The Guardian - EDITORIALS - published Dec 22, 2008
The old capital landmark is front-runner in search for provincial museum building.
The grand old lady of Charlottetown may have a lot of years left in her yet with suitors aplenty knocking on the door. The latest group to court the former Dominion Building, a landmark in the capital city for over 50 years, is a firm assessing the site for a provincial museum.
Lundholm Associates, a firm which specializes in planning and designing museums, is assessing the feasibility of converting the building into a museum site. It's important to stress that the future use for the former Dominion Building has yet to be determined. But when government said recently it was looking to locate a provincial museum in a central location, the first site on many minds was the six-storey structure on lower Queen Street. A Canada Lands Company spokesman said that many members of both the public and provincial government have commented the facility is "an absolutely perfect site" for a provincial museum. The huge building would certainly have other uses, yet to be determined.
The building was once the main post office for the city and housed most federal agencies and offices for many years. The structure was declared redundant and replaced by the new Jean Canfield Building. It needs a major facelift and modernization before it can be re-occupied. It's a huge structure of 53,645 square metres on a .72-hectare site, or 176,000 square feet on 1.5 acres.
And it will take a lot of money to bring it up to modern specifications. Who will be able to come up with the kind of cash needed to bring the building well into the 21st century?
When city heritage activist Catherine Hennessey held a 75th birthday party earlier this fall, she made a point of having the party on the top floor of the old federal building with a sweeping panoramic view of the city as the sun set. It was a special sight staged for the benefit of some key movers and shakers in the city and province, to hammer home just how special a location and building exists in the heart of the downtown, and how essential it is for the city to keep the building in use. Hennessey and her supporters would like nothing better than to have the building converted into a museum.
The province is stressing that proper planning is needed for a new museum facility to ensure it meets the expectations and needs of the people of P.E.I. But there can be little doubt that the building is among the front-runners as the location for the provincial museum.
Earlier this year, Canada Lands Company sent out 25 packages across the country to those companies and individuals expressing a desire to purchase and develop the building. So there is considerable interest in the building and care must be taken to ensure it's used properly in the future.
An open house held last January identified office, retail, institutional, hotel, residential and cultural uses such as a modern public library, archival and museum services. Other options include a hotel and condominiums but that would not necessarily complement the heritage district. The CLC is hoping to have people back in the building in 2010 which doesn't leave a lot of time to plan and to ensure the building continues to be an integral part of a vibrant downtown Charlottetown.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
This is good news for Island heritage
The province's commitment to a centrally located provincial museum is a step in the right direction.
- editorial as published in The Guardian - 24, Nov 2008
The provincial government wasn't able to give many details, but its announcement recently that it's committed to creating a centrally located provincial museum is significant news. It means those who've long called for such a facility - and with good reason - will finally get their wish. All Islanders, their children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.
Prince Edward Islanders have a well-developed appreciation of their heritage and culture, judging from the array of heritage sites across the Island, and the communities and heritage groups that actively support them. While many of these sites - Orwell Corner, for example - have their following of both visitors and Islanders, the lack of a centrally located provincial museum means there's no one general site to showcase and celebrate Island heritage and to display its many artifacts.
The announcement a week ago by Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram puts the province on the right path toward finally creating such a site. But there are some unanswered questions that stand out: Where will it be? What would it consist of and what would it display? How much money will government put toward fulfilling its commitment? Ms. Bertram did say she'd like to see the museum open within "the next few years", so picking a site and coming up with the cash to create a museum are clearly the next pressing issues to be decided.
Ms. Bertram has her job cut out for her. As one of many ministers around the cabinet table - all of whom will be arguing for their share of the spending pie during these uncertain economic times - she'll have to keep trumpeting her government's commitment to a central museum so it doesn't fall off the agenda.
- editorial as published in The Guardian - 24, Nov 2008
The provincial government wasn't able to give many details, but its announcement recently that it's committed to creating a centrally located provincial museum is significant news. It means those who've long called for such a facility - and with good reason - will finally get their wish. All Islanders, their children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.
Prince Edward Islanders have a well-developed appreciation of their heritage and culture, judging from the array of heritage sites across the Island, and the communities and heritage groups that actively support them. While many of these sites - Orwell Corner, for example - have their following of both visitors and Islanders, the lack of a centrally located provincial museum means there's no one general site to showcase and celebrate Island heritage and to display its many artifacts.
The announcement a week ago by Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram puts the province on the right path toward finally creating such a site. But there are some unanswered questions that stand out: Where will it be? What would it consist of and what would it display? How much money will government put toward fulfilling its commitment? Ms. Bertram did say she'd like to see the museum open within "the next few years", so picking a site and coming up with the cash to create a museum are clearly the next pressing issues to be decided.
Ms. Bertram has her job cut out for her. As one of many ministers around the cabinet table - all of whom will be arguing for their share of the spending pie during these uncertain economic times - she'll have to keep trumpeting her government's commitment to a central museum so it doesn't fall off the agenda.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Province commits to creation of central museum
David Keenleyside, left, executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, Philip Macdonald, vice-chair, and Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram, announced Friday the province will commit to creating a centrally located provincial museum and will also work to develop a heritage strategy. Guardian photo
by JIM DAY as published in The Guardian, 15th of Nov, 2008
The future site for showcasing the province’s past appears likely destined to be in the Charlottetown area.
Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram pledged Friday her government’s commitment to creating a centrally located provincial museum facility.
Further analysis will be done to peg the specific location, but the recommendation from a heritage report released Friday clearly seems to place the capital city as the prime candidate.
Bertram said the location would be centrally located in a place with the highest potential for visitors to the site.
“We are not going to prejudge where it is going to be, that is part of the (upcoming) process,’’ she said when asked if the site will inevitably end up in the capital city.
Still, the crowd gathered inside the main theatre of Province House cheered Bertram’s promise to create a centrally located provincial museum facility.
The previous Conservative government was ready for construction of a provincial artifactory in Murray River but the Liberal election victory in late May 2007 brought those plans to an abrupt halt.
The proposed $4.9-million project to house and display some of the more than 80,000 items of historical significance now being stored in the West Royalty Industrial Park also included a retail and boutique attachment as a way to stimulate more summertime business in this quiet fishing village.
But while the relocation bid was applauded by the P.E.I. Heritage Foundation, it drew the ire of other heritage buffs who insisted Murray River was too far off the beaten track and the province should be building a provincial museum instead in the capital city.
Bertram hopes to see the museum open within “the next few years’’ but future analysis — and capital budget approval — is still needed to determine many factors for the promised facility. Among the unanswered questions is where will the museum be located, will it be housed in an existing building or will a new facility be constructed and what will be displayed in the facility.
Bertram says it is important for the government to undertake proper planning for a new facility to ensure it meets the expectations and needs of Islanders.
She also wants her government to support capital upgrades to the current seven provincial museums that dot the Island.
The $60,000 report, called Charting A Course, also calls for government to develop a strategy to guide future planning for heritage. Bertram says government will work immediately to create a strategy.
“Within one year, we will have a series of heritage priorities and specific action areas identified to address various heritage needs,’’ she said. “The strategy will recognize that heritage goes beyond bricks and mortar — heritage is a way of thinking about our Island community.’’
That philosophy sits well with Catherine Hennessey, a vocal advocate for the promotion and preservation of the Island’s heritage.
“I have a belief in a museum, but I have a deep belief that we can put a group of people together — a staff — that will help one end of this Island to the other interpreting and preserving our history,’’ she said following Friday’s announcement. “The call is out now for the community to support this wonderful first step.’’
More than 500 individuals and organizations came forward with their concerns and suggestions in helping the IRIS group prepare its report.
Other recommendations in the report include:
- - Making more effective use and enforcement of existing legislation, notably the Heritage Places Protection Act. Proclaiming the Archaeology Act and developing regulations.
- - Strengthening and clarifying the mandates regarding administration and provincial heritage resources.
- - Giving more prominence to heritage concerns within government as part of the decision-making process.
- - Increasing support for community museums through the Community Museums Association
Monday, November 17, 2008
Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island praising the results of provincial museum study.
Date:
Nov 16 2008SUMMERSIDE, PEI, NOVEMBER 16, 2008 - The Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island (MCPEI) is praising the results of a comprehensive study that calls for significant Aboriginal involvement in new provincial museum.
“Recognizing the contributions and culture of Prince Edward Island and telling the unique Island story would not be complete without showcasing the history and heritage of the Mi’kmaq,” said Chief Darlene Bernard, Chief of Lennox Island First Nation and co-chair of MCPEI Board of Directors.
“This report and its 30 recommendations will help the Provincial Government and all stakeholders develop a heritage strategy that we can all be proud of. Minister Carolyn Bertram deserves much of the credit for undertaking a long term, sustainable approach to protecting and preserving our Island’s history.”
MCPEI, in partnership with Parks Canada, is in the process of completing a feasibility study of its own to outline the most effective way of preserving and displaying artifacts from Mi’kmaq history. Chief Brian Francis, Chief of Abegweit First Nation and co-chair of MCPEI Board of Directors, said the two reports can work hand in hand.
“We realized we needed a location to prominently display the artifacts of our past. With the announcement of a central museum and a commitment to greater involvement from the Aboriginal community, we feel that our proud history will soon be properly shared with all of Prince Edward Island,” said Chief Francis.
Planning for a new museum as well as enacting the key recommendations of the report will take some time, but MCPEI is excited about playing a prominent role in that process.
For more information, contact:
Dennis King
Director of Communications
Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island
(902) 367-3660 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (902) 367-3660 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
dking@mcpei.ca
Friday, October 24, 2008
Protecting our heritage with a vengeance
by CHARLES MCMILLAN - Commentary
as published in The Guardian - Oct 23, 2008
Every generation, Islanders take a refreshing look at policies and legislation affecting this province’s glorious history, heritage, and natural landscape. As the summer-fall season closes, and almost 1.5 million visitors leave the Island, it is appropriate to examine the province’s entire approach to culture and heritage, and how best to preserve and exploit the Island’s ‘way of life’. The Ghiz government is now dealing with potential new directions for heritage policies, including a much-needed storage site for the Island’s collection.
Hopefully, the issues will be dealt with on a non-partisan basis and address ideas and suggestions with a long-time horizon, perhaps up to 10 years or more.
Successive governments, from the Conservative administrations of Walter Shaw, Angus MacLean and Pat Binns to Liberal administrations of Alex Campbell, Joe Ghiz, and now his son, Robert Ghiz, have cultivated policies towards the natural environment — shorelines, parks, protected areas — as well as heritage buildings, archeological sites, and provincial museums.
Indeed, the entire province is really a national park, with plants, animals, birds and trees of immense beauty. Jacques Cartier, perhaps the first European to write down his thoughts on the Island, touring the entire north shore on July 1, 1534, referred to the climate, land, and landscape, “the finest land one can see, and full of beautiful trees and meadows, the fairest that it may be possible to see.” George Brown, a celebrated Father of Confederation who also tried to wrestle with the Island’s transportation challenge when he returned to Charlottetown in 1865, called P.E.I. “as pretty a country as you ever put your eye upon.”
By my count, there are seven categories of the Island’s heritage landscape: lighthouses, churches, community and provincial museums, sites-in-waiting (e.g. the Julian Jaynes-Admiral Bayfield House in Keppoch), Parks Canada historic sites, natural historic sites (e.g. Greenwich, North Cape Peat Bog and archeological sites) and National Historic Sites.
The IRIS Group, a consulting firm that produced a welcome study on heritage policy and justified the need for additional resources (money, staff and facilities), did not provide financial estimates, either on a low- or high-budget scenario. My guess of required funding for capital plus annual upkeep, ignoring the source of the money, is about $250,000 minimum for lighthouses ($10,000 operating per site), $3 million to $4 million for churches ($10,000-$25,000 operating for some 60 heritage churches), $50-100,000 for 16 community and provincial museums ($25,000 for operations), $500,000 for natural history sites, and $2 million per year for national historic sites.
This capital budget, about $10 million in total, is not entirely about provincial funding. Or federal-provincial funding. Or about a separate line item in the provincial ministry of culture and heritage. Why? First, the Island’s heritage landscape is an enormous drawing card for provincial tourism (a $350-million industry) and the associated small business sector, including restaurants, hotels, bed and breakfast, and provincial tours.
Second, as the poor, rural areas of Maine and New Brunswick readily indicate, decrepit buildings and farms isolate communities from economic vitality, including the capacity to attract business and associated land values.
Third, while there is a natural economic magnet towards cities, especially Charlottetown where most government and professional (law, finance, academic) activity is located, the drawing card is the Island itself, including the rural lifestyle and heritage that truly create the Island way of life — fresh air and water, thriving villages (e.g. Rustico or Montague), family values, and a real sense of community.
Clearly, the government should devote more resources to the Island’s heritage, perhaps doubling the present expenditure of $2 million, and reducing the amount spent to attract new businesses (but also spending more on skills training) — the Maritimes’ sinful weakness.
The government could also change the incentives to invest in heritage, such as the following. For churches, whose real estate is not taxable, introduce a regulation that encourages heritage preservation, or lose the tax advantages.
