A museum collection for James Naismith, a Canadian physician and the inventor of basketball, will be staying in the community of Mississippi Mills, the municipality announced on Friday. In 2024, changes to conservation authority funding made it so that the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) would not be able to continue to operate the Museum at the Mill of Kintail Conservation Area, which housed the Naismith collection. In a news release on Friday, the Municipality of Mississippi Mills announced they would be assuming control of the museum, keeping the Naismith collection in the community. The museum also owns a collection for R. Tait McKenzie, another physician who pioneered physical education in Canada. “The feedback we heard from our community was crystal clear: Residents wanted these nationally significant collections to remain at the Mill of Kintail Museum,” Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry said in a statement. “The community’s passion and support reinforced the need to put forward a strong proposal. We are proud to secure the future of the Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie collections at the Mill of Kintail, where two young boys from Ramsay once played, dreamed and began journeys that would ultimately inspire the world.” The municipality says they plan to assume control of the museum in 2028. “This was a challenging situation, and we are very pleased that the Municipality is partnering with MVCA to keep the collections in the community,” Sally McIntyre, the general manager of the MVCA said in a statement.
