Heritage BC Quarterly Winter 2012

Winter 2012

Local Government Holds the Key Last fall British Columbians went to the polls to determine who would fill the elected positions in their local governments. Now the hundreds of successful candidates have a big job ahead of them. In municipal council chambers and regional district board rooms, they will be making many of the decisions that shape our communities. And that certainly includes heritage because in B.C. the responsibility and authority to conserve heritage is delegated to the local level. Most critical decisions concerning heritage in your community are not made by cabinet ministers in the provincial legislature or in Ottawa, but by your elected officials, staff and advisory commissions.

These days, local governments more than ever before are doing most of the heavy lifting. With so many competing demands for attention and funding, it is not easy to stay informed and engaged, and to make the right decisions.

So whenever we see a community where leaders are making the commitment to heritage conservation, and sticking with it over years and decades, we should take note.

There are many such communities in B.C. In this issue we pause to take notice of one of them, Nanaimo, in recognition of the City’s receipt of the Prince of Wales Prize honourable mention last fall.

READ THE FULL STORY ON NANAIMO ON PAGE 7.

PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF NANAIMO

HERITAGE WEEK FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 ENERGY IN B.C. 2 BOWEN ISLAND YOUNG CURATOR PROGRAM 3 THE GAMING GRANTS REVIEW EDITORIAL: WHAT IS GAMING FOR? 4-5 STANLEY PARK’S ROCK GARDEN BUILDING PERMIT DATABASE 6 CITY OF NANAIMO AWARD 7 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL ANGERS VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOOD 8 A CALL TO RENEW: UNION OF B.C. MUNICIPALITIES HERITAGE BRANCH 9 IN THE NEWS MESSAGES 10-11

www.heritagebc.ca

2012

HERITAGE WEEK FEBRUARY 20-16, 2012

Powerhouse at Stave Falls

HERITAGE WEEK

20-26 FEBRUARY

2012 Stave Falls Powerhouse Energy. We need it to move, to see, to stay warm, to cook, and just to have fun. Without it, we couldn’t work, build or grow.

We need energy to live.

The simple fact that water seeks its own level is the foundation of British Columbia’s wealth of hydroelectrical power. Wherever large bodies of water hold latent power there is the potential to generate electricity. A century ago, the search was on for hydro generation opportunities near the City of Vancouver and its rapidly growing demand for electricity.

Finding, extracting and producing energy has been a big part of British Columbia’s history.

One of the earliest hydroelectric projects was located in the Fraser Valley. Drawing on the vast head of water in Stave Lake, the Western Canada Power Company built the Stave Falls Powerhouse and Dam between 1909 and 1911.

When a new powerhouse opened in 2000, there was the question of what to do with the historic facility next door. BC Hydro turned it into the Stave Falls Visitors Centre to showcase the history of electrical power generation in B.C. and provide a perspective on the future.

Today the story is more about conserving energy to ensure a sustainable tomorrow, but we will always need power.

Painting by Robert Amos RCA 2011

The Western Canada Power Company found the water source 65 kilometres east of the city at Stave Lake. The lakes and rivers of the watershed feeding into the Fraser River provided an ideal head of water to power an electrical generation plant.

Work began in 1909 and the Stave Falls Powerhouse opened on January 1, 2012.

www.heritagebc.ca PUBLISHED BY THE HERITAGE SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FINANCIALLY ASSISTED BY THE HERITAGE LEGACY FUND SUPPORTED BY

SUPPORTED BY

Other components were added over the years. In the 1920s, water from Alouette Lake was directed by tunnel to the Alouette Powerhouse on the Stave Falls reservoir. Water then flowed on to the Stave Falls plant, a second point of generation in the descent to the Fraser Valley. A third generation station at Ruskin, below Stave Falls, added yet another capture point to the system. Before reaching the Fraser River and, ultimately, the Pacific, water passing through the three powerhouses generates 205 Megawatts of electricity.

By the 1990s, the Stave Falls Powerhouse was worn out and obsolete. BC Hydro, which had acquired Stave Falls decades earlier, built a new powerhouse right next to the old one, but the question remained, what to do with the historic facility? Colin Gurnsey, manager of land and social issues for BC Hydro at the time, commissioned a study on possible uses for the old powerhouse. A former Heritage BC board member with a lot of interest in history and archaeology, Colin felt that it would be possible to keep the building, forego the expense of demolition, and use the savings to create an interpretive centre.

SPREAD THE WORD! HERITAGE BC IS ON FACEBOOK.

