Community
FEATURE RESIDENT
James Takenaka by KRISTA TURCASSO The Fernie Museum has gone through multiple transformations since the Fernie and District Historical Society was founded in 1964. Its first museum space was opened in 1979 in the Catholic Church rectory, which then closed in 1999. In 2004, the Society opened a temporary Museum at Town Centre on 2nd Ave (where C21 is today). It was then that the City of Fernie recognized the importance of a permanent home for the Museum and purchased the former BC Hydro building for this purpose. The Fernie Museum Project was initiated and was completed in 2013 with a beautifully renovated space in one of Fernie’s most beautiful historical buildings – a perfect fit for both the Museum and Fernie. As the organization grew, so did the need for an executive director. James Takenaka was recently chosen to fill this role within the organization, and he couldn’t be happier with the move to the Elk Valley and new direction in his career. James was born and raised in Winnipeg, and after completing high school moved to Lethbridge for college to study renewable resource management. He went straight to work, starting out with Alberta Parks providing interpretive guided walks and shows in the amphitheatres. “I was at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park that first summer and spent the next few summers in Kananaskis country. I always loved the mountains and would have stayed with parks but there were no full-time jobs at the time. So, I went back to school at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary – I enjoyed the whole graphic design thing and doing my own type of art. It’s very interesting, as there is something different all of the time,” he shares with me.
Krista Turcasso Photo After receiving his Bachelor of Arts, James segued into museums developing and hosting programs and events. “The last few decades I have been at the Reynolds Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, which focuses on mechanized history. It’s a big museum, provincially owned and operated,” he adds. “I mostly enjoyed working with people – my colleagues and the visitors. The position was always evolving and was never the same year after year. Wetaskiwin is about 45 minutes south and east of Edmonton
with 12,000 residents, so not a big place to live. I enjoyed the museum, and the town had a great arts and culture community too. I taught Karate there for quite a few decades,” James says, adding that it kept him busy! James’ wife’s family had a condo in Elkford, so as a family with their two daughters, they always spent time in the Elk Valley. “Both of my daughters are in BC,” James says. “One is in Elkford and her husband teaches there. The other moved to Fernie with her three kids, and recently to