For certain kinds of heritage buildings, provide public money on a cost-shared basis, say 25 per cent public (perhaps in kind, like roads, culverts, and bypasses) and 75 per cent raised privately, by individuals, volunteer groups, or communities. In certain areas, lighthouses, heritage signs, and outdoor interpretive signs allow the Island’s high school students to learn the tools of manual training to overcome the woeful shortage of trained workers.
And finally, given some of the new subdivisions, force Maritime Electric to bury wires in the Island’s soft ground, with the goal of copying from Scandinavia the idea of underground wiring — the heritage equivalent of the Campbell government getting rid of ugly billboards in 1973.
Heritage is a public good. Once lost, it is difficult to get back. Thoughtful Islanders should protect our history and heritage with a vengeance.
Charles McMillan, raised in Charlottetown, is an economist and professor of international business at York University in Toronto. He is author of Eminent Islanders.
as published in The Guardian - Oct 23, 2008
Every generation, Islanders take a refreshing look at policies and legislation affecting this province’s glorious history, heritage, and natural landscape. As the summer-fall season closes, and almost 1.5 million visitors leave the Island, it is appropriate to examine the province’s entire approach to culture and heritage, and how best to preserve and exploit the Island’s ‘way of life’. The Ghiz government is now dealing with potential new directions for heritage policies, including a much-needed storage site for the Island’s collection.
Hopefully, the issues will be dealt with on a non-partisan basis and address ideas and suggestions with a long-time horizon, perhaps up to 10 years or more.
Successive governments, from the Conservative administrations of Walter Shaw, Angus MacLean and Pat Binns to Liberal administrations of Alex Campbell, Joe Ghiz, and now his son, Robert Ghiz, have cultivated policies towards the natural environment — shorelines, parks, protected areas — as well as heritage buildings, archeological sites, and provincial museums.
Indeed, the entire province is really a national park, with plants, animals, birds and trees of immense beauty. Jacques Cartier, perhaps the first European to write down his thoughts on the Island, touring the entire north shore on July 1, 1534, referred to the climate, land, and landscape, “the finest land one can see, and full of beautiful trees and meadows, the fairest that it may be possible to see.” George Brown, a celebrated Father of Confederation who also tried to wrestle with the Island’s transportation challenge when he returned to Charlottetown in 1865, called P.E.I. “as pretty a country as you ever put your eye upon.”
By my count, there are seven categories of the Island’s heritage landscape: lighthouses, churches, community and provincial museums, sites-in-waiting (e.g. the Julian Jaynes-Admiral Bayfield House in Keppoch), Parks Canada historic sites, natural historic sites (e.g. Greenwich, North Cape Peat Bog and archeological sites) and National Historic Sites.
The IRIS Group, a consulting firm that produced a welcome study on heritage policy and justified the need for additional resources (money, staff and facilities), did not provide financial estimates, either on a low- or high-budget scenario. My guess of required funding for capital plus annual upkeep, ignoring the source of the money, is about $250,000 minimum for lighthouses ($10,000 operating per site), $3 million to $4 million for churches ($10,000-$25,000 operating for some 60 heritage churches), $50-100,000 for 16 community and provincial museums ($25,000 for operations), $500,000 for natural history sites, and $2 million per year for national historic sites.
This capital budget, about $10 million in total, is not entirely about provincial funding. Or federal-provincial funding. Or about a separate line item in the provincial ministry of culture and heritage. Why? First, the Island’s heritage landscape is an enormous drawing card for provincial tourism (a $350-million industry) and the associated small business sector, including restaurants, hotels, bed and breakfast, and provincial tours.
Second, as the poor, rural areas of Maine and New Brunswick readily indicate, decrepit buildings and farms isolate communities from economic vitality, including the capacity to attract business and associated land values.
Third, while there is a natural economic magnet towards cities, especially Charlottetown where most government and professional (law, finance, academic) activity is located, the drawing card is the Island itself, including the rural lifestyle and heritage that truly create the Island way of life — fresh air and water, thriving villages (e.g. Rustico or Montague), family values, and a real sense of community.
Clearly, the government should devote more resources to the Island’s heritage, perhaps doubling the present expenditure of $2 million, and reducing the amount spent to attract new businesses (but also spending more on skills training) — the Maritimes’ sinful weakness.
The government could also change the incentives to invest in heritage, such as the following. For churches, whose real estate is not taxable, introduce a regulation that encourages heritage preservation, or lose the tax advantages.
For certain kinds of heritage buildings, provide public money on a cost-shared basis, say 25 per cent public (perhaps in kind, like roads, culverts, and bypasses) and 75 per cent raised privately, by individuals, volunteer groups, or communities. In certain areas, lighthouses, heritage signs, and outdoor interpretive signs allow the Island’s high school students to learn the tools of manual training to overcome the woeful shortage of trained workers.
And finally, given some of the new subdivisions, force Maritime Electric to bury wires in the Island’s soft ground, with the goal of copying from Scandinavia the idea of underground wiring — the heritage equivalent of the Campbell government getting rid of ugly billboards in 1973.
Heritage is a public good. Once lost, it is difficult to get back. Thoughtful Islanders should protect our history and heritage with a vengeance.
Charles McMillan, raised in Charlottetown, is an economist and professor of international business at York University in Toronto. He is author of Eminent Islanders.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Recommedations - Charting a Course: A Study of Heritage in Prince Edward Island Draft Report
While Charting a Course: A Study of Heritage in Prince Edward Island
Draft Report, provides the context for all recommendations and should be consulted, this compilation is being posted to provide the recommendations as a list:
Charting a Course: A Study of Heritage in Prince Edward Island
Draft Report
1. We recommend that responsibility for heritage remain in the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Division, that it be strengthened by giving it greater clarity and profile of mandate, that it be given sufficient resources to realize its mandate and provide leadership and expertise on heritage matters provincially.
2. We recommend that heritage concerns be given greater consideration in the decision-making of the Province by:
• Tasking the Council of Deputy Ministers with the development of measures to give heritage concerns a higher profile in the decisions of the Province
• Making heritage impacts become more prominent in the Environmental Impact Assessment process
• Requesting that the Commissioner on Land and Local Governance (announced in the April 4, 2008 Speech From the Throne) develop mechanisms for the protection of heritage features in unincorporated areas as well as in communities that do not have official plans
3. We recommend the development of a three-to five-year capital funding program to improve the condition of the buildings at the seven Provincial Museum sites and to invest in new, high-quality exhibitions at the sites. Further, a budget and plan should be established for ongoing operations and annual site maintenance for these Provincial sites.
4. We recommend that the Government provide sufficient base-level funding to Provincial Museum sites to enable all of them to remain open a minimum of two months longer to accommodate school visits and the tourism shoulder seasons.
5. We recommend that the provincial government increase support to the community museums by expanding the standards-based community museum operating grant program and administer this program in partnership with the Community Museums Association.
6. We recommend that the Province make greater use of existing landscape protection legislation; include more public education, building local capacity and heritage expertise in related areas; and develop new mechanisms to encourage owners in heritage preservation, including better financial incentives such as tax accommodations, loans, grants, and outright compensation.
7. We recommend that the powers of the Heritage Places Protection Act be used more effectively to promote and regulate the protection of heritage property, especially in the designation of places, and coordination of the Act with enhanced planning and development control legislation.
8. We recommend the appointment of at least one full-time Heritage Officer within the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour.
9. We recommend, in light of the pending discontinuance of federal government funding, that a plan be developed for future management of the Historic Places Initiative.
10. We recommend the following actions regarding administration for archaeology:
• Immediate proclamation of the Archaeology Act, preparation of the necessary regulations and the undertaking of adequate publicity and
enforcement
• Reconsider the 150-year BP (Before Present) time limit as a qualifier for designating sites and artifacts, so that the natural and cultural historic importance of the site or source is the deciding factor
• Greater use by the Minister of the power to designate or temporarily designate archaeological sites in peril, and a reconsideration of the legislation to allow the Minister to extend the initial stop-order period if necessary
• Specification in the Regulations for Permit Applications that the applicant is obliged to carry out a conservation evaluation of the site prior to excavation, and to demonstrate that appropriate conservation support can be provided for excavated materials
11. We recommend that the Government of PEI undertake a professionally-led study that:
• Identifies the functional requirements for a new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
• Projects the financial costs associated with building and operating a new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
• Assesses potential locations and recommends a preferred site for the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
12. We recommend that changes be made to the existing crown corporation, renaming it the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives (PMA); that the corporation be governed by a Board of Governors that includes the minister (or representative); that the board report to the minister; and that the corporation be given clear responsibility for management of endowment funds, governance of the provincial museum sites and management of tangible and intangible provincial collections of archival, natural, and cultural history materials.
13. We recommend that the Board of Governors of the re-mandated corporation, drawn from the various communities of interest, should be a policy board and would be responsible for administering endowment funds, including those to be transferred from the PEIMHF. The Chief Executive Officer of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives should report to the minister through the Board.
14. We recommend that the Government of PEI develop a human resources plan that gives priority to and sets out timelines for filling the need for additional capacity in the following areas: curatorial (natural history, archaeology, and architectural history), conservation (artifact and archival), archives, and education.
15. We recommend an updated provincial museums and archives collections policy to meet professional standards and broaden cultural representation in collections; as well as an acquisitions policy to delineate collections mandates among the provincial heritage institutions with criteria to ensure each collects according to its mandate.
16. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives curatorial and conservation staff meet with Aboriginal representatives to determine how best to assist in building capacity for care of and access to Aboriginal collections, both in provincial collections and in their communities.
17. We recommend that a provincial conservation policy be developed, and that assessments be prepared by conservators for each provincial museum site and the Public Archives to identify critical collections care needs. We further recommend that the Government provide the necessary support to address these needs.
18. We recommend that purpose-built museum and archival storage facilities for the provincial collections be provided to replace existing storage. We further that recommend conservation facilities and equipment be provided as part of the new PMA.
19. We recommend that the proposed new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives take the lead to develop joint action with UPEI, to collect, preserve and make accessible to the public the intangible heritage of the Island, including the creation of a sound and film/video recordings archives.
20. We recommend that the Province review and develop provincial cultural policies and programs in consultation with cultural communities to help promote PEI’s intangible culture by:
• Improving co-ordination among cultural programs, and including diverse cultural perspectives into mainstream projects, such as heritage sites, landscape and architectural conservation.
• Liaising with representatives of the two main Aboriginal organizations in PEI, the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI and the Native
Council of PEI, to ensure equitable representation of Aboriginal culture.
• Increasing support to community programs for recording and preserving intangible heritage in areas like traditional knowledge, arts, dance, music and languages of diverse Island cultural communities like Mi’kmaq, Francophone, Lebanese, Scottish, Irish and recent immigrants communities; and in consultation with cultural communities, explore the possibility of a government office for multi-cultural affairs and policies.
• Supporting cultural venues, such as those provided by the rural community halls, and Aboriginal and Francophone and other
21. We recommend that natural heritage be more fully integrated into the seven sites of the existing provincial museum system, as well as the proposed new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
The provincial natural heritage collection be expanded
Natural heritage curatorial expertise be added as a priority as noted in the Human Resources section of this report.
22. We recommend that the Province mandate the proposed Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives to conduct research necessary for exploring, interpreting and revising knowledge about Prince Edward Island and to tell a more complex version of the Island story. We also recommend that the PMA pursue opportunities to establish partnerships with individuals and institutions to conduct research that contributes to the objectives and programs of the PMA and other similar institutions.
23. We recommend that the provincial government mandate a role for education in the new PMA, so that for the benefit of students and the wider community, contact is maximized between institutional educational representatives, Island schools and the community at large.
24. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives provide permanent and temporary exhibition space and support facilities for the provincial collections to meet the highest professional standards and practices in exhibition concepts and design.
25. We recommend that an interpretive master plan be developed to identify the key natural and cultural themes that constitute the ’Island story’; and that protocols are established to ensure appropriate cultural representation and collaboration so that the story is inclusive.
26. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives expand its resources and services to serve the public interest in genealogical research by establishing a Family History Room, and by collaborating with non-governmental genealogical organizations to the same end.
27. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives, the Department of Tourism, and the heritage community work together to target the Island diaspora in promotion and programs.
28. We recommend that the “Island Studies” course mentioned in the Speech from the Throne (April 4, 2008) include environmental awareness and the importance of local citizenship and the global community. It should be offered in all high schools.
29. We recommend that the Province encourage Holland College and similar educational centres to explore providing training in traditional trades in order to make such occupational options more available and to ensure succession in areas that are part of Island heritage.
30. We recommend that the Province create a provincial heritage strategy; take immediate steps to address some of the most pressing needs recommended in this report; and prepare annual reports on the progress in implementing the new provincial heritage strategy during its first five years.
