Charting a Course for Heritage

 

Island Road: by Diane Griffin

 

The draft report on the Island Heritage Study is available for public review. It is attached here in PDF form.

Island Heritage DRAFT Report for Review

As part of this study, The IRIS Group held public meetings in seven Island communities, hosted eight stakeholder group sessions, ran a blog, and interviewed many key players on the Island heritage scene.  In these ways, over 500 people participated in the project.

“We received a tremendous amount of information during our public consultation process,” said Diane Griffin of The IRIS Group. “Many people who are interested in the Island’s heritage took the opportunity to express their views. It showed our nine-member project team just how strongly Islanders feel about their heritage.  Now we are offering an additional opportunity for feedback. Before the recommendations are finalized, we invite all Islanders to review the draft report and to make comments.”

After further revision following public response, the report will be presented to the Honourable Carolyn Bertram, the Minister of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour.

The report is available here on the heritage project’s blog site or on The IRIS Group’s webpage at www.theirisgroup.ca

For those without access to the Internet, telephone Yvette at 892-9788 to have a copy delivered through the postal system.   Comments will be considered until August 17^th.

 

Notre patrimoine risque de se perdre à tout jamais si on ne fait rien

 

De gauche à droite, Francis Blanchard, Noëlla Richard, Béatrice Caillié, Yvette Arsenault, Réjeanne Doucette, Monic Gallant, Cécile Gallant, Karine Gallant et Albin Arsenault. 

L’avenir du patrimoine

Le gouvernement provincial a tenu en février des consultations publiques sur le patrimoine de l’Île.  Tout un processus a été mis en place pour assurer que toutes les personnes ayant une opinion puissent se faire entendre.  Un carnet Web a été créé, et les gens ont jusqu’au 31 mars 2008 pour envoyer des présentations écrites. 

C’est la seconde fois en deux ans que le gouvernement provincial tient des audiences publiques sur le patrimoine.  En 2006-2007, le gouvernement Binns avait lancé, un peu en catastrophe, un processus de consultation sur l’idée d’un «artefactory» provincial, un genre de centre de conservation des artefacts qu’il voulait pour sa circonscription, loin de tout. 

L’idée de Pat Binns avait alors donné naissance à l’idée de créer un véritable musée provincial, doublé d’un véritable centre de traitement et de conservation des artefacts et des archives.  L’idée du musée provincial était au cœur des consultations sous le régime Binns.  Peu de gens s’opposaient carrément à une institution de ce genre. 

Maintenant, nous sommes sous le régime Ghiz, et une fois de plus, le public est consulté sur le patrimoine.  On pose des questions comme «Est-ce que le patrimoine est important pour vous?» et «Quelles sont les forces et les faiblesses de nos institutions?»

Avec ces questions relativement vagues, le gouvernement cherche à «envisager la prochaine et vaste phase du développement de notre patrimoine».

Combien vaste exactement cette prochaine phase du développement patrimonial sera-t-elle ?  Le document reste vague sur ce point.   Supposons qu’il n’en tienne qu’à nous de dire ce que nous voulons.  Que voulons-nous ?

-Nous voulons que les musées et en particulier le Musée acadien de l’Î.-P.-É. reçoivent le financement dont ils ont besoin pour faire rayonner le patrimoine, pour éduquer les jeunes, pour contribuer activement à la sauvegarde du patrimoine;

-Nous voulons qu’un ou des inventaires sérieux soient faits et tenus à jour en ce qui concerne les collections privées, les endroits du patrimoine naturel, les documents d’archives, etc.;

-Nous voulons que l’Île se dote d’un centre de traitement des archives visuelles et sonores, capables de prendre des enregistrement sur ruban, de les transférer sur des supports numériques, et de les mettre ainsi à la disposition du public chercheur. 

-Nous voulons que le patrimoine naturel, nos belles côtes, et nos falaises, soient sauvegardés le plus possible de la destruction humaine, et que nos belles vues sur la mer soient conservées intactes;

-Nous voulons que tout ce qui mérite d’être sauvegardé pour les générations futures puissent l’être, qu’il s’agisse d’un vieux banc d’école, d’une vieille machine à coudre ou d’une église ;

-Nous voulons que les gens connaissent la richesse et la valeur de leur patrimoine et de leur histoire, et qu’ils soient capables de communiquer cela autour d’eux, en particulier à la génération suivante;

-Nous voulons un musée provincial pour raconter l’histoire qui n’est pas racontée ailleurs à l’Île et nous voulons que les musées communautaires et spécialisés reçoivent des ressources adéquates pour continuer leur important travail de conservation. 

