Staff

Erik Hanson

Erik R. Hanson has been Heritage Preservation Officer for the City of Peterborough since 2003 and oversees the identification and inventory of the City’s heritage resources, manages the City’s Heritage Tax Relief Program, coordinates the work of the Municipal Heritage Committee with municipal operations, and provides technical and administrative expertise to Council, staff and the public on issues of heritage. Erik has a personal interest in the value of heritage preservation as a mechanism for community social well being.

Mr. Hanson holds a M. Sc. in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont at Burlington, and a B.A. in History from Trent University. Before joining the City staff, Erik spent ten years as a consultant in the heritage field, with site management and conservation reporting projects such as Christ Church, Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk National Historic Site on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, in Fall 2005, he spent a week in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a member of a damage assessment team coordinated by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Don Willcock

  • Moved to Peterborough in 1979, to attend Trent University
  • Graduate of Trent University (Honours B.A. in History)
  • Graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming College’s Museum Management & Curatorship Program
  • Visitor Services Staff (and a volunteer) for the Peterborough Centennial Museum & Archives
  • Independent historical consultant, researcher, and contractor
  • Treasurer of Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (PACAC)
  • Member of the City of Peterborough’s “Arts, Culture & Heritage Advisory Committee (ACHAC)
  • Member of the Street Naming Committee for the City of Peterborough
  • A Past-President of the Peterborough Historical Society (PHS)
  • Volunteer, and former member of the Board of Directors, for Trent Valley Archives (TVA)
  • Volunteer and Interpretive Guide at Hutchison House Museum
  • Volunteer Interpretive Guide at the Canadian Canoe Museum
  • Leader of historical walking tours in Peterborough, for TVA, PHS, and Hutchison House
  • Past-Editor of, and Contributor to, the PHS monthly Bulletin
  • Contributor to the TVA’s quarterly newsletter The Heritage Gazette of The Trent Valley
  • Lead Researcher for Elwood Jones’ book Winners: 150 Years of the Peterborough Exhibition
  • Presently researching and writing for a history of the Peterborough Fire Department
  • Recipient of Ontario Volunteer Award (10 years), on behalf of the PHS
  • Recipient of Ontario Volunteer Award (10 years), on behalf of Hutchison House
  • Recipient of a 2000 City of Peterborough “Community Betterment” award, for volunteerism
  • Recipient of a 2006 Ontario Heritage Trust “Certificate of Achievement”, for volunteerism