Reimagining Doon Heritage Village
Region of Waterloo Strategic Plan 2023-2027 Priorities: 
We're looking for your input to expand the experiences and stories at Doon Heritage Village!
Doon Heritage Village is a 60 acre living history museum that opened in 1957. For decades Doon Heritage Village has shared what life was like for some community members in rural Waterloo Region in 1914. Its living history programs brought to life the early years of the 1900s with costumed interpreters, hands-on activities, guided tours, special events and school class visits.
Like many other cultural institutions around the world, The Region of Waterloo's Doon Heritage Village is reflecting on which stories of culture and heritage it shares – and which are missing. The Region of Waterloo Museum team is seeking input from the community on how it might expand the stories, resources and experiences it provides to all residents and visitors through a world-class museum experience.
Reimagining Doon Heritage Village presents an opportunity for meaningful community engagement. Museum staff welcome community storytelling and memory sharing; providing an understanding of what the Village has meant to residents and visitors over the last 60+ years.
This is an important opportunity to welcome the stories, cultures and traditions of residents who do not yet see their own cultural history represented in Region of Waterloo Museums and historic sites.
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Reimagining Doon Together
- This project aims to ensure that Doon Heritage Village becomes a truly reflective and inclusive space by actively involving the community in expanding and enriching the stories shared at the site - while celebrating the stories and memories of Doon Heritage Village over the past 60+ years.
- Planning for the future of Doon Heritage Village, we turn to the community to reflect on what we can learn from the past to understand our current experience and to support the future generations in Waterloo Region.
- A Reimagined Doon Heritage Village will share stories that resonate with our community, providing opportunities for learning and conversation, and create unique experiences for all.
- This project is seeking community input, especially those whose stories are underrepresented, to enrich the narratives shared at Doon Heritage Village and reflect the experience and identifies of our community.
- Community input will lead to the creation of a new Doon Heritage Village Interpretive Plan to ensure Doon Village remains a vital cultural asset.
Why Now?
- In 2023, operations were paused to begin a utilities replacement project.
- These updates include utility services to allow more accessible public programs, safer evening and winter events with efficient lighting, reliable and sustainable building heating, new water mains for washrooms and fire response, and improved connectivity. This important investment of the site will prioritize visitor experience, accessibility, health and safety, and environmental sustainability.
- During this construction time, Regional staff will engage with the community to imagine future programming, experiences and stories, and new uses for existing spaces.
Doon Heritage Village at a glance
Since the late 1980’s DHV has recreated life in rural Waterloo County during the year 1914.
The Doon Heritage Village, which has been in operation since 1957, and the nearby Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum, which opened in 2010, are owned and operated by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
More than 22 buildings, some of which are restored buildings donated and relocated from across Waterloo Region and south-central Ontario, and some are reconstructions based on original buildings.
Buildings in the living history village include a railway station, a number of farmhouses and barns, a weavery, grocery store, harness shop, tailor shop, post office, sawmill, church, and a fire hall.
Doon Heritage Village is a popular spot for weddings, celebrations, events, fieldtrips and a filming location. The Village was the set for an episode of CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries in the summer of 2023.
Share your Ideas
To begin the conversation, the community will have the chance to respond to an online survey in addition to onsite workshops. The intention of these activities is to gather input, insights, and perspectives from participants on the enhancement of Doon Heritage Village and inform the development of a new interpretive plan (a plan that outlines how Doon Heritage Village will share content, bring it to life, and make it meaningful for our audiences).
How your feedback will shape Doon Heritage Village:
Feedback will be incorporated into the development of a new Interpretive Plan for Doon Heritage Village.
The process of community engagement will ensure that the histories and stories shared Doon Heritage Village are reflective of experiences and identities of our community, past, present and future.
Current engagement activities:
- Public survey: live March 18 - April 18
- Public input sessions on-site at Doon Heritage Village: You will receive a site tour from one of our knowledgeable staff members followed by an interactive activity in the village, followed by a Q&A and discussion. Museum admission is included. Participants will also receive a free family pass, that does not expire, and allows admission to two adults and any dependant children.
- Saturday, April 27 10am - 11:30am: Register here
- Sunday, April 28 2pm - 3:30pm: Register here
- Project Advisory Committee - ongoing
- Equitable engagement sessions
- These sessions invite equity-deserving communities, especially those whose stories are not currently represented at Doon Heritage Village, to provide important insights and perspectives that will ultimately enrich the narratives shared at the historic site.
- Equitable engagement opportunities ensure that Doon Heritage Village becomes a truly reflective and inclusive space by actively involving the community in expanding and enriching the stories shared at the site.
- To learn more about this equitable engagement work, please contact mibrown@regionofwaterloo.ca