Immediate (within eight months):
• Develop a heritage strategy to guide government action
• Make more effective use and enforcement of existing legislation (e.g., Heritage Places Protection Act to protect heritage places; proclaim the Archaeology Act and develop regulations)
• Strengthen and clarify the mandates regarding administration of provincial heritage resources
• Give more prominence to heritage concerns within government as part of the decision-making process
• Establish the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives as a re-mandated and enhanced heritage crown corporation
Short-term (one to two years):
• Build capacity throughout the system -- which involves developing a human resources plan, and hiring professional curators, archivists, conservators and an educator. These professionals will initiate programs within the existing infrastructure and plan future facilities, programs and policies
• Undertake a study for the proposed new PEI Museum and Archives facility to identify functional requirements and financial costs, and to recommend a preferred site
• Increase the operating funding to the seven provincial museum sites to expand their operating season and improve programming
• Increase support for community museums through the Community Museums Association
• Develop collections policies
• Develop mechanisms to protect natural and cultural landscape and built heritage through the use of economic instruments
• Develop an inclusive interpretive master plan integrating natural and cultural themes in consultation with cultural communities
Medium-term (three to five years):
• Develop a capital funding program for the seven provincial museum sites
• Ensure the new PMA fulfills the natural heritage mandate of the Museum Act
• Move personnel and stored collections into the new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives facility
Long-term (six to ten years):
• Continue to build, conserve and manage collections, while developing exhibitions, programming and educational resources
• Maintain the physical infrastructure
Draft Report, provides the context for all recommendations and should be consulted, this compilation is being posted to provide the recommendations as a list:
Charting a Course: A Study of Heritage in Prince Edward Island
Draft Report
1. We recommend that responsibility for heritage remain in the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Division, that it be strengthened by giving it greater clarity and profile of mandate, that it be given sufficient resources to realize its mandate and provide leadership and expertise on heritage matters provincially.
2. We recommend that heritage concerns be given greater consideration in the decision-making of the Province by:
• Tasking the Council of Deputy Ministers with the development of measures to give heritage concerns a higher profile in the decisions of the Province
• Making heritage impacts become more prominent in the Environmental Impact Assessment process
• Requesting that the Commissioner on Land and Local Governance (announced in the April 4, 2008 Speech From the Throne) develop mechanisms for the protection of heritage features in unincorporated areas as well as in communities that do not have official plans
3. We recommend the development of a three-to five-year capital funding program to improve the condition of the buildings at the seven Provincial Museum sites and to invest in new, high-quality exhibitions at the sites. Further, a budget and plan should be established for ongoing operations and annual site maintenance for these Provincial sites.
4. We recommend that the Government provide sufficient base-level funding to Provincial Museum sites to enable all of them to remain open a minimum of two months longer to accommodate school visits and the tourism shoulder seasons.
5. We recommend that the provincial government increase support to the community museums by expanding the standards-based community museum operating grant program and administer this program in partnership with the Community Museums Association.
6. We recommend that the Province make greater use of existing landscape protection legislation; include more public education, building local capacity and heritage expertise in related areas; and develop new mechanisms to encourage owners in heritage preservation, including better financial incentives such as tax accommodations, loans, grants, and outright compensation.
7. We recommend that the powers of the Heritage Places Protection Act be used more effectively to promote and regulate the protection of heritage property, especially in the designation of places, and coordination of the Act with enhanced planning and development control legislation.
8. We recommend the appointment of at least one full-time Heritage Officer within the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour.
9. We recommend, in light of the pending discontinuance of federal government funding, that a plan be developed for future management of the Historic Places Initiative.
10. We recommend the following actions regarding administration for archaeology:
• Immediate proclamation of the Archaeology Act, preparation of the necessary regulations and the undertaking of adequate publicity and
enforcement
• Reconsider the 150-year BP (Before Present) time limit as a qualifier for designating sites and artifacts, so that the natural and cultural historic importance of the site or source is the deciding factor
• Greater use by the Minister of the power to designate or temporarily designate archaeological sites in peril, and a reconsideration of the legislation to allow the Minister to extend the initial stop-order period if necessary
• Specification in the Regulations for Permit Applications that the applicant is obliged to carry out a conservation evaluation of the site prior to excavation, and to demonstrate that appropriate conservation support can be provided for excavated materials
11. We recommend that the Government of PEI undertake a professionally-led study that:
• Identifies the functional requirements for a new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
• Projects the financial costs associated with building and operating a new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
• Assesses potential locations and recommends a preferred site for the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
12. We recommend that changes be made to the existing crown corporation, renaming it the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives (PMA); that the corporation be governed by a Board of Governors that includes the minister (or representative); that the board report to the minister; and that the corporation be given clear responsibility for management of endowment funds, governance of the provincial museum sites and management of tangible and intangible provincial collections of archival, natural, and cultural history materials.
13. We recommend that the Board of Governors of the re-mandated corporation, drawn from the various communities of interest, should be a policy board and would be responsible for administering endowment funds, including those to be transferred from the PEIMHF. The Chief Executive Officer of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives should report to the minister through the Board.
14. We recommend that the Government of PEI develop a human resources plan that gives priority to and sets out timelines for filling the need for additional capacity in the following areas: curatorial (natural history, archaeology, and architectural history), conservation (artifact and archival), archives, and education.
15. We recommend an updated provincial museums and archives collections policy to meet professional standards and broaden cultural representation in collections; as well as an acquisitions policy to delineate collections mandates among the provincial heritage institutions with criteria to ensure each collects according to its mandate.
16. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives curatorial and conservation staff meet with Aboriginal representatives to determine how best to assist in building capacity for care of and access to Aboriginal collections, both in provincial collections and in their communities.
17. We recommend that a provincial conservation policy be developed, and that assessments be prepared by conservators for each provincial museum site and the Public Archives to identify critical collections care needs. We further recommend that the Government provide the necessary support to address these needs.
18. We recommend that purpose-built museum and archival storage facilities for the provincial collections be provided to replace existing storage. We further that recommend conservation facilities and equipment be provided as part of the new PMA.
19. We recommend that the proposed new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives take the lead to develop joint action with UPEI, to collect, preserve and make accessible to the public the intangible heritage of the Island, including the creation of a sound and film/video recordings archives.
20. We recommend that the Province review and develop provincial cultural policies and programs in consultation with cultural communities to help promote PEI’s intangible culture by:
• Improving co-ordination among cultural programs, and including diverse cultural perspectives into mainstream projects, such as heritage sites, landscape and architectural conservation.
• Liaising with representatives of the two main Aboriginal organizations in PEI, the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI and the Native
Council of PEI, to ensure equitable representation of Aboriginal culture.
• Increasing support to community programs for recording and preserving intangible heritage in areas like traditional knowledge, arts, dance, music and languages of diverse Island cultural communities like Mi’kmaq, Francophone, Lebanese, Scottish, Irish and recent immigrants communities; and in consultation with cultural communities, explore the possibility of a government office for multi-cultural affairs and policies.
• Supporting cultural venues, such as those provided by the rural community halls, and Aboriginal and Francophone and other
21. We recommend that natural heritage be more fully integrated into the seven sites of the existing provincial museum system, as well as the proposed new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives
The provincial natural heritage collection be expanded
Natural heritage curatorial expertise be added as a priority as noted in the Human Resources section of this report.
22. We recommend that the Province mandate the proposed Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives to conduct research necessary for exploring, interpreting and revising knowledge about Prince Edward Island and to tell a more complex version of the Island story. We also recommend that the PMA pursue opportunities to establish partnerships with individuals and institutions to conduct research that contributes to the objectives and programs of the PMA and other similar institutions.
23. We recommend that the provincial government mandate a role for education in the new PMA, so that for the benefit of students and the wider community, contact is maximized between institutional educational representatives, Island schools and the community at large.
24. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives provide permanent and temporary exhibition space and support facilities for the provincial collections to meet the highest professional standards and practices in exhibition concepts and design.
25. We recommend that an interpretive master plan be developed to identify the key natural and cultural themes that constitute the ’Island story’; and that protocols are established to ensure appropriate cultural representation and collaboration so that the story is inclusive.
26. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives expand its resources and services to serve the public interest in genealogical research by establishing a Family History Room, and by collaborating with non-governmental genealogical organizations to the same end.
27. We recommend that the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives, the Department of Tourism, and the heritage community work together to target the Island diaspora in promotion and programs.
28. We recommend that the “Island Studies” course mentioned in the Speech from the Throne (April 4, 2008) include environmental awareness and the importance of local citizenship and the global community. It should be offered in all high schools.
29. We recommend that the Province encourage Holland College and similar educational centres to explore providing training in traditional trades in order to make such occupational options more available and to ensure succession in areas that are part of Island heritage.
30. We recommend that the Province create a provincial heritage strategy; take immediate steps to address some of the most pressing needs recommended in this report; and prepare annual reports on the progress in implementing the new provincial heritage strategy during its first five years.
Immediate (within eight months):
• Develop a heritage strategy to guide government action
• Make more effective use and enforcement of existing legislation (e.g., Heritage Places Protection Act to protect heritage places; proclaim the Archaeology Act and develop regulations)
• Strengthen and clarify the mandates regarding administration of provincial heritage resources
• Give more prominence to heritage concerns within government as part of the decision-making process
• Establish the Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives as a re-mandated and enhanced heritage crown corporation
Short-term (one to two years):
• Build capacity throughout the system -- which involves developing a human resources plan, and hiring professional curators, archivists, conservators and an educator. These professionals will initiate programs within the existing infrastructure and plan future facilities, programs and policies
• Undertake a study for the proposed new PEI Museum and Archives facility to identify functional requirements and financial costs, and to recommend a preferred site
• Increase the operating funding to the seven provincial museum sites to expand their operating season and improve programming
• Increase support for community museums through the Community Museums Association
• Develop collections policies
• Develop mechanisms to protect natural and cultural landscape and built heritage through the use of economic instruments
• Develop an inclusive interpretive master plan integrating natural and cultural themes in consultation with cultural communities
Medium-term (three to five years):
• Develop a capital funding program for the seven provincial museum sites
• Ensure the new PMA fulfills the natural heritage mandate of the Museum Act
• Move personnel and stored collections into the new Prince Edward Island Museum and Archives facility
Long-term (six to ten years):
• Continue to build, conserve and manage collections, while developing exhibitions, programming and educational resources
• Maintain the physical infrastructure
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The chairs enhance the square
by KATIE MCINNIS
Charlottetown
as published by The Guardian Oct 14, 2008
Editor:
In response to the letter from Darlene Hughes about the chairs in King’s Square (‘These chairs no bargain’, The Guardian, Oct. 4, 2008): these are accurate representations of chairs made by famous Charlottetown furniture maker, Mark Butcher, and as such, are works of art — pieces of sculpture meant to enhance the cultural spirit of the city as well as honour an historical figure. They are a unique method of showing off the creativity of our city and much more appealing than a sculptured figure of the person.
I live across from them and I love them. There are not meant to be comfortable seating and yet I often see people sitting on them. I have watched people posing beside them and taking pictures. Artistic taste is subjective, but these chairs, so wonderfully accurate in every detail, are beautiful. They enhance King’s Square and are worth every penny. I commend Kim Devine and city council for taking this project on and for all of the wonderful projects happening to enhance the visual appeal of downtown Charlottetown.
Charlottetown
as published by The Guardian Oct 14, 2008
Editor:
In response to the letter from Darlene Hughes about the chairs in King’s Square (‘These chairs no bargain’, The Guardian, Oct. 4, 2008): these are accurate representations of chairs made by famous Charlottetown furniture maker, Mark Butcher, and as such, are works of art — pieces of sculpture meant to enhance the cultural spirit of the city as well as honour an historical figure. They are a unique method of showing off the creativity of our city and much more appealing than a sculptured figure of the person.
I live across from them and I love them. There are not meant to be comfortable seating and yet I often see people sitting on them. I have watched people posing beside them and taking pictures. Artistic taste is subjective, but these chairs, so wonderfully accurate in every detail, are beautiful. They enhance King’s Square and are worth every penny. I commend Kim Devine and city council for taking this project on and for all of the wonderful projects happening to enhance the visual appeal of downtown Charlottetown.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Bronze chairs adorn square as tribute to furniture make
Agnes MacInnis sits of one of the five bronze chairs that are in Kings Square in Charlottetown. The City of Charlottetown spent just under $13,000 on the chairs, which honour a former city councillor and businessman from the 1800s. Guardian photo
by DAVE STEWART
The Guardian - published Oct 2, 2008
Five large bronze chairs now adorn a historic square in Charlottetown as a tribute to a former city councillor and businessman.
The city spent just under $13,000 for the chairs in Kings Square to honour Mark Butcher, who history buffs may remember as a big furniture maker in the 1800s.
Butcher operated a factory on the corner of Kent and Hillsborough streets, now the site of the Maritime Christian College. [note this was later corrected - the building is owned by Central Christian Church and operates as a christian education centre.]
Coun. Kim Devine, chair of heritage, said Butcher had a very strong presence around Kings Square and the idea arose to design bronze sculptures that honour some of the furniture Butcher was known to have created.
“Residents in the area were very interested,’’ Devine said of talks that have gone back a year.
“Now we need a interpretive panel explaining who Mark is, what he did and why the chairs are in Kings Square.’’
In addition to chairs and other types of furniture, Butcher also designed caskets.
The factory, which he bought in 1869, was destroyed by fire in 1887. The brick building, which replaced the Butcher factory, still stands today.
