You can soon watch the Olds Victoria Hotel burn down all over again.
The Mountain View Museum and Archives has digitized VHS footage from the fire that destroyed the building about 30 years ago. It will be part of a new exhibit at the museum.
The Victoria Hotel, which once stood at the corner of 50 Avenue and 50 Street, was built in 1906 and was the first hotel in Olds.
For the past two weeks, the museum has been closed for renovations. This Saturday it will hold its grand reopening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
Renovations, including a new paint job, were funded by a grant from the Olds Institute. The museum will also start a campaign asking the community to help replace the building's lights to LED bulbs.
Doing so would save the museum more than $100 per month and over $1,000 in a year, said program director Chantal Marchildon.
Marchildon said one of the reasons she's heard why people don't visit the museum is because the exhibits are always the same.
There will be several new ones, depicting Olds businesses that were established between 1896 and 1913.
Some are: the Maybanks Jewellery Store, Three Bills Barbershop, Otto Schmidt's Blacksmith Shop, Craig's department store and the Olds Livery Stable.
In the corner is a display from the Whitehair family kitchen. The Whitehairs were early pioneers and one of the first families to homestead in Olds.
At the front, there are also pieces from the hospital, including surgical instruments.
Local artists have also been invited to paint historical scenes to go with exhibits.