-Nous voulons que les lieux sacrés, les anciens cimetières, soient identifiés avec précision et marqués sur des cartes et des plaques commémoratives;

-Nous voulons que des jeunes qui choisissent de faire des études dans un domaine relié au patrimoine puissent trouver un emploi dans leur domaine, sans dépendre de maigres projets sans lendemain. 

-Bien entendu, nous voulons un bon accès à des services en français.

-Nous voulons des gouvernements qui agissent. 

lavoix-27fev-p4-bon.pdf

lavoix-27fev-p5-bon.pdf

March 31st Deadline for Submissions

Stratford, March 10, 2008

For Immediate Release:

March 31 Deadline for Heritage Submissions

March 31^st is the deadline to receive briefs or other written submissions related to the Island Heritage Study being conducted by The IRIS Group. 

Diane Griffin, project leader, says, “Many people have indicated how important the Island’s heritage is to them and how they would like to see it managed. We want to be sure everyone has the opportunity to give us their input.”

The IRIS Group is conducting the study for the Provincial Government and has been seeking public input—a very significant component of the consultation.  In February, seven public meetings were held across the Island to get the views of residents on issues and concerns related to heritage.  During March, stakeholder consultation sessions are being held to give heritage groups and key heritage individuals the opportunity to give more detailed input to the project team.

Submissions can be mailed to The Island Heritage Study, c/o The IRIS Group, P.O. Box 21150, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 9H6 or posted on the project blog at www.islandheritagestudy.wordpress.com or sent by e-mail to yvette@theIRISgroup.ca

For further information, contact Diane Griffin 569-2343 or Harry Baglole 675-4134

Public Heritage Meeting at Charlottetown Hotel

A large, enthusiastic crowd of over 85 people brought the Island-wide series of Heritage Study public meetings to a strong close at the Charlottetown Hotel on Thursday evening, Feb. 21^st.   

^{The Public Heritage Meeting, chaired by Andrea Arbic for The IRIS Group, at the Rodd’s Charlottetown Hotel}

The presentations lasted for almost three hours, until everyone who wanted a say had expressed his or her views.  Each individual was given up to five minutes to have their say, based on the large numbers having something to say. Everyone was also invited to submit their presentation electronically or by mail to The IRIS Group.

Just about every aspect of Island heritage was touched upon, from landscape, to folklore, to railroad history.  The preservation of our rural landscape — including churches, seascapes, and villages – was a recurring theme throughout the evening.  This included the issue of green space in the greater Charlottetown area, focusing on the old Upton Farm and the former federal Experimental Farm.  Related to this was a presentation calling for an expansion of the Island’s Heritage Road program.

The Celtic community was out in force, with several presentations calling for a stronger interpretation of the Scots and Irish contribution to Island culture – and reminding us that PEI is the most Celtic of all the provinces.  Another speaker pointed out the abiding fact of the aboriginal presence: a vital, foundational element in any interpretation of the Island story.

Another key theme was natural history, especially as it relates to schools and the education of our youth.  The Museum Act gave this mandate to the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation in the 1980s, yet little has been done to implement it.

The issue of a possible new or renewed provincial museum was also a recurring subject. Just about everyone who touched on this agreed that strengthened central capacity was important for all museums in the province, including the many community museums. One speaker maintained that we already, in fact, have a provincial museum – one comprised of many parts in different places.  The Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce proposed that a strengthened provincial museum facility be included in a “heritage and arts cluster”, projected for a restored Federal Building in downtown Charlottetown.  And a Town Councillor from Stratford advocated the construction of a new provincial museum building on the shorefront in her community, overlooking Charlottetown and the harbour.

And, finally, a couple of people underlined a theme which was repeated often over the past three weeks of public meetings: although the strengthening of heritage research and interpretation is very important as a way of increasing our attraction as a destination for cultural tourism, this should be done first and foremost for Islanders, to tell our own story and strengthen our own identity. And if we do that well enough, then it will also be compelling for others.   

One of the most heartfelt contributions came as a thank-you from a sixth generation Island farmer. He spoke of the things he had inherited from his ancestors, and how he hoped to be able to pass them on with the farm to his son. He thanked those at the Charlottetown meeting for “thinking of the farmer”:  proof indeed of the continuing strength of our “living heritage.”  

 

Preserving the past through public policy

The Future of Our Past

St. Mary’s of the People Catholic Church undergoing renovations, 1998, Hunter River - Photo by Ann Howatt

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.

Heritage Sentiments Run High in Summerside; Next Meeting in Montague

A large and feisty crowd of 35 people attended Tuesday evening’s Heritage Study meeting at Eptek Centre, in Summerside. This was the 5th in a series of seven public meetings being held across the Island.