Devine said in 1867, the factory employed 40 people. In 1874, 20 additional joiners and cabinetmakers were needed.
One of his employees specialized in designing figureheads for ships while another was good at making coffins.
In addition to Butcher’s retail store in Charlottetown, he also had branch businesses in Cardigan and Georgetown.
“I think this is a great way to promote city art and celebrate a talented artist in our history as well as beautifying one of our lovely city squares at the same time.’’
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Island Heritage Draft Report is now available for Review
Now available -- follow the link to access the Island Heritage Draft Report which is now available for review.
Monday, September 29, 2008
P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation seeking public's input
STAFF
published by The Journal Pioneer Sept 29, 2008
The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation is looking for public input into two projects of historical significance to Prince Edward Island.
The Prince Edward Island CN Pensioners, in partnership with Service Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island, are conducting an interview-based project titled, CN Pensioners: Stories of the P.E.I. Railway.
The objectives of this important project are to collect and preserve an oral history of the railroad on Prince Edward Island, to recognize the valuable social and economic contribution made by the former railroad and by those who worked on it, and to establish a searchable oral history record that may be available to the public at large for future research.
The work will be conducted throughout the province and is based out of the Museum and Heritage P.E.I. administrative offices at 2 Kent St., in Charlottetown.
For more information, or to offer information, please contact Project Manager, Barb Morgan at 368-6600.
The second project is called "Heritage Garden Project at Beaconsfield Historic House."
Officials at Beaconsfield Historic House are planning to develop the garden and grounds to an historically accurate garden style popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Research into the history of the grounds of Beaconsfield and horticulture in Charlottetown during this period will continue through until November.
Project manager Dr. Elizabeth Schoales invites anyone with photographs, records, or memories of the grounds at Beaconsfield as they once were, or of Victorian or Edwardian horticulture in Charlottetown during that period of time, to contact her at 368-6600.
For more information on programs and services of The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, contact (902) 368-6600, mhpei@gov.pe.ca or www.peimuseum.com
published by The Journal Pioneer Sept 29, 2008
The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation is looking for public input into two projects of historical significance to Prince Edward Island.
The Prince Edward Island CN Pensioners, in partnership with Service Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island, are conducting an interview-based project titled, CN Pensioners: Stories of the P.E.I. Railway.
The objectives of this important project are to collect and preserve an oral history of the railroad on Prince Edward Island, to recognize the valuable social and economic contribution made by the former railroad and by those who worked on it, and to establish a searchable oral history record that may be available to the public at large for future research.
The work will be conducted throughout the province and is based out of the Museum and Heritage P.E.I. administrative offices at 2 Kent St., in Charlottetown.
For more information, or to offer information, please contact Project Manager, Barb Morgan at 368-6600.
The second project is called "Heritage Garden Project at Beaconsfield Historic House."
Officials at Beaconsfield Historic House are planning to develop the garden and grounds to an historically accurate garden style popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Research into the history of the grounds of Beaconsfield and horticulture in Charlottetown during this period will continue through until November.
Project manager Dr. Elizabeth Schoales invites anyone with photographs, records, or memories of the grounds at Beaconsfield as they once were, or of Victorian or Edwardian horticulture in Charlottetown during that period of time, to contact her at 368-6600.
For more information on programs and services of The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, contact (902) 368-6600, mhpei@gov.pe.ca or www.peimuseum.com
Friday, May 23, 2008
Losing whale remains to B.C. should spur on action for provincial museum: Scott
Dr. Andrew Trites, team leader for the blue whale project in Norway, rests his foot on the whale’s skull. The opening near his foot is the whale’s brain cavity. Transcontinental Media photo by Eric McCarthyDAVE STEWART
as published in The Guardian May 23, 2008
The former executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation is hoping the province will soon find a home for prized collections such as the 26-metre blue whale currently being exhumed in western P.E.I.
Ian Scott said he is saddened to see that, once again, the Island is silently surrendering a piece of its heritage.
The blue whale, which washed ashore 20 years ago, will be shipped to a museum in British Columbia.
Scott said the attention being given to this whale might be just what is needed to jump-start talks of a provincial museum, one that could house such a display.
Four years before this whale was buried, the P.E.I. legislature passed the Museum Act giving a mandate in natural history to the Island’s provincial museum, known as the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation.
“Fulfilling the mandate, definitely that’s a concern at this stage,’’ Scott said. “Twenty-five years later that mandate is still not being fulfilled. They still haven’t hired a curator.’’
When it comes to provincial museums, the province offers Beaconsfield, Eptek, Miscouche, Green Park, Orwell Corner, Basin Head and Elmira Railroad Museum.
“We have created the wheel but we have not strengthened the hub. The whole artifactory issue was central last year. Sure we had the art in place for over 35 years and it has served a function for temporary storage but it’s very inadequate.’’
Scott believes losing something as precious as a monstrous 26-metre whale might draw attention to the need for a major museum.
“You start to realize we do have something the world is interested in,’’ he said.
David Keenlyside, the current executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, is out of province this week and was unavailable for comment.
If the province ever did find the space, there is certainly no shortage of whale carcasses to choose from across the province.
Don McAlpine, curator of zoology at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, said numerous whales are buried in P.E.I.
“There are other whales buried over there, no blue whales that I’m aware of but I know there are a number of sperm whales and there are some, actually, at the same site,’’ McAlpine said, referring to the western P.E.I. site where the blue whale is being exhumed.
Rosemary Curley, with the P.E.I. Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, confirmed a number of burial sites exist.
Nail Pond, near the western tip of P.E.I., has a plethora of buried whales.
One of them is a fin whale, measuring 62 feet in length, which was buried on Sept. 16, 1994. It weighed 52,000 pounds.
Curley said there are also a couple of humpback whales buried at Lakeside (near St. Peters). In fact, these burials were preceded by a burial service prior to interment. She said other burial sites include Tignish, South Lake, Basin Head and Wood Islands.
“Quite a few of them have been stranded over the years,’’ Curley said.
She said it’s interesting to note that whales are the property of the federal government when they’re alive but belong to P.E.I. once they’re dead.
Whale of a gift from the people of P.E.I.
ERIK KLASSEN
Commentary as published in The Guardian - May 23, 2008
It was certainly surprising to read Mike Currie’s comments as quoted in the article ‘Dead blue whale a ‘national treasure’ (The Guardian, May 17, 2008), particularly when, at the time he was first told of the upcoming project over a month ago, he expressed little concern and his present concerns would seem to be the result of realizing the amount of media coverage the project was receiving.
Regrettably his view is based on few facts and even less prescience. In 1987, when the whale washed ashore, its burial was paid for by the national Museum of Nature in Ottawa on the condition that it would be able to reclaim the skeleton at some future time. Had this not happened the whale would almost certainly have been cut into pieces and disposed of at sea.
Subsequently the Museum of Nature concluded that its current premises weren’t large enough to contain the skeleton and an agreement was reached with the Museum of Nature and the province of Prince Edward Island for the skeleton to be displayed in a $3-million atrium at the $50-million Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre, currently under construction at the University of British Columbia.
The skeleton of the blue whale will be prominently attributed as being a gift of the people of P.E.I. where it will be seen by thousands of people and will generate continuing and invaluable publicity for the Island. Also overlooked by Mr. Currie is that one of the major activities of the Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre is marine conservation, the importance of which to coastal provinces such as P.E.I. can hardly be overemphasized.
Since the considerable skills needed to repair the broken bones, replicate any missing parts and articulate the skeleton exist at the University of British Columbia but in relatively few other places in Canada, Mr. Currie’s suggestion that the skeleton be kept here is disingenuous as he does not address who would pay the minimum $1-million cost to prepare and display the skeleton even if it was exhibited in a concrete block warehouse or storage building.
For Mr. Currie, rather than focus on the significant benefits that will accrue to P.E.I. from the project, to suggest that the skeleton should be used as a minor local tourist attraction seems somewhat shortsighted under the circumstances. Fortunately the writer has yet to run into anyone who shares Mr. Currie’s rather parochial view.
Erik Klassen of Charlottetown is a volunteer for infrastructure and fundraising for the University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre.
Commentary as published in The Guardian - May 23, 2008
It was certainly surprising to read Mike Currie’s comments as quoted in the article ‘Dead blue whale a ‘national treasure’ (The Guardian, May 17, 2008), particularly when, at the time he was first told of the upcoming project over a month ago, he expressed little concern and his present concerns would seem to be the result of realizing the amount of media coverage the project was receiving.
Regrettably his view is based on few facts and even less prescience. In 1987, when the whale washed ashore, its burial was paid for by the national Museum of Nature in Ottawa on the condition that it would be able to reclaim the skeleton at some future time. Had this not happened the whale would almost certainly have been cut into pieces and disposed of at sea.
Subsequently the Museum of Nature concluded that its current premises weren’t large enough to contain the skeleton and an agreement was reached with the Museum of Nature and the province of Prince Edward Island for the skeleton to be displayed in a $3-million atrium at the $50-million Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre, currently under construction at the University of British Columbia.
The skeleton of the blue whale will be prominently attributed as being a gift of the people of P.E.I. where it will be seen by thousands of people and will generate continuing and invaluable publicity for the Island. Also overlooked by Mr. Currie is that one of the major activities of the Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre is marine conservation, the importance of which to coastal provinces such as P.E.I. can hardly be overemphasized.
Since the considerable skills needed to repair the broken bones, replicate any missing parts and articulate the skeleton exist at the University of British Columbia but in relatively few other places in Canada, Mr. Currie’s suggestion that the skeleton be kept here is disingenuous as he does not address who would pay the minimum $1-million cost to prepare and display the skeleton even if it was exhibited in a concrete block warehouse or storage building.
For Mr. Currie, rather than focus on the significant benefits that will accrue to P.E.I. from the project, to suggest that the skeleton should be used as a minor local tourist attraction seems somewhat shortsighted under the circumstances. Fortunately the writer has yet to run into anyone who shares Mr. Currie’s rather parochial view.
Erik Klassen of Charlottetown is a volunteer for infrastructure and fundraising for the University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Exporting our heritage
LETTER OF THE DAY as published by The Guardian - May 20, 2008
Editor:
As we watch the drama unfold near Tignish to transport the bones of a blue whale to become the centrepiece of the University of British Columbia's new Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre, we learn of what an amazing creature is leaving this Island.
While this example of the largest animal that have ever lived on Earth, is being prepared for its trip west, I am saddened that once again we are silently surrendering a piece of our precious heritage to those who appreciate the educational value of this spectacular creature.
Four years before this whale was buried, the P.E.I. legislature passed the Museum Act giving a clear mandate in natural history to our provincial museum, known as the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation. Sadly, this natural history mandate has seen as much daylight as our unfortunate friend, the blue whale, over the last two decades.
One would hope that the current government, which was elected with a clear commitment to provincial museum development, will soon be articulating a vision on how this mandate will unfold. The Island Heritage Study conducted by The IRIS Group for government will soon be released and we can only hope that this study will also help in setting a future direction.
It was the Daily Examiner of Feb. 28, 1883, that reported on the ancient reptile fossil discovered by Benjamin McLeod while digging a well in New London. Identified by Francis Bain as Bathygnathus borealis, the rare fossil was sent to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, which like UBC today, cared enough to ensure the precious item would help educate both the public and researchers.
Hopefully the endless donation of prize parts of our heritage to collections elsewhere will cease as the full mandate of our provincial museum becomes a reality and and not a just a hopeful wish of our legislature.
Ian Scott,
former executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundatio
Editor:
As we watch the drama unfold near Tignish to transport the bones of a blue whale to become the centrepiece of the University of British Columbia's new Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre, we learn of what an amazing creature is leaving this Island.
While this example of the largest animal that have ever lived on Earth, is being prepared for its trip west, I am saddened that once again we are silently surrendering a piece of our precious heritage to those who appreciate the educational value of this spectacular creature.
Four years before this whale was buried, the P.E.I. legislature passed the Museum Act giving a clear mandate in natural history to our provincial museum, known as the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation. Sadly, this natural history mandate has seen as much daylight as our unfortunate friend, the blue whale, over the last two decades.
One would hope that the current government, which was elected with a clear commitment to provincial museum development, will soon be articulating a vision on how this mandate will unfold. The Island Heritage Study conducted by The IRIS Group for government will soon be released and we can only hope that this study will also help in setting a future direction.
It was the Daily Examiner of Feb. 28, 1883, that reported on the ancient reptile fossil discovered by Benjamin McLeod while digging a well in New London. Identified by Francis Bain as Bathygnathus borealis, the rare fossil was sent to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, which like UBC today, cared enough to ensure the precious item would help educate both the public and researchers.
Hopefully the endless donation of prize parts of our heritage to collections elsewhere will cease as the full mandate of our provincial museum becomes a reality and and not a just a hopeful wish of our legislature.
Ian Scott,
former executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundatio
Friday, May 16, 2008
Piecing blue whale skeleton back together will take some time
ERIC MCCARTHY
Transcontinental Media
as published by The Guardian, May 16, 2008
NORWAY — Not even a coating of Vicks or Tiger Balm in the nostrils will prepare diggers for the stench of a rotting blue whale.
