Certain things belong in the capital

as published in The Guardian - April 21, 2007
FRANK MACDONALD Cornwall

Editor:
Before a provincial museum is announced for Boughton Island, I’d like to express my opinion on the artifactory debate, which is more ‘artifice’ than artifactory, considering the number of things that don’t pass the smell test.

I’m not city-born, but I would submit that certain things belong in a political capital. They just do. When I was five, I would have liked the provincial airport to locate in neighbouring fields so I could watch planes land. For efficiency and other reasons, such a facility didn’t belong in a remote location any more than an artifactory does. Does the Charlottetown Leon’s store have its warehouse in Murray River?

The museum debate is degenerating into more ‘Charlottetown-bashing’ and attempts at one-upmanship by other areas, manifested by such actions as enlisting interest in building a hotel that is higher, by one storey, than Charlottetown’s highest or creating a second university. Where is our civic pride regarding our capital? The placement of an artifactory and museum in Charlottetown is not a zero-sum gain in which the capital wins at the expense of other centres.

There are many locations in the capital for a combined museum and artifactory facility or for separate facilities. The vast wastelands of eastern Grafton Street would be logical for a combined version and would provide a pleasant respite from the restaurants that proliferate. Another location, and it is provincially owned, is the field alongside the west side of University Avenue in front of Holland College Royalty Centre. The corner of Great George and Richmond streets, currently a parking lot for about 50 vehicles, also presents a logical site. A museum there would also be a good fit for the increasing number of cruise ship visitors. Acquiring that spot would entail MLAs giving up the parking spaces that are provided for them there during legislative sessions. Can these people bestow such a legacy?

A reason cited for the artifactory’s location in Murray River is that ACOA funding of $3 million is available only for that location. Perhaps the premier can convince ACOA’s new provincial manager, Pat Dorsey, his former chief of staff, to lift that restriction.

Public Consultations on the PEI Museum Systems

The report of the Public Consultations on the PEI Museum Systems, March 2007 has now been released by the Institute on Island Studies at UPEI.

A copy is now available on our companion site PEI History Blog.

Notice of Motion Tabled in Legislature

As tabled in the Legislature of the Province of Prince Edward Island
MOTION No. 37
PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation

Carolyn Bertram gives notice that tomorrow she will move, seconded by Richard Brown, the following Motion:

WHEREAS the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation at its annual general meeting on March 14, 2007 passed resolutions pertaining to the issue of the artifactory and the concept of a provincial museum;

AND WHEREAS the Museum Act has granted a clear mandate in human and natural history and the board has indicated that it “dreams of establishing a provincial museum where much of the Island history presently housed in our ‘artifactory’ could be presented and interpreted to the public”;

AND WHEREAS there is strong interest across the Island, evidenced during a set of recent consultations, that the mandate of the PEI Museum be fulfilled in areas of collection management, research, publishing, conservation and in exhibitions;

AND WHEREAS 25 years has elapsed since the current mandate was granted to the organization, it is not unreasonable for the public, the membership and the staff to have expectations for clear policy for the development and fulfilment of this mandate across the province;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly respect the decision of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation to undertake a planning study to be conducted under the direction of the executive director but assisted by such researchers as he may see fit to examine the organization’s mandate as provided by legislation and review the governance structure and all operations of the organization in communications, publishing, research, conservation, collections management, exhibition and interpretation, as well as the operations of the branch museum system;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly respect the decision of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation that this study shall review prior planning studies and include consultations in a format determined by the executive director and shall seek input from groups and individuals with knowledge in the field to determine accessibility of private or public collections that could be available to the museum. The report shall be presented to the membership for approval at both a draft and final stage before it becomes policy of the organization;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly respect the call of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation that a moratorium on all new developments and agreements related to the artifactory be established immediately that shall remain in place until the report is completed and adopted by the membership along with an implementation plan;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly recognize that Dr. David Keenleyside has been newly appointed as executive director and has been charged with undertaking a planning study, which is now underway, to review the operations and mandate of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation;

AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly respect the decision of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation that it is unfair to the study process for the Board of Governors to undertake new initiatives and developments until such time as Dr.Keenleyside has reported to the members of the museum and they have adopted an implementation plan to guide the board in fulfilling the mandate.

Signed by: Carolyn Bertam
Signed by: Richard Brown
10 April 2007 8:25 p.m.

Board Position on Policy Decisions Made by PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation at AGM

April 10, 2007
Dear Museum & Heritage PEl Member:

Many of you were able to be present at the recent Annual General Meeting of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation. That meeting dealt primarily with the activities of the fiscal year 2005-2006 as outlined in the annual report covering that period. In addition there was a spirited discussion of the present state and future of the Museum. At the meeting we welcomed the new Executive Director, Dr. David Keenlyside, and I know he has already followed up on many contacts made at that meeting.

I think it is safe to say that this was one of the liveliest annual meetings the Museum has seen for some time and the degree of interest in and passion for the heritage of the province displayed at the meeting is certainly encouraging.

A number of resolutions were passed at the Annual General Meeting and the Board has had the opportunity to further discuss and consider these matters. This letter outlines the position the Board has agreed to as a result of the discussion and motions at the meeting.

The first resolution dealt with the need for a vision and plan for heritage in the province and specifically the role the museum can and should play. The Board had already begun this process in expectation of the appointment of Dr. Keenlyside and is committed to a further development of a planning process which will engage the membership, our partners in the heritage of the province and the general public. We already have commitments from a number of individuals, groups and organizations to help us identify challenges and opportunities for the Museum.

