A number of interested individuals began meeting in the Fall of 2011 with the goal of the establishment of a Heritage Centre and Museum for the Watrous area. As of March 5, 2012, the Town of Watrous established the Board tasked with preserving the history of Watrous & area, and with the goal of putting up a facility to house artifacts and archives. Temporary exhibits were set up at the Heritage Room, the Gallery on 3^rd, and at Manitou Springs Hotel. The volume of archival material and artifacts emphasized determination to create a home for our history.

Of particular note was that a home was needed for the historic building scale models built by Orin McIntosh. Also, the CBK Radio Transmitter building, which had fallen into disrepair, was due to be demolished and there were many items to be saved and preserved from it. Additionally, the stories of the unique history of Manitou Beach needed to be told. Included here is the First Nations artifact collection donated by the Leslie Farago family.

The Centre attained charitable status and, after a successful capital campaign, was able to purchase the current facility on Main Street, Watrous, in 2018. The doors opened to the public in 2019.