“When the smell gets too bad, you’ll have to get out and go upwind from it for a while,” says skeleton articulator Mike deRoos.
DeRoos is in Norway, near Tignish, helping prepare for the recovery of bones from the skeleton of a blue whale, which has been buried there for nearly 21 years.
Once all the bones have been washed, packaged and shipped to British Columbia, it will be deRoos’ job to piece them back together so the skeleton can be put on display in the atrium of the University of British Columbia’s new Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre. DeRoos is confident the skeleton will be a great teaching tool for UBC and a great draw to the museum.
He said the university is taking possession just in time, suggesting the whale would be unsalvageable if left in the ground much longer.
There will be broken bones in the carcass, deRoos said. Some would have broken when the whale washed ashore. Moving it to its burial spot would have damaged some bones, too, and the animal’s crushing weight would have caused damage.
“The skeleton is designed to swim in the ocean,” he explained, not to support its weight on land.
DeRoos is part of UBC’s 10-member team that will co-ordinate the recovery of the bones in a project that’s expected to wrap up by next Friday. It will take some time until the bones are put back together and are on display.
“If we’re really lucky, probably a year and a half.”
Before deRoos starts piecing the bones together, he’ll have to soak each individual piece in enzymes to extract the whale grease, and then bleach the bones in sunlight.
Also on site is Mark Halpan, an artist and contractor. It will be his job to repair broken bones and replace missing pieces with Plaster of Paris or hydrastone.
Transcontinental Media
as published by The Guardian, May 16, 2008
NORWAY — Not even a coating of Vicks or Tiger Balm in the nostrils will prepare diggers for the stench of a rotting blue whale.
“When the smell gets too bad, you’ll have to get out and go upwind from it for a while,” says skeleton articulator Mike deRoos.
DeRoos is in Norway, near Tignish, helping prepare for the recovery of bones from the skeleton of a blue whale, which has been buried there for nearly 21 years.
Once all the bones have been washed, packaged and shipped to British Columbia, it will be deRoos’ job to piece them back together so the skeleton can be put on display in the atrium of the University of British Columbia’s new Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Research Centre. DeRoos is confident the skeleton will be a great teaching tool for UBC and a great draw to the museum.
He said the university is taking possession just in time, suggesting the whale would be unsalvageable if left in the ground much longer.
There will be broken bones in the carcass, deRoos said. Some would have broken when the whale washed ashore. Moving it to its burial spot would have damaged some bones, too, and the animal’s crushing weight would have caused damage.
“The skeleton is designed to swim in the ocean,” he explained, not to support its weight on land.
DeRoos is part of UBC’s 10-member team that will co-ordinate the recovery of the bones in a project that’s expected to wrap up by next Friday. It will take some time until the bones are put back together and are on display.
“If we’re really lucky, probably a year and a half.”
Before deRoos starts piecing the bones together, he’ll have to soak each individual piece in enzymes to extract the whale grease, and then bleach the bones in sunlight.
Also on site is Mark Halpan, an artist and contractor. It will be his job to repair broken bones and replace missing pieces with Plaster of Paris or hydrastone.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Mammoth whale being dug up at Nail Pond
photo taken Nov 1998
NIGEL ARMSTRONG
The Guardian
A whale of a story is unfolding in West Prince as the world’s largest creature gets uncovered at Nail Pond and prepared for transport from one coast of Canada to the other.
Big is the least of the superlatives applicable to the project being called the big dig by some.
A blue whale washed ashore northwest of Tignish in November 1987 and was buried in the sand nearby. Now the University of British Columbia wants to display the skeleton at a new museum on its campus.
Canada does not have a blue whale skeleton on display and there are only 17 of them around the world, four in the United States.
A team from UBC led by Andrew Trites is at Nail Pond this week to carry the Canadian project forward. Helping them are some 30 volunteer staff and students from the University of Prince Edward Island plus volunteer students from Holland College.
Digging with an excavator starts today and there will be much holding of breath, both figurative and literal.
When Trites did an exploratory dig this past December he found the body surprisingly preserved, almost mummified, with skin still wrapped around blubber on the monster animal. That was for the part above the water table.
Trites is not certain what the condition of the remains will be like below the water level at the site located in the sand not far from the water’s edge.
“We still have a bit of anxiety,” Trites said during a public presentation on the project Wednesday in Charlottetown.
Not even the biggest dinosaur could equal the blue whale for length and weight. The whale’s tongue weighs as much as an elephant. It heart is as big as a car and a baby could crawl through parts of its arteries.
Trites had list after list of extraordinary dimensions and degrees associated with the endangered blue whale. It dives some 200 to 300 metres below the sea to feed by plunging its gaping mouth towards swarms of tiny krill.
It stays below for some five to 15 minutes, holding its breath and when it comes to the surface, an awestruck “thar’ she blows” would hardly do the event justice.
Out of two nostrils, also big enough for that baby to crawl through, a jet of oily-stench air is thrust some three stories high as the animal recovers and cleanses its blood, anxious to get down below in the relentless pursuit of its 10,000 pounds of food per day.
“Not only does (that air) smell really bad, but it’s oily as well so droplets stick to you,” said Trites. “They have really bad breath.”
The oil and smell is going to be a big challenge for the team on P.E.I.
“This past December when I was here I was touching the bones with my hands and I forgot and held up my camera up to get a picture,” said Trites. “My camera still smells . . . but in a good way.”
The public is welcome to come watch the Nail Pond excavation, which should see the whole carcass uncovered by Saturday, but Trites warns onlookers to be careful.
“You don’t want to get into that goo,” he said of the decomposing liquefied blubber, water and sand at the pit.
Trites said the team’s clothing will be destroyed at the end of the dig.
He expects the uncovering will take about two days, followed by three days to cut up and record the remains.
“The whole crew will be slicing and dicing by Saturday,” predicts Trites.
The team even includes three people whose sole job is sharpening knives. Then there is the tagger with some 1,000 tags for identification, the photographer for every big or tiny piece and the film crew from Discovery Channel that is following the whole project through.
The team brought a mammoth chain saw from B.C. to help slice the skull in half.
That is required to get inside to clean it out and support it for transport, said Trites.
Once dug up, cut up and recorded, the whale parts will be packed into a container and transported across Canada by rail, free of charge courtesy of CN Rail, said Trites.
To follow the progress of that journey, just follow the seagulls, he quipped.
His team also received free transport courtesy of WestJet which donated airfare to the project.
Also making a donation was a real estate development company in B.C. which donated space in Victoria where the bones will be arranged, repaired and assembled in what Trites called “major reconstruction.”
That is, after the bones have been de-greased.
“That will be our next big challenge,” said Trites.
The team explored an offer from a helicopter cleaning company but its tubs of degreaser were not big enough, it turned out. Now the team is going to try a fairly new technique of immersing the bones in vats contained an enzyme that purports to digest oil.
The goal is to suspend and display the skeleton by the fall of 2009 in an all-glass atrium above the stairs leading down to the underground Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC. The Beaty will house some 2 million specimens now in the care of UBC but spread around the campus in storage.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Submission to Island Heritage Study
By - PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women
This full submission is available. A summation of the key recommendations is included here:
This full submission is available. A summation of the key recommendations is included here:
"We know that many ideas and priorities have come out of the province-wide public consultations already. The following are the kinds of initiatives and investments that the Advisory Council on the Status of Women would strongly endorse.
Shorter-term projects:
- Investment in public art in public spaces by women and men. This should include creation of public monuments and memorials that focus on women's history.
- Increased investment in contemporary arts and culture. This should include increased support for existing institutions, such as the PEI Council of the Arts, and initiatives, such as the craft Buyers' Markets, that provide grants to artists and artisans and that assist them in making a livable income from their work.
- Multi-year, stable provincial government support for local publishing projects that illuminate our small Island's past and our contemporary circumstances in non-fiction, fiction, and poetry for adults and for children.
- Specific support for arts programs and arts presence in the schools — including supports for arts educators (many of whom are women), for supplies and space, and for artists-in-the schools — to give Island young people maximum inspiration to apply their creativity.
- Support for doing and debating inclusive historicals research in academia and in the wider community.
- Investment in sustainable and beautiful affordable housing — creating heritage buildings for tomorrow that make people's lives better today.
Longer-term projects:
- A provincial museum, supported by a well-maintained and well-staffed artifactory, in a location designed to benefit local people first and to tourists second. This is needed notwithstanding the value and quality of the seven provincial museum sites and should be an addition to, not a replacement of, these sites.
- Consideration of the role and value of a maintaining a specialized focus in part of or all of a provincial museum. Groups advocating for a children's museum have insight into what benefits this could bring, as do proponents of a museum of natural history. (Either or both of these focuses could merit — or even require — an independent museum site, and this is well worth exploring.)
- A provincial art gallery to collect and exhibit arts and crafts from the Island's past and present."
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Our natural history: a neglected part of our heritage
BY DWAINE OAKLEY
Guest opinion as published by The Guardian March 15, 2008
Guest opinion as published by The Guardian March 15, 2008
The Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island would like to see more focus on the Island’s natural history as the IRIS group moves forward in understanding and making recommendations on heritage in Prince Edward Island.
There is a massive natural history component to Prince Edward Island that has largely been neglected to date. The Natural History Society of P.E.I. would like to ensure that any future recommendations that the IRIS group comes up with include this neglected aspect of our heritage.
The society commends the achievements by the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation and community museums, despite their lack of resources, for their performance in the delivery of various parts of the conservation of our cultural history. However, the mandate of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation is to study, collect, preserve, interpret, and protect the human and natural heritage of Prince Edward Island for the use, benefit and enjoyment of the people of the province.
In the past, the P.E.I. Natural History Society of 1889-1903 pressured the government to establish a provincial museum of natural history, with its efforts culminating in a 1901 petition signed by 131 of the more prominent and influential citizens of the day. It is high time that a natural history museum be developed on P.E.I. as part of the museum and heritage system.
This natural history museum must have a dedicated curator and support staff to conduct systematic collecting of specimens, and a mandate to deliver educational programs to school, college, and university students and faculty, Islanders and tourists. This museum must have an appropriate structure to tell our Island’s natural history from its formation to the present day. In addition, this facility should ideally be located where it has representative habitats adjacent to the museum, so that the past can be tied to present habitats.
The delivery of the government’s natural history mandate must address methods to encourage citizen participation in biological surveys (online citizen science data collection systems), improve the identification skills of Islanders and visitors, and conserve unique and rare habitats and species.
Many of the Society’s members attended the various focus groups around the Island, and have been commenting on an individual basis on the IRIS group’s website blog. It is hoped that the interest in this aspect of our heritage is shared by all Islanders and that we will soon see the natural history of P.E.I. on display for all to see.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Whale bones can't stay in P.E.I.: museum official
As published by CBC.ca news Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Prince Edward Island does not have the resources to keep and display a blue whale skeleton that will instead go to British Columbia, says the director of the provincial museum foundation.
The whale washed ashore near Tignish in western P.E.I. in 1987 and was buried nearby. Representatives of a new biodiversity centre at the University of British Columbia recently exhumed part of the whale to assess its condition. They will return in the spring to complete the exhumation and prepare the bones for shipping to the west coast.
There's no place on the Island to display such a large mammal, David Keenlyside, director of the P.E.I Museum and Heritage Foundation, told CBC News Tuesday.
"It's always disappointing when you can't keep your heritage at home," he said.
"But you can't save everything, and you just have to plan for these things. It's a logistic challenge, for sure, given the weight and size of it. I'm just happy that it found a good home."
Although the province has no immediate plans for a provincial heritage museum, Keenlyside said he'd like to see the government create a facility capable of displaying the bones of large mammals.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Institute of Island Studies receives Heritage Award
In recognition of an outstanding contribution to the preservation of the heritage of Prince Edward Island, the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation presented a Heritage Award to the Institute of Island Studies on Heritage Day 2008.
Citation as read at the presentation,
Citation as read at the presentation,
18 February 2008
The possible move of the provincial museum's storage facility - the Artifactory - to a new location in Murray River sparked a debate on the role and function of heritage in our province.
Though the rhetoric and passion displayed were interesting - and even entertaining - to witness, there was the danger that it might amount to just that - rhetoric and passion. But the Institute of Island Studies was able to give the debate some form and shape. By organizing a series of public forums, the Institute was able to focus debate and create an environment where the question became more than the simple one of where the Provincial Museum should have its storage facility. The debate goes on, and we don't yet know where it will lead us, but there is now more public interest in the future of heritage than there has been for many years in our province. An interest that would not be so great - or focused - as it might have been without the Institute's participation. In recognition of this, we are pleased to present a Heritage Award to the Institute of Island Studies.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Preserving our past through public policy
THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST
by MONICA MACDONALD
as published by The Guardian - Feb. 25, 2008
This is the last in a series of three articles meant to encourage and inform public participation in the Island Heritage Study commissioned by the provincial government. As part of the study, The IRIS Group welcomes written briefs at the online address below.
Heritage policies go largely unnoticed, but all levels of government are involved in how we designate our heritage places, how we treat the remains of our past, and how we operate the repositories that hold these remains. What also counts, of course, is how these policies are interpreted, supported and implemented.
