This year, some of Kingston’s museums and attractions – that celebrate Canada’s history and are a key part of the local community’s vibrancy – will reach major milestones.
We asked staff at these sites to reflect on their 10, 50, 30, and even 100-year anniversaries and share how they’re celebrating.
Since opening its doors 10 years ago, this former 19th century brewery and distillery has become a hub for local and visiting creatives in Kingston. The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, named after John K. Tett who helped secure the building for public use in 1971, opened in 2015 with creative studios, sweeping windows, and tailored spaces for artists and dancers. The building is also adorned with a reconstructed malting tower that pays homage to its past as a malting tower.
From its earliest days, the Tett buzzed with creativity that set the tone for a decade of innovation. Today, the centre is home to eight nonprofit arts organizations focused on creative pursuits like pottery and dancing. They feature artist’s residencies and host Tett Tuesdays, where Kingston visitors and locals alike come together to participate in a creative pursuits.
“It’s amazing to be able to look back and see what the greater community has done to make the building a thriving community hub,” says Brianne Franklin, Tett director, in an interview.
To mark their 10th anniversary, the Tett is hosting Tett @ 10 (Reflections) on Saturday October 4 from 7 to 10:30 pm. The evening embodies Tett’s journey of artistic growth, featuring hands‑on experiences, immersive installations, and live performances. Check out their website for more information.
A group of divers known as the Kingston Divers Association—now Preserve Our Wrecks Kingston—opened the Great Lakes Museum 50 years ago to showcase artifacts recovered from local shipwrecks.
“They were finding such amazing things during their dives and wanted a space to preserve and share them,” says Bep Schippers, museum executive director, in an interview.
These eclectic artifacts became available for public viewing when the divers acquired the 19th century Kingston shipbuilding site in 1975.
Volunteers have helped the museum evolve into what it is today—a well-known historical site hosting the last Titanic era passenger vessel in the world (S.S. Keewatin) and various maritime artifacts. Its collection now includes more than 50,000 ship plans, extensive archival records, and exhibits that tell not only Kingston’s story but the wider history of the Great Lakes shipping industry.
“[The museum staff] told the story, but the volunteers are who came in and helped us with the actual design and the look and the fabrication and so on,” says Curator Doug Cowie in an interview. “The thing that's so remarkable as you look back over the years of all the volunteers and people that have contributed to make this museum.”
To mark the occasion, the museum is hosting a free community celebration in September. Visitors can enjoy food, music, behind-the-scenes tours, and a rare look at some of the museum’s earliest artifacts in a special “Out of the Vault” exhibit. Keep an eye on their website for more information.
This year the squat round tower you’ve probably seen while walking around Kingston’s waterfront celebrates its 100th year as a museum. Originally built in 1846 during the Oregon Crisis to defend against potential American expansionism, Murney Tower—apart of a series of Martello Towers across Canada—sat abandoned for decades after the military ceased operations in 1885.
Nobody was keeping an eye on the tower until 1921 when a piece of the dilapidated military structure fell off and tragically killed a young boy. This tragedy galvanized the Kingston community to dedicate time and effort to repairing the tower. In 1925, with the help of the Kingston Historical Society, Murney Tower opened as a museum. Today, it’s the only Martello Tower in Canada that’s open to the public.
While its early exhibitions featured an eclectic mix of donated items, today the museum presents artifacts that reflect both military and domestic life in 19th-century Kingston.
“It’s certainty not an easy feat for any museum to keep their doors open for 100 years,” says Alison Dringenberg, Murney Tower’s manager-curator, in an interview. “And so, it’s so exciting to be celebrating such a special moment for the tower and we have a lot of events planned for the summer.”
To celebrate the centennial, Murney Tower is hosting Murney Fest on August 9 featuring live entertainment, food vendors and crafts. They’re also hosting a Centennial Cruise in partnership with Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises on July 27. Check out their website for more information about upcoming events and tickets.
This icon ship that can been seen traversing Kingston’s waterfront spring through fall has been sailing the St. Lawrence River for 50 years. The Island Queen’s Senior Master Captain Stephen Steels joined the ship in 1981, when it was just a few years old
“Over the years, the crew has basically remained the same,” says Steels. “We try to share and inform our visitors of Kingston’s history. We give people a place to learn or perhaps just sit back with a bag of popcorn, a bottle of beer, and just watch the river go by.”
Built in 1974 to showcase Kingston during the sailing events of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the ship,designed after a Mississippi paddle-wheeler, was made to stand out. Over its 50-year tenure the ship has evolved from a spectacle to a space designed for memory making.
The ship’s connection to Kingston and the surrounding community runs deep. A little girl named Stella waves in costume from her dock each summer while Catherine, a longtime 1000 Islands resident, greets the vessel every year from her cottage.
“It’s always been about more than sightseeing,” Steel says. “It’s about connection. I’ve seen families celebrate graduations, weddings, even all three school milestones—grade eight, high school, and Queen’s [University]—on this vessel.”
Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises is hosting a variety of events to celebrate the Island Queen’s 50th birthday. This summer you’ll have the chance to grab a ticket for their Heart of the Islands Sightseeing Cruise at the same price it was 50 years ago or to buy commemorative merchandise. Check out their website for more details.
Tucked inside the historic Ann Baillie Building, the Museum of Health Care is marking a major milestone—30 years since it opened its doors to the public in 1995. The museum was formally established in 1991 but only found its permeant home four years later when it moved into the 1904 nurses’ residence.
“The building itself is a piece of healthcare history,” says Simge Erdogan-O’Connor, museum director, in an interview. “Its transformation into the Museum of Health Care wasn’t just about finding a space—it was about preserving a space that had long served the healthcare community.”
Today, it holds over 35,000 artifacts, from anesthesia machines to nursing uniforms to surgical tools to x-rays to an iron lung. It’s the largest collection of medical objects in Canada. The exhibits have also shifted from hospital-specific histories to those that cover national healthcare stories using local items from the Kingston community.
The museum’s newest installation, They Are Loved which debuted July 1 and is now open to the public, explores the impacts of addiction in Indigenous communities through contemporary textile art. The museum has expanded their hours and are open every single day until September 1.
“This milestone isn’t just about longevity—it’s about community, collaboration, and the important role Kingston plays in preserving Canada’s medical story,” Erdogan-O’Connor says.
