would agree that this could be done.”
However, when interviewed on just his fourth day on the job, Lyon said he is feeling his way around.
“I’ve come to the museum many times and now I’m looking at in a different light where you’re really reading all the different displays,” he said.
Lyon believes the heritage centre is important for the community.
“There is a history in this area,” he said. “It’s unique.”
Lyon aims to continue the tradition of the heritage centre, while looking at things where there maybe can be a new display.
“I’m not going to rip it all down and build it back up, but look at it with a different eye and maybe be able to make an addition here and there with board approval,” he said.
Tom Lakusta, the chair of the Hay River Museum Society, welcomes Lyon to the position.
“He’ll bring a new set of eyes, a new set of interests and the kind of experience that he has,” said Lakusta. “I’m really looking forward to working with Mark and I think the whole board is. He will be a wonderful addition.”
Lyon first came to Hay River in 1978 and worked seasonally for a couple of years.
“I worked up here and went back to Ontario,” he said. “I liked it, so I came back and I stayed.”
Until his retirement a decade ago, he was an electrician with the former Northern Transportation Company Ltd.
Lyon has started his new full-time seasonal job by undertaking the basics of getting the Hay River Heritage Centre ready for the year by arranging for fuel, water, heat and more.
“It is a seasonal thing,” he said. “The building is apparently very expensive to heat in the winter. So my term is now until maybe the beginning of November, and then the building will be shut down again.”
No decision has yet been made on how the heritage centre will operate this summer.
Last year because of Covid-19, it offered guided tours by appointment only. It still remains to be seen whether that will continue this summer, or whether the museum will receive GNWT approval to open as usual.
Either way, Lyon said no date has yet been set for this year’s opening.