Heritage places in Prince Edward Island fall under federal, provincial and municipal jurisdiction. Federal sites, protected by federal legislation and mostly operated by Parks Canada, include both natural and cultural places like the sand dunes at Greenwich and Province House in Charlottetown. Provincial sites come under provincial legislation and the Department of Community, Cultural Affairs and Labour, and are recognized in one of two ways: registration or designation. Registration is honorific and means enlistment on the P.E.I. and Canadian Registers of Historic Places. Designation, though the owner must agree to this status, goes a step further in protection by prohibiting alteration to the exterior of a structure (or landscape) without permission of the province.
Where an Island municipality has its own provisions, the province defers responsibility. Such is the case in Charlottetown, which also has a delineated heritage area in the downtown core. Here as well, designation means that owners cannot alter the exterior of a structure or landscape without permission. In this case, however, the owner does not have to agree, though he/she has an opportunity to argue against it. Both the province and the capital provide only modest incentives to encourage ‘sympathetic’ renovation to designated structures. The province offers a plaque and funding of 25%, up to $3,000, and for residential properties the city offers a similar grant, as well as the waiving of the building permit fee and a five-year graduated tax freeze if the property is reassessed at a higher level due to heritage renovation.
Places of heritage interest also include archaeological sites. The provincial Archaeological Sites Protection Act outlines the circumstances under which these investigations can occur on the Island. Among other things, it renders illegal the disturbance of such sites without permission of the province. Because even the most careful practice of archaeology is invariably destructive, the Act specifies that all legal excavation is to be done to scientific standard and solely for the purposes of retrieving historical (or pre-historical) information. Though the artifacts buried therein belong to the province, under the federal Cultural Property Export and Import Act it is further prohibited, without a permit, to export them from Canada.
A problem with both pieces of legislation is that in Prince Edward Island there is little professional support for them, and almost no policing. The provincial unit responsible for heritage is seriously understaffed. Archaeological sites, many not even identified as such, are often located in out-of-the way places and easy prey for looters. In 2006 this came to public attention with the story of people using metal detectors to find artifacts and then digging them up and selling them on eBay. It caused a scandal, but a similar loss of Island heritage happens every summer, on a much grander scale, with the big farmhouse auctions. In addition to this loss, under the federal act noted above, if the antiques sold at these auctions are over 100 years old and are leaving the country without a permit, depending on their monetary value it may also be prohibited.
Since it is mandated by the provincial Museum Act to collect, preserve, protect, study and interpret our “human and natural heritage,” the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation keeps approximately 65,000 objects like these antiques and artifacts in its limited collections space. Most of this collection is donated; adequate funds for artifact acquisition and indeed for much of the other basic museum functions outlined in the Act are virtually non-existent. Also absent, though laid out in the legislation as key to the museum’s mandate, is any significant representation in the collection of the Island’s natural heritage.
Provincial responsibility for other types of heritage resources lies with different repositories. The province has mandated the Public Archives, for example, to collect and maintain mostly written documents, but also historical records like maps, photographs and oral history records. The Provincial Library is responsible largely for published material, including audio-visual and other items. The Confederation Centre Art Gallery has a national mandate, though its collection includes works by Island artists.
In Prince Edward Island a range of public policies directs what happens to our heritage resources. It is important to note, however, that heritage is affected not just by what governments do, but also by what they do not do.
Dr. Monica MacDonald is an adjunct professor in Canadian Studies at UPEI and an associate of The IRIS Group, an Island company specializing in public policy research.
For more information on the Island Heritage Study or to submit a brief please visit
http://islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
Credit: This article appeared first in the Guardian on Monday 25, 2008. Paragraph six has been modified slightly from the original.
State of Island heritage draws interested public out to last in a series of meetings
by DOUG GALLANT
as published in The Guardian - February 23, 2008
The last of seven public meetings scheduled in conjunction with the Island Heritage Study drew more than 80 people to the Charlottetown Hotel Thursday.
“The turnout was very encouraging,” meeting chair Harry Baglole said Friday. “We had a number of city councillors out, the mayor of Charlottetown was there, we had people from the Chamber of Commerce, some federal MPs and many interested individuals. There was a lot of interest and a lot of energy in the room.”
Anyone who wished to address Thursday night’s meeting was given five minutes to do so.
“There were a lot of different issues addressed,” Baglole said. “There was a lot of talk about a provincial museum. Not everybody brought it up but a lot of people did and there seemed to be a lot of support for the idea.”
Both Charlottetown and Stratford were suggested as prime locations for such a facility.
Baglole said there was talk Thursday night about the cultural landscape of P.E.I.
“There was a lot of talk about the look of the countryside, about buildings, churches and farmhouses and there was a lot of talk about agriculture and what would happen if agriculture ceases to be a major industry.”
Living culture also figured into Thursday’s discussions.
“We had representation from the Benevolent Irish Society and the Scottish Settlers Society, the Caledonia Club. People are seeking more recognition for Gaelic and Celtic culture.”
Baglole said the nature of the Charlottetown meeting was somewhat different than the other public meetings.
“In other places, there was a lot of discussion with regards to local issues. In Charlottetown, it was more like a summing up of things, a provincial focus.”
There was a general consensus that more resources must be dedicated to heritage issues.
“There is a general concern that successive provincial governments, dating back to the late 1970s, have not invested enough in our heritage. We need more resources, more vision, and better co-ordination of heritage efforts. We were told there was a need for high professional standards from tip to tip for our museums.”
Baglole said other issues raised Thursday included the status of Upton Farm, the need for more designation of heritage roads and the need for a natural history museum.
“There have been a number of people calling for a natural history museum and for a much larger emphasis on natural history in our education system. People said we need to talk more about the importance of the environment and our heritage.”
Baglole said the input received at these public meetings will be reviewed and incorporated into a special report being prepared for the province.
Included in that report as well will be input received from 25 individuals from across the Island invited to meet with those carrying out the study and from several stakeholders groups.
The stakeholders groups will include, for example, people concerned with aboriginal culture and people focused of specific issues like architecture.
Baglole noted that while the public meetings are over members of the public can still make written submissions.
All research and consultation is to be completed by the end of March.
A preliminary report will be made to the provincial government by late May. The final report will go to the province in June.
as published in The Guardian - February 23, 2008
The last of seven public meetings scheduled in conjunction with the Island Heritage Study drew more than 80 people to the Charlottetown Hotel Thursday.
“The turnout was very encouraging,” meeting chair Harry Baglole said Friday. “We had a number of city councillors out, the mayor of Charlottetown was there, we had people from the Chamber of Commerce, some federal MPs and many interested individuals. There was a lot of interest and a lot of energy in the room.”
Anyone who wished to address Thursday night’s meeting was given five minutes to do so.
“There were a lot of different issues addressed,” Baglole said. “There was a lot of talk about a provincial museum. Not everybody brought it up but a lot of people did and there seemed to be a lot of support for the idea.”
Both Charlottetown and Stratford were suggested as prime locations for such a facility.
Baglole said there was talk Thursday night about the cultural landscape of P.E.I.
“There was a lot of talk about the look of the countryside, about buildings, churches and farmhouses and there was a lot of talk about agriculture and what would happen if agriculture ceases to be a major industry.”
Living culture also figured into Thursday’s discussions.
“We had representation from the Benevolent Irish Society and the Scottish Settlers Society, the Caledonia Club. People are seeking more recognition for Gaelic and Celtic culture.”
Baglole said the nature of the Charlottetown meeting was somewhat different than the other public meetings.
“In other places, there was a lot of discussion with regards to local issues. In Charlottetown, it was more like a summing up of things, a provincial focus.”
There was a general consensus that more resources must be dedicated to heritage issues.
“There is a general concern that successive provincial governments, dating back to the late 1970s, have not invested enough in our heritage. We need more resources, more vision, and better co-ordination of heritage efforts. We were told there was a need for high professional standards from tip to tip for our museums.”
Baglole said other issues raised Thursday included the status of Upton Farm, the need for more designation of heritage roads and the need for a natural history museum.
“There have been a number of people calling for a natural history museum and for a much larger emphasis on natural history in our education system. People said we need to talk more about the importance of the environment and our heritage.”
Baglole said the input received at these public meetings will be reviewed and incorporated into a special report being prepared for the province.
Included in that report as well will be input received from 25 individuals from across the Island invited to meet with those carrying out the study and from several stakeholders groups.
The stakeholders groups will include, for example, people concerned with aboriginal culture and people focused of specific issues like architecture.
Baglole noted that while the public meetings are over members of the public can still make written submissions.
All research and consultation is to be completed by the end of March.
A preliminary report will be made to the provincial government by late May. The final report will go to the province in June.
Monday, February 18, 2008
What role for Island museums?
Heritage - THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST
by MONICA MACDONALD
as published in The Guardian - Feb 18, 2008
This is the second in a series of three articles meant to encourage and inform public participation in the Island Heritage Study commissioned by the provincial government. As part of the study, public meetings conducted by The IRIS Group are currently underway.
In museum circles everywhere there is always some big controversy but the fact is, most museum professionals can only hope for controversy - at least it gets public attention. In Prince Edward Island, that happened last year when the then-government announced that the main collection of provincial museum artifacts kept in the 'artifactory' in West Royalty would be moved to a new building in Murray River. Few expected the outpouring of disbelief, protest and downright vitriol that followed. Some supported the move. Others were surprised to learn that we even have a provincial museum with an artifact collection.
The traditional role of museums in general has been to preserve and protect the heritage resources entrusted to them, to conduct research on those resources or on topics related to them, and to disseminate the results through exhibition, publication and other modes of public education. While for most institutions these basic functions remain valid, museum environments and best practices are changing. In many facilities spaces now exist for school groups and children's activities as well as for community gatherings and special events. Exhibits are increasingly interactive and 'hands-on', involving the visitor in the learning process. Museums display 'visible storage' of artifact collections, which in past years were inaccessible to the public. Museum curators are more consultative with outside scholars and community groups, and their exhibit texts now often question previous assumptions as much as offer explanations.
Museums in Prince Edward Island include community-based sites like the Garden of the Gulf Museum in Montague, the Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead in Orwell Corner and the Lennox Island Mi'kmaq Cultural Centre. Most of these are run by dedicated volunteers and supported in very small part by a provincial government grant program. Island museums also include those seven under the auspices of the provincial government-supported Museum and Heritage Foundation. All, including the Confederation Centre Art Gallery (supported by a mix of federal and provincial funds) but not including the national historic sites run by Parks Canada, hold membership in the Community Museums Association of P.E.I. The primary goal of this non-profit group is to help raise museum standards through training and other support services.
The provincial museum system on the Island began in 1970 with the founding of the Heritage Foundation. In 1973, federal funds connected to the centennial established its headquarters at Beaconsfield, a historic house in downtown Charlottetown, as well as the first of the branch sites at Green Park (shipbuilding), Orwell Corner (historic village) and Basin Head (fisheries). The four together formed the basis of the current decentralized 'family' of seven.
Of these seven, like most of the other 30 or so museums Islandwide, four are seasonal - only Beaconsfield in Charlottetown, the Eptek Centre in Summerside and the Acadian Museum in Miscouche are open year-round. The latter two occasionally produce in-house exhibits or accept travelling exhibits to supplement their permanent displays, but the museum experience at Beaconsfield is limited. In addition to restricted hours during the school year, its period rooms are static. They do not present much opportunity for the diverse educational activities that are key to the mandates of provincial museum sites in off-Island urban centers. In the P.E.I. provincial museum system overall, also limited is the number of professional staff which in turn, affects the research, exhibition and publication output. Given this fact, efforts in public outreach like The Island Magazine are commendable.
Provincial museum systems elsewhere in Atlantic Canada present different models. With 27 sites Nova Scotia also has a decentralized system, but with a strong presence in Halifax of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the Museum of Natural History, as well as substantial operations elsewhere like in Stellarton and Parrsboro. The New Brunswick Museum has one complex, in Saint John: an older building housing the head office, collections and archives/library, and a new set of galleries for exhibits and public programs that opened in a separate location in the city in 1996. In St. John's, there's The Rooms. With an architectural design inspired by the communal fish-processing rooms of Newfoundland fishing families, The Rooms opened to great fanfare in 2005. Its buildings contain the provincial archives, art gallery, and museum, with three regional satellite museums - one in Grand Bank and two in Grand Falls-Windsor.
In all of the above jurisdictions, museums are an important part of heritage policy. In Prince Edward Island we have a good foundation but what emerged at the public meetings held over the artifactory issue last year is that people want more. The devil, however, is in the details.
Dr. Monica MacDonald is an adjunct professor in Canadian Studies at UPEI and an associate of The IRIS Group, an Island company specializing in public policy research. More information on the Island Heritage Study and the public meetings is available at http://islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
The third article in this series on Monday, Feb. 25 will look at some existing heritage policies.
by MONICA MACDONALD
as published in The Guardian - Feb 18, 2008
This is the second in a series of three articles meant to encourage and inform public participation in the Island Heritage Study commissioned by the provincial government. As part of the study, public meetings conducted by The IRIS Group are currently underway.
In museum circles everywhere there is always some big controversy but the fact is, most museum professionals can only hope for controversy - at least it gets public attention. In Prince Edward Island, that happened last year when the then-government announced that the main collection of provincial museum artifacts kept in the 'artifactory' in West Royalty would be moved to a new building in Murray River. Few expected the outpouring of disbelief, protest and downright vitriol that followed. Some supported the move. Others were surprised to learn that we even have a provincial museum with an artifact collection.
The traditional role of museums in general has been to preserve and protect the heritage resources entrusted to them, to conduct research on those resources or on topics related to them, and to disseminate the results through exhibition, publication and other modes of public education. While for most institutions these basic functions remain valid, museum environments and best practices are changing. In many facilities spaces now exist for school groups and children's activities as well as for community gatherings and special events. Exhibits are increasingly interactive and 'hands-on', involving the visitor in the learning process. Museums display 'visible storage' of artifact collections, which in past years were inaccessible to the public. Museum curators are more consultative with outside scholars and community groups, and their exhibit texts now often question previous assumptions as much as offer explanations.
Museums in Prince Edward Island include community-based sites like the Garden of the Gulf Museum in Montague, the Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead in Orwell Corner and the Lennox Island Mi'kmaq Cultural Centre. Most of these are run by dedicated volunteers and supported in very small part by a provincial government grant program. Island museums also include those seven under the auspices of the provincial government-supported Museum and Heritage Foundation. All, including the Confederation Centre Art Gallery (supported by a mix of federal and provincial funds) but not including the national historic sites run by Parks Canada, hold membership in the Community Museums Association of P.E.I. The primary goal of this non-profit group is to help raise museum standards through training and other support services.
The provincial museum system on the Island began in 1970 with the founding of the Heritage Foundation. In 1973, federal funds connected to the centennial established its headquarters at Beaconsfield, a historic house in downtown Charlottetown, as well as the first of the branch sites at Green Park (shipbuilding), Orwell Corner (historic village) and Basin Head (fisheries). The four together formed the basis of the current decentralized 'family' of seven.
Of these seven, like most of the other 30 or so museums Islandwide, four are seasonal - only Beaconsfield in Charlottetown, the Eptek Centre in Summerside and the Acadian Museum in Miscouche are open year-round. The latter two occasionally produce in-house exhibits or accept travelling exhibits to supplement their permanent displays, but the museum experience at Beaconsfield is limited. In addition to restricted hours during the school year, its period rooms are static. They do not present much opportunity for the diverse educational activities that are key to the mandates of provincial museum sites in off-Island urban centers. In the P.E.I. provincial museum system overall, also limited is the number of professional staff which in turn, affects the research, exhibition and publication output. Given this fact, efforts in public outreach like The Island Magazine are commendable.
Provincial museum systems elsewhere in Atlantic Canada present different models. With 27 sites Nova Scotia also has a decentralized system, but with a strong presence in Halifax of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the Museum of Natural History, as well as substantial operations elsewhere like in Stellarton and Parrsboro. The New Brunswick Museum has one complex, in Saint John: an older building housing the head office, collections and archives/library, and a new set of galleries for exhibits and public programs that opened in a separate location in the city in 1996. In St. John's, there's The Rooms. With an architectural design inspired by the communal fish-processing rooms of Newfoundland fishing families, The Rooms opened to great fanfare in 2005. Its buildings contain the provincial archives, art gallery, and museum, with three regional satellite museums - one in Grand Bank and two in Grand Falls-Windsor.
In all of the above jurisdictions, museums are an important part of heritage policy. In Prince Edward Island we have a good foundation but what emerged at the public meetings held over the artifactory issue last year is that people want more. The devil, however, is in the details.
Dr. Monica MacDonald is an adjunct professor in Canadian Studies at UPEI and an associate of The IRIS Group, an Island company specializing in public policy research. More information on the Island Heritage Study and the public meetings is available at http://islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
The third article in this series on Monday, Feb. 25 will look at some existing heritage policies.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Islanders use new technology to have their say about the past
Islanders use new technology to have their say about the past
An online blog has been created where Islanders can submit their comments about the preservation of the past
BY STAFF
As published by The Guardian - 15 Feb, 2008
Technology is providing a new way for Islanders to have their say about the preservation of the past. The comprehensive heritage study, being undertaken by The IRIS Group on behalf of the Cultural Affairs department, has created an online blog where Islanders can submit their comments and learn more about the study as it progresses.
Carolyn Bertram, minister responsible for heritage, said she was pleased to see the consultants making use of this new approach.
"We want to find out how all Islanders view heritage issues and the use of a blog will especially appeal to our younger audiences. It is exciting to be able to use the technology of today to stimulate discussion about heritage issues."
A blog is a public discussion board where individuals can post comments and engage in discussion.
At the Island Heritage Study Blog interested parties can also find updates on new study information almost immediately.
Diane Griffin, of The IRIS Group, said the blog is a place to share ideas and get feedback from other Islanders on those ideas.
"Sometimes one of the drawbacks to submitting a letter or brief is the lack of opportunity for response to questions or points raised. The blog also allows us to immediately post items related to the study that will be of interest to the blog readers. The blog is not simply convenient, it is an improvement in communication."
An online blog has been created where Islanders can submit their comments about the preservation of the past
BY STAFF
As published by The Guardian - 15 Feb, 2008
Technology is providing a new way for Islanders to have their say about the preservation of the past. The comprehensive heritage study, being undertaken by The IRIS Group on behalf of the Cultural Affairs department, has created an online blog where Islanders can submit their comments and learn more about the study as it progresses.
Carolyn Bertram, minister responsible for heritage, said she was pleased to see the consultants making use of this new approach.
"We want to find out how all Islanders view heritage issues and the use of a blog will especially appeal to our younger audiences. It is exciting to be able to use the technology of today to stimulate discussion about heritage issues."
A blog is a public discussion board where individuals can post comments and engage in discussion.
At the Island Heritage Study Blog interested parties can also find updates on new study information almost immediately.
Diane Griffin, of The IRIS Group, said the blog is a place to share ideas and get feedback from other Islanders on those ideas.
"Sometimes one of the drawbacks to submitting a letter or brief is the lack of opportunity for response to questions or points raised. The blog also allows us to immediately post items related to the study that will be of interest to the blog readers. The blog is not simply convenient, it is an improvement in communication."
The heritage study was launched to gather information about Islanders' interests and concerns with regard to heritage and to make recommendations about how the province should manage heritage resources. The blog can be found at www.islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
For more information about the study, to obtain a list of public meetings or find out more about how you can get involved, contact The IRIS Group at 675-4134, yvette@theIRISgroup.ca or www.theirisgroup.ca
Having a say about heritage policy
Having a say about heritage policy - The current round of hearings is an opportunity to discuss Island heritage and what needs to be done to protect it
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Guardian Published 08/February/2008
The public meetings now underway to discuss Island heritage are an ideal opportunity for Islanders to air their concerns and to express their priorities. The hearings also have the potential to play a key role in shaping public policy on heritage issues. To any Islander with an interest in this subject, the advice is simple: go and have your say.
They may not wear it on their sleeve, but Islanders hold their heritage near and dear. That’s obvious any time there’s controversy over a proposed policy or development that may threaten a cherished building or site deemed important to the Island’s past. One of the most high-profile debates occurred last year when the previous government announced its plans to move the province’s artifactory to Murray River.
Supporters of this move thought it would rescue an estimated 80,000 pieces of Island heritage from a leaky warehouse in the West Royalty Industrial Park and at the same time create an added attraction in this eastern end of the Island. Detractors condemned the plan saying it was taking the Island’s storehouse of historical treasures from a central location and making it less accessible not only to visitors but to those working in Island heritage who frequently make use of the collection.
So contentious was the debate that Liberal Leader Robert Ghiz promised in last May’s election campaign to put the move to Murray River on hold until it could be reviewed. And in the Ghiz government’s first budget last fall, it announced it would spend $75,000 to fix up the current artifactory location, presumably as a measure to protect the collection while buying some time to settle this and other heritage issues.
So where is the province headed when it comes to heritage policy? It has asked The IRIS Group to conduct a study to give it direction. The first phase of that study is a series of meetings now underway. As Diane Griffin, project leader for The IRIS Group, said recently, strong participation in the study, including the hearings, is key. “It’s important that various points of views be heard if our political leaders are to understand how passionately Islanders care about these issues.”
Ultimately it’s government that will decide what to do with the province’s collection of artifacts and how it will proceed with heritage policy in the province. But it has asked for public input in making those decisions. The current study is an opportunity for that input.
Let’s not forget what heritage really is. It’s not about a collection of old items, furniture or buildings. It’s what these things collectively represent. They’re a tangible link to our past. They’re pieces of history that tell some of the story of our parents and grandparents and their parents before them. They give us a glimpse of the society that helped shape who we are today. We all have a stake in how this past is preserved — and cherished — for future generations.
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Guardian Published 08/February/2008
The public meetings now underway to discuss Island heritage are an ideal opportunity for Islanders to air their concerns and to express their priorities. The hearings also have the potential to play a key role in shaping public policy on heritage issues. To any Islander with an interest in this subject, the advice is simple: go and have your say.
They may not wear it on their sleeve, but Islanders hold their heritage near and dear. That’s obvious any time there’s controversy over a proposed policy or development that may threaten a cherished building or site deemed important to the Island’s past. One of the most high-profile debates occurred last year when the previous government announced its plans to move the province’s artifactory to Murray River.
Supporters of this move thought it would rescue an estimated 80,000 pieces of Island heritage from a leaky warehouse in the West Royalty Industrial Park and at the same time create an added attraction in this eastern end of the Island. Detractors condemned the plan saying it was taking the Island’s storehouse of historical treasures from a central location and making it less accessible not only to visitors but to those working in Island heritage who frequently make use of the collection.
So contentious was the debate that Liberal Leader Robert Ghiz promised in last May’s election campaign to put the move to Murray River on hold until it could be reviewed. And in the Ghiz government’s first budget last fall, it announced it would spend $75,000 to fix up the current artifactory location, presumably as a measure to protect the collection while buying some time to settle this and other heritage issues.
So where is the province headed when it comes to heritage policy? It has asked The IRIS Group to conduct a study to give it direction. The first phase of that study is a series of meetings now underway. As Diane Griffin, project leader for The IRIS Group, said recently, strong participation in the study, including the hearings, is key. “It’s important that various points of views be heard if our political leaders are to understand how passionately Islanders care about these issues.”
Ultimately it’s government that will decide what to do with the province’s collection of artifacts and how it will proceed with heritage policy in the province. But it has asked for public input in making those decisions. The current study is an opportunity for that input.
Let’s not forget what heritage really is. It’s not about a collection of old items, furniture or buildings. It’s what these things collectively represent. They’re a tangible link to our past. They’re pieces of history that tell some of the story of our parents and grandparents and their parents before them. They give us a glimpse of the society that helped shape who we are today. We all have a stake in how this past is preserved — and cherished — for future generations.
08/02/08
Museums that won't bore the socks off my six-year-old
As published in The Guardian, 12 Feb 2008
Editor:
The IRIS Group's public meetings on heritage offer hope we Islanders may re-invent ourselves when it comes to this mother of all motherhood issues.
Expect these meetings to present a bee-hive of sorts: There'll be a queen bee of heritage, bursting with self-importance; several drones, doing what they do best, namely, drone on and on; and worker bees, who've had too much to do with too little help, the heroes of Island heritage these 30 years.
To me, there already is a Prince Edward Island Museum. The Island's 30 small community museums and Museum and Heritage P.E.I. sites are its chapters, some poorly, some elegantly written, to be sure. The Mi'kmaq Cultural Centre on Lennox Island, the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, Basin Head Fisheries Museum, the Potato Museum in O'Leary, the Irish Moss Interpretive Centre in Miminegash, Green Park Shipbuilding Centre, the shrines to Maud Montgomery, Elmira Railway Museum, the Fox Museum and P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame in Summerside, Orwell Corner Historic Village, present elemental chapters in our unfolding Island story. Meanwhile, hands-on sites such as Wyatt Heritage Properties enable us to experience how our Loyalist, Victorian and Edwardian ancestors worked and played.
No need then to build an over-arching Island museum, costing millions, to duplicate chapters that already exist. Nor do we need another white elephant such as we see pastured at Founders' Hall.
Rather, Islanders should ponder what chapters are lacking in this book of the Island. The greatest omission is a natural history museum, pulsating with the living, breathing creatures who've lived here over the millennia. A site such as this, championed by Dr. Tom Hall, Don Groom and others, would draw thousands every year annually to see, touch and feel what makes us Islanders. Infused with Sea World smarts, it will make money, not squander it.
In short, if we must build more museums, let's build museums that won't bore the socks off my six-year-old. For an Island that's given us wondrous kitchen table inventors from Abraham Gesner and Thomas B. Hall to Lloyd Ellis and Sonny Huestis, this shouldn't pose a problem.
Wayne Wright,
Summerside
Editor:
The IRIS Group's public meetings on heritage offer hope we Islanders may re-invent ourselves when it comes to this mother of all motherhood issues.
Expect these meetings to present a bee-hive of sorts: There'll be a queen bee of heritage, bursting with self-importance; several drones, doing what they do best, namely, drone on and on; and worker bees, who've had too much to do with too little help, the heroes of Island heritage these 30 years.
To me, there already is a Prince Edward Island Museum. The Island's 30 small community museums and Museum and Heritage P.E.I. sites are its chapters, some poorly, some elegantly written, to be sure. The Mi'kmaq Cultural Centre on Lennox Island, the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, Basin Head Fisheries Museum, the Potato Museum in O'Leary, the Irish Moss Interpretive Centre in Miminegash, Green Park Shipbuilding Centre, the shrines to Maud Montgomery, Elmira Railway Museum, the Fox Museum and P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame in Summerside, Orwell Corner Historic Village, present elemental chapters in our unfolding Island story. Meanwhile, hands-on sites such as Wyatt Heritage Properties enable us to experience how our Loyalist, Victorian and Edwardian ancestors worked and played.
No need then to build an over-arching Island museum, costing millions, to duplicate chapters that already exist. Nor do we need another white elephant such as we see pastured at Founders' Hall.
Rather, Islanders should ponder what chapters are lacking in this book of the Island. The greatest omission is a natural history museum, pulsating with the living, breathing creatures who've lived here over the millennia. A site such as this, championed by Dr. Tom Hall, Don Groom and others, would draw thousands every year annually to see, touch and feel what makes us Islanders. Infused with Sea World smarts, it will make money, not squander it.
In short, if we must build more museums, let's build museums that won't bore the socks off my six-year-old. For an Island that's given us wondrous kitchen table inventors from Abraham Gesner and Thomas B. Hall to Lloyd Ellis and Sonny Huestis, this shouldn't pose a problem.
Wayne Wright,
Summerside
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
City Councillor says heritage attractions need 'Disney' effect.
Brent Gallant of Summerside urges province to find experts to make product more exciting
by MIKE ARNOLD - as published by THE GUARDIAN - Feb 12, 2008
SUMMERSIDE - A city councillor says it's time to change the way things are done if Island heritage and museum attractions are to appeal to greater numbers of visitors and residents alike.
Coun. Brent Gallant, the city's liaison to the Wyatt Heritage Properties, said the province needs to invest in expertise to create a new and more attractive image for heritage attractions and museums across the Island.
"We have to create a product that has its own gravitational pull," he said. "That bland experience that we've basically had for the past number of years here, it just doesn't work."
Gallant said the major gap in these attractions is the lack of a "Disney" effect.
"What Disney is, is an attraction," he said "It's an epic event. We have a myriad of small unattended displays. This province is full of them."
The councillor said many of these could be packaged, making it a bigger event, making it worthwhile and in turn attracting more people.
"I can do a fox museum and a potato museum and I could do all this cultural stuff in a one-stop shopping event," he said. "It makes it more exciting."
Gallant said there is a group which is keen on the way heritage is presented today.
"That's all well and good but the fact is if nobody else is seeing that then you're defeating the purpose," he said.
"You've got to put a little more Disney in it to make it more exciting to go. If you don't do that and you only rely on what we've always done then you can expect to get the results we've always gotten. We can't be expected to just throw something up here and this happen back then. It's just not enough excitement."
Gallant says he isn't promoting the use of Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck but rather using today's technology to enhance the presentation and experience of heritage on P.E.I.
He said he doesn't have the answers to this problem. He wants the province to invest in expertise and then back off from those experts and let them do their job.
"We need to be more exciting and inviting and if that takes away from some of the traditional ways we've done it then so be it," he said.
"It's basically more important to have the numbers come in and see the product and enjoy and experience the product then it is to keep it so pure and pristine that only those, that small little section of society, that lives in that world experiences it."
Gallant said it's going to take a wholesale change from what has been done for the past 50-plus years to increase numbers to these attractions.
summerside@theguardian.pe.ca
by MIKE ARNOLD - as published by THE GUARDIAN - Feb 12, 2008
SUMMERSIDE - A city councillor says it's time to change the way things are done if Island heritage and museum attractions are to appeal to greater numbers of visitors and residents alike.
Coun. Brent Gallant, the city's liaison to the Wyatt Heritage Properties, said the province needs to invest in expertise to create a new and more attractive image for heritage attractions and museums across the Island.
"We have to create a product that has its own gravitational pull," he said. "That bland experience that we've basically had for the past number of years here, it just doesn't work."
Gallant said the major gap in these attractions is the lack of a "Disney" effect.
"What Disney is, is an attraction," he said "It's an epic event. We have a myriad of small unattended displays. This province is full of them."
The councillor said many of these could be packaged, making it a bigger event, making it worthwhile and in turn attracting more people.
"I can do a fox museum and a potato museum and I could do all this cultural stuff in a one-stop shopping event," he said. "It makes it more exciting."
Gallant said there is a group which is keen on the way heritage is presented today.
"That's all well and good but the fact is if nobody else is seeing that then you're defeating the purpose," he said.
"You've got to put a little more Disney in it to make it more exciting to go. If you don't do that and you only rely on what we've always done then you can expect to get the results we've always gotten. We can't be expected to just throw something up here and this happen back then. It's just not enough excitement."
Gallant says he isn't promoting the use of Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck but rather using today's technology to enhance the presentation and experience of heritage on P.E.I.
He said he doesn't have the answers to this problem. He wants the province to invest in expertise and then back off from those experts and let them do their job.
"We need to be more exciting and inviting and if that takes away from some of the traditional ways we've done it then so be it," he said.
"It's basically more important to have the numbers come in and see the product and enjoy and experience the product then it is to keep it so pure and pristine that only those, that small little section of society, that lives in that world experiences it."
Gallant said it's going to take a wholesale change from what has been done for the past 50-plus years to increase numbers to these attractions.
summerside@theguardian.pe.ca
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Future of Our Past
as published in The Guardian (Charlottetown) Opinion, Monday, February 11, 2008, p. A7
This is the first in a series of three articles meant to encourage and inform public participation in the Island Heritage Study commissioned by the provincial government. As part of the study, public meetings conducted by The IRIS Group are currently underway.
By Monica MacDonald
What is heritage and why is it important enough for the government of Prince Edward Island to commission a comprehensive study of it?
First, heritage is not history. History can be defined both as the sum of all past events, as well as the written accounts about those events by historians. Heritage, as the provincial government has defined it, is the tangible and intangible remains of our natural and cultural past, like fossils, artifacts and folksongs. Activities of the provincial government in heritage include the preservation and protection of these remains, as well as their interpretation to wider audiences than scholarly history is usually able to reach.
The best of heritage practice does not aim to be celebratory or nostalgic but is analytical and educative, informing the present and even helping us make decisions about the world around us. An exhibition on natural history can illuminate aspects of our ancient past, but can also make us aware of the environmental problems of our own day, and compel us to act. A presentation on the origins of certain cultural or religious rites can reveal that there is often much more behind what is taken for mere custom or tradition. Public spaces where these displays and discussions take place area vital part of a dynamic heritage environment.
Heritage has been important to people as a component of identity. Access to common stories and objects of the past helps to create social cohesion, a connectedness to a group defined in national, provincial, ethnic, or other terms. This can have a dark side if used as a means of exclusion, but it can also empower those whose pasts were hitherto neglected. Until the 20thcentury, for example, with some exceptions, the written and other cultural records of women, Aboriginal peoples, people of non-European descent and the working classes were not deemed as worthy of retention as those of upper-class, white males. Greater attention to this fact in more recent ears allows our archives, museums and libraries to facilitate a wider knowledge of the past and present realities of these groups.
Heritage has an impact on our contemporary lives in other ways. Historians of the Atlantic provinces have long recognized that a common perception of the region as unprogressive, conservative and quaint, is at least partly due to both national and local depictions of our past. Historian Margaret Conrad, for one, believes this has a negative impact on federal public policy concerning the region. As the province with the first female elected premier and the first provincial premier of non-European ancestry in Canada,Prince Edward Island hardly fits this stereotype. But what about our past is nationally known besides the Charlottetown Conference that led to Confederation and the story of the little girl with red braids? Worthy subjects, both, but as students of P.E.I. history well know, there is much more to it than that. In order for the rest of Canada to be aware of this fact, however, we have to be aware of it ourselves.
Heritage is deemed an important part of the tourism industry and indeed, one can speak of heritage itself as an industry. As a way to draw visitors to the Island and a way to create jobs, it is considered part of our economic engine. Entrance or user fees like those charged at historic sites are used to help offset costs in site maintenance, as well as costs associated with efforts in interpretation and education. But we must be vigilant about maintaining commercial activities at a sustainable level and ensure that heritage, as defined in the above terms as far as government is concerned,is supported for its own sake; that it remains a public service and accessible to all as part of our cultural rights.In professional history we have come a long way from the days when our knowledge of the Island’s past was connected primarily to national events at the expense of the regional or provincial, where cultural diversity was unacknowledged and where the “great men, great events” version of history reigned supreme. Governments cannot create policy for history, but they can create policy for heritage. The opportunity now exists for Islanders to help make government responsibility in this area a key aspect of our provincial public policy, and to support it as a vehicle for education about our past,present and future.
Dr. Monica MacDonald is an adjunct professor in Canadian Studies at UPEI and an associate of The IRIS Group, an Island company specializing in public policy research.
More information on the Island Heritage Study and the public meetings is available at http://islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
The second article in this series on Monday, Feb. 18 will examine the role of museums.
© 2008 The Guardian (Charlottetown). All rights reserved.
This is the first in a series of three articles meant to encourage and inform public participation in the Island Heritage Study commissioned by the provincial government. As part of the study, public meetings conducted by The IRIS Group are currently underway.
By Monica MacDonald
What is heritage and why is it important enough for the government of Prince Edward Island to commission a comprehensive study of it?
First, heritage is not history. History can be defined both as the sum of all past events, as well as the written accounts about those events by historians. Heritage, as the provincial government has defined it, is the tangible and intangible remains of our natural and cultural past, like fossils, artifacts and folksongs. Activities of the provincial government in heritage include the preservation and protection of these remains, as well as their interpretation to wider audiences than scholarly history is usually able to reach.
The best of heritage practice does not aim to be celebratory or nostalgic but is analytical and educative, informing the present and even helping us make decisions about the world around us. An exhibition on natural history can illuminate aspects of our ancient past, but can also make us aware of the environmental problems of our own day, and compel us to act. A presentation on the origins of certain cultural or religious rites can reveal that there is often much more behind what is taken for mere custom or tradition. Public spaces where these displays and discussions take place area vital part of a dynamic heritage environment.
Heritage has been important to people as a component of identity. Access to common stories and objects of the past helps to create social cohesion, a connectedness to a group defined in national, provincial, ethnic, or other terms. This can have a dark side if used as a means of exclusion, but it can also empower those whose pasts were hitherto neglected. Until the 20thcentury, for example, with some exceptions, the written and other cultural records of women, Aboriginal peoples, people of non-European descent and the working classes were not deemed as worthy of retention as those of upper-class, white males. Greater attention to this fact in more recent ears allows our archives, museums and libraries to facilitate a wider knowledge of the past and present realities of these groups.
Heritage has an impact on our contemporary lives in other ways. Historians of the Atlantic provinces have long recognized that a common perception of the region as unprogressive, conservative and quaint, is at least partly due to both national and local depictions of our past. Historian Margaret Conrad, for one, believes this has a negative impact on federal public policy concerning the region. As the province with the first female elected premier and the first provincial premier of non-European ancestry in Canada,Prince Edward Island hardly fits this stereotype. But what about our past is nationally known besides the Charlottetown Conference that led to Confederation and the story of the little girl with red braids? Worthy subjects, both, but as students of P.E.I. history well know, there is much more to it than that. In order for the rest of Canada to be aware of this fact, however, we have to be aware of it ourselves.
Heritage is deemed an important part of the tourism industry and indeed, one can speak of heritage itself as an industry. As a way to draw visitors to the Island and a way to create jobs, it is considered part of our economic engine. Entrance or user fees like those charged at historic sites are used to help offset costs in site maintenance, as well as costs associated with efforts in interpretation and education. But we must be vigilant about maintaining commercial activities at a sustainable level and ensure that heritage, as defined in the above terms as far as government is concerned,is supported for its own sake; that it remains a public service and accessible to all as part of our cultural rights.In professional history we have come a long way from the days when our knowledge of the Island’s past was connected primarily to national events at the expense of the regional or provincial, where cultural diversity was unacknowledged and where the “great men, great events” version of history reigned supreme. Governments cannot create policy for history, but they can create policy for heritage. The opportunity now exists for Islanders to help make government responsibility in this area a key aspect of our provincial public policy, and to support it as a vehicle for education about our past,present and future.
Dr. Monica MacDonald is an adjunct professor in Canadian Studies at UPEI and an associate of The IRIS Group, an Island company specializing in public policy research.
More information on the Island Heritage Study and the public meetings is available at http://islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com
The second article in this series on Monday, Feb. 18 will examine the role of museums.
© 2008 The Guardian (Charlottetown). All rights reserved.
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