The second resolution called for a moratorium with regard to the construction of a new collections storage facility for our artifacts. While the Board appreciates the level of interest and concern this issue has raised, it remains convinced that the decision taken in September of 2006 to agree to the proposal made by the provincial government is in the best interest of the Museum. Last September, the Board agreed, subject to a significant number of terms and conditions which have been responded to positively, that it would be a tenant in a new facility built for the purpose of housing the collection.

The conditions which the Board required included a construction of a facility which met museum environmental standards and safety concerns for such a building, additional funding to enable the Museum to operate within the facility, and the transfer of the sale proceeds of the existing building to the Museum's endowment fund.

Since the Board's decision in September, a great deal of planning work has been carried out on the project. Our curatorial staff have been engaged in developing standards and requirements for the building and the transfer of materials and have participated in design meetings. I am pleased to say that our concerns for environmental protection for the collections have been met with a very positive response. In addition to the planning process, the site has been acquired, environmental testing has been carried out and the initial site preparation has been completed. While the final lease agreement has not been signed, we believe that this project has proceeded to a point where our concerns have been dealt with and an acceptable lease can be negotiated. In the Board's view halting the project at this late date with no alternative in sight for our collection storage needs would not be a prudent move.

Throughout the process the primary concern for the Board has been the best interests of the museum and the collections. Given the options available to the Museum over the last five years and with a view to what is likely to be offered in the future, the Board continues to believe that construction of the new Collections Storage Facility is a significant contribution to the protection of our heritage and will allow us to better discharge our responsibility to past and future donors and to the people of the province.

The third resolution of the Annual General Meeting was on the subject of Board membership. The Museum Act sets out the requirements and procedures for appointment to the Board and all appointments to the Board are made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The Board knows the importance of having interested and qualified members from a diverse heritage community and any suggestions and recommendations made by the membership will be welcome and will be forwarded to the Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs for consideration as vacancies arise in the Board membership.

The shared belief we all have for the importance of heritage in and for Prince Edward Island has the potential to make the Museum and Heritage Foundation a very strong organization. By focusing the passion and energy of many we can do much to protect, preserve and make known the province's heritage.

Yours truly,
Satadal Dasgupta, Ph.D.
Chair

"Dollars for one project while there are no dollars to save the other. What is real?"

as published in the Eastern Graphic - March 28, 2007
by Catherine Hennessey

Letter to the Editor
I believe if people in authority or in the development fields understood our Island history better, the distinctiveness of our communities would shine through and we would not be building and destroying the very special nature of this fair isle. Almost fifty years Dr. Francis Bolger came back to PEl with his doctorate in History to teach, for the first time, PEl history at the university level. Over the years he taught thousands of Islanders in his own special way. Some of those former students are even in government today. It was difficult to leave his class without caring deeply for our island. The visitors that I have met over the years and have had the privilege of introducing to so many aspects of this island, love what is real and I always leave those ,touring experiences feeling we're blessed here. The recently released TIAPEI study on Cultural Tourism might have a handle on that. I hope so.

Rural PEl like rural areas all over Canada is suffering today. They have huge problems to face in the 21st C, but if we jump to addressing those problems by snapping on urban to rural and building out of scales , without appreciation for what is special of rural we will soon have no there, there. We need a serious time of contemplation on this subject.

I am so very sorry that the PEl Museum and Heritage Foundation artifactory issue is pitting rural against urban, particularly in these days when both have such serious matters to discuss maturely. We have so many natural and historic strengths to build on, why are we wasting energy. Take for example the situation that could present itself this summer if this out of scale, snap-on-age building gets built on one side of the street in Murray River while they are tearing down a 1880's church across the street. Four million, what ever, dollars for one project while there are no dollars to save the other. What is real?

A serious plan as to how we should focus on saving the spectacular statements on our landscape that our ancestors built would be a far more productive exercise while building pride in Islanders. We must begin working on preserving our distinctiveness. Please stop before we spend anymore taxpayers dollars on building more Gateways Villages or Founders Hall that simple to do not speak to Islanders and not very clearly to our visitor.

Construction will start this spring

Labour Market Bulletin

Prince Edward Island
January / February 2007

Construction will start this spring in Murray River to build a new artifactory to store the more than 80,000 Island artifacts in the provincial collection. The building will include a public viewing area featuring historic materials from the collection. The building will be owned and operated by the Northumberland Community Development Corporation and the foundation will lease the artifactory space.

Executive Director appointed to PEIMHF

The BUZZ - April 2007
Atlantic archaeologist to head foundation

A permanent Executive Director has been hired to head the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation. Dr. David L. Keenlyside, Curator of Atlantic Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, assumed the duties of Executive Director in March.

This is the first permanent appointment to the position since the retirement of Chris Severance, who served as Executive Director from 1992 to 2004. Dr. Keenlyside replaces Frank Butler, who served as Executive Director on an interim basis from January 2005 until July 2006 and Paula Kenny, who has been Acting Director since July 2006.

Dr. Keenlyside's appointment brings a well-known museum professional to the Island's main heritage institution. He is a graduate of UBC and the University of Calgary and has lectured and conducted research in PEl, NS, NB, Optario, Alberta, and BC He has extensive experience in the production of museum exhibits. His publications, ranging over thirty years, include reports on archaeological fieldwork on PEL He is a well-known contributor to The Island Magazine, published by Museum and Heritage PEl, has been a regular visitor to the province and has occasionally lectured here.

Dr. Keenlyside is based at the museum head office at Beaconsfield Historic House, 2 Kent Street, Charlottetown.

The Search for a Provincial Museum,

Just launched - our sister site called PEI History, has longer articles that may be of interest.

Our first feature is a history of museum development, by Catherine Hennessey, founding executive director of the PEI Heritage Foundation. Called The Search for a Provincial Museum, the illustrated article gives background to the current situation the provincial museum system finds itself in.