“Withwww.heritagebc.ca all this change, can we reasonably hope for a change of heart as well, at least as far as heritage is concerned?”

And that is what happened. The Stave Falls Powerhouse Interpretive Centre opened in 2001. Now a National Historic Site, Stave Falls tells the story of the powerhouse’s own history, of BC Hydro, and electrical generation in BC. The centre offers self-guided tours, interactive exhibits, a history gallery and a 50 seat theatre, all in a stunning natural setting. The powerhouse itself is a great exhibit because so much of the century-old electrical generation technology is visible. A walk through the huge generator hall is like taking a trip inside a giant machine. The powerhouse is open Wednesday to Sunday year round.

THE HERITAGE WEEK 2012 POSTER FEATURES A PAINTING BY ROBERT AMOS. FOR MORE ABOUT HERITAGE WEEK INCLUDING COMMUNITY EVENTS CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE!

HERITAGE WEEK COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

New Bowen Island Youth Curator Program The Bowen Island Community School Youth Curator Program provides an opportunity for students to celebrate and explore local history through visits to the local museum and archives, independent study and the creation of an interactive heritage display which is shared with the entire school and the community.

The program was developed by Sarah Haxby, Community School Coordinator, and Heather Joan Tam, Bowen Island Museum and Archives curator. It complements the school’s existing tradition of holding a fun, school-wide celebratory Heritage Day, and establishes a balance by having the students visiting the local museum and archives, as well as having the Bowen Island Museum and Archives and the Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association members come to visit the school.

In 2011, grade 4/5 students Kayla, Sovereign, Chloe, Brylie, Molly, Mia, Willow and Mait wrote mini essays on why they wanted to become youth curators. Once the parent permission forms are in, the youth curators have a chance to participate in what happens ‘behind the scenes’ in the museum and archives over a series of visits. Youth curators research their selected topics at the archives, online, and by interviewing local seniors, and then they create an exhibit at the school. Students commit 4-5 lunch hours for the program, as well as time for independent research.

This hands-on, interactive program is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Bowen Island Museum and Archives, The Archives and Museum curator Heather Joan Tam, Board liaison Andrew Todd, professional conservator, and the Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association; all of these community partners have a long standing tradition of bringing fabulous events, workshops and celebrations of our local heritage and history to the community and to the community school.

Now in its third year, the 2012 Youth Curator program has recently received funding support from Decoda Literacy Solutions and the Province of BC that will allow the program to continue and to expand over the upcoming year. The Youth Curator program was developed to empower youth to identify as being part of our community’s present and future by promoting literacy and awareness of our past. The 2012 youth curators are excited to create an exhibit inspired by this year’s BC Heritage Week theme: a celebration of Energy in B.C. PHOTOS FROM TOP: WILLOW AND MIA RESEARCHED THE OLD GENERAL STORE THAT THE COMMUNITY SAVED FROM DEMOLITION; CHLOE RESEARCHED THE HISTORY OF THE UNION STEAMSHIP COMPANY, WITH CURATOR HEATHER JOAN TAM; MOLLY RESEARCHED THE KITCHENS IN HISTORIC DAVIES ORCHARD COTTAGES, CRIPPEN PARK. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BOWEN ISLAND’S HISTORY:

» http://www.bowenheritage.org/

» http://www.bowenhistory.ca/

— SARAH HAXBY, BOWEN ISLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL COORDINATOR

Heritage BC

STOPS

Explore archive photos, stories, games, maps, lesson plans on a virtual history tour!

www.HeritageBCStops.com

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The Gaming Grants Review Premier Clark’s announcement on January 11, 2012 of an immediate $15 million increase to the gaming grants budget came on the heels of last fall’s review of the program. Cuts to the grants budget and restrictive eligibility criteria that shut out the arts and culture sector, among others, had generated a lot of heat from community organizations. Hoping to cool things down, in July the Premier commissioned former Kwantlen Polytechnic University president Skip Triplett to provide advice to her government on how to improve the governance and funding formula of gaming grants.

After a short but intense consultation process which received input from over 1,700 organizations and individuals, Mr. Triplett filed his report on October 31.

“To the best of my knowledge, the purpose of the gaming grant program has never been formally defined”, the report’s author wrote.

The report provided 16 options rather than recommendations, six of which addressed the funding question. The first funding option was to top up this year’s budget to $135 million (an increase of $15 million), and keep it there in the next fiscal year. The January 11 announcement put that option into effect.

There were three options concerning eligibility. