LUNENBURG - It has taken about a year, but the Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation (BCAF) is finally settled in to the Capt. Angus Walters House in Lunenburg.

 The foundation signed a five-year lease on the property with the Town of Lunenburg in June of 2010, but the move from its former location in Mahone Bay's town hall did not begin until last fall.

 This spring, with 10 students arriving to work as summer staff on the various conservation initiatives being managed by the group, there was little time to celebrate their relocation.

 So it was not until August 26 that a reception was held at the Walters House to officially mark the foundation's Lunenburg arrival as well as to highlight the reopening of public access to the display of artifacts which graced the premises when the venue operated as a museum from 2002 to 2006 honouring the famous Bluenose skipper.

 Now, secured in their new premises, BCAF officials are looking at ways of making the Walters House more energy-efficient while preserving its architectural heritage.

 "We had a consultant come in and do a report and they conducted what they call a deep energy retrofit road map for the house," explains BCAF executive director Brooke Nodding. "That's basically a report that outlines detailed recommendations on how to improve the overall efficiency of the building."

 Ms Nodding said the report outlined specific things that need to be addressed in the building such as insulation, water issues in the basement, efficiency of windows and doors and potential installation of a heat pump.

 "What we're trying to do is turn the renovation of our building into more of a project in terms of a green demonstration project for the area," she says. "So we're hoping, once it's done, that at every aspect of the project we can utilize this building as a demonstration for other people who want to do retrofits or green renovations ... keeping in mind the historical significance of the buildings."

 Part of the agreement between the town, which obtained the house as a gift from Capt. Walters' son B.J. (Spike) Walters in 2002 on the condition it be used as a tribute museum to the Bluenose master, and BCAF was that a portion of it be used to house memorabilia of the Walters family as well as the golden age of Grand Banks fishing.

 "We have one room completely dedicated to the museum and then throughout the downstairs we have different displays, pictures on the wall, the plaques and that sort of thing," Ms Nodding says. "The upstairs is our office space and the downstairs is still considered community space."

 One of the benefits of having BCAF share the premises is that it allows members of the public to view the museum space year-round rather than seasonally as it was when the facility was operating strictly as a museum.

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 Currently, the exterior of the building is in the midst of being painted and all signage has been removed for that purpose. Despite those circumstances, a complete lack of advertising and disruption caused by the construction of the new Bluenose Academy across the street, a number of visitors have still managed to stop by the museum this summer to view the displays of memorabilia.

 "We've had a few [and] there have been a few people drop by who have been just interested in the building," Ms Nodding says.

posted on 09/06/11