Those making presentations included veteran heritage activists Betty Howatt, Faye Pound, Paul Schurman, and Summerside and Area Historical Society President George Dalton. Many other eloquent voices were also heard.

As the evening progressed, three or four dominant themes emerged. One was the need for a heritage policy which addressed preservation of the “living heritage”, including buildings, cultural landscape, and oral history. Another was the need for better coordination of heritage policy and action in the Island, so that folks cooperated rather than competed for scarce resources. Still another was the need for substantially greater provincial museum capacity, with a stronger presence in Summerside. Several people called for a new provincial museum, with Summerside (preferably) or Charlottetown as the location.

Above all, though, people were impatient for action – and adamant that this report not sit on the shelf and gather dust like so many others. There was a sense – pretty well unanimous – that the past several decades has been a period of relative stagnation in provincial heritage policy and action.

The next public Heritage Meeting takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 20th, at the Church of Christ Hall in Montague, beginning at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.

Meetings in Summerside, Montague, and Charlottetown

The final three of seven public meetings, part of the Island Heritage Study, will be held this week, Tuesday through Thursday.

On Tuesday, the 19th, the locality is Summerside, at the Eptek Exhibition Centre. The venue moves to Montague on Wednesday, at the Church of Christ Hall on Main Street. The meetings finish on Thursday in Charlottetown, at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel.

All meetings begin at 7:00 and last about two hours.

Interested members of the public are urged to attend. You’ll never have a better chance to articulate your views about the future of Island heritage!

Please check back with this blog if the weather is poor on any of these nights, for cancellation updates and re-scheduling.

What Role for Island Museums?

Students viewing an exhibit at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, 2007

 

 

The Future of Our Past

What Role for Island Museums?

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 PEI. 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 thirty or so museums Island-wide, 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 traveling 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 PEI 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 twenty-seven 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.

The third article in this series on Monday, February 25 will look at some existing heritage policies.

Public Meetings in Summerside, Montague and Charlottetown This Week

 

The final three of seven public meetings, part of the Island Heritage Study, will be held this week, Tuesday through Thursday.

 

On Tuesday, the 19th, the locality is Summerside, at the Eptek Exhibition Centre. The venue moves to Montague on Wednesday, at the Church of Christ Hall on Main Street. The meetings finish on Thursday in Charlottetown, at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel.

 

All meetings begin at 7:00 and last about two hours.

 

Interested members of the public are urged to attend. You’ll never have a better chance to articulate your views about the future of Island heritage!  

Local Issues Dominate Hunter River Heritage Meeting

 Heading home on St. Valentine’s Day from the public heritage meeting in Hunter River

Local issues dominated the discussion at the Hunter River meeting in the Island Heritage Study series of public gatherings, held at Central Queen’s Elementary School on Thursday night. Upwards of 30 people attended the event, which had been twice-cancelled because of foul weather.

Foremost on people’s minds was maintaining the rural character and architectural beauty of Hunter River itself, of one of the Island’s most picturesque villages. The greatest perceived threat is a provincial government plan to widen Highway 2, which runs through Hunter River. This would have major ramifications, including the possible destruction of some of the area’s beautiful heritage homes. Concern was also expressed about pollution in the village pond and lack of government support for recognizing and encouraging the restoration of  heritage properties in rural environments.

“An over-riding concern for these people,” says Heritage Study organizer Harry Baglole, who chaired the meeting “is the perceived lack of overall coordination of government policy governing heritage and related matters, such as cultural landscape protection. Many government initiatives seem to be working at cross purposes.”

In addition to the local participants, about a dozen individuals attended from other communities. Jack Sorenson, the President of the Tryon and Area Historical Society, called for greater government support for local heritage organizations. Dan McAskill,  well-known Island naturalist,  urged the creation of a PEI Natural History Museum.  Judy MacDonald, representing TIAPEI, stressed the link between the future of a vital tourism industry and progressive heritage and cultural  landscape protection policy. And Irene Novaczek, a member of the Breadalbane Community Council, pointed to the vision of a dynamic provincial museum dedicated to teaching our young the whole Island story, including greater respect for our land, water and wildlife.     

The Island Heritage Study meetings conclude this week with gatherings on three consecutive nights: Summerside, Eptek Centre, on Tuesday the 19^th; Montague, Church of Christ Hall, on Wednesday the 20^th; and Charlottetown, Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, on Thursday, the 21^st. All meetings start at 7:00 p.m.  The storm date for all meetings is Monday, the 25^th..

For updates, for information about possible cancellations due to the weather, and to make on-line comments, visit this blog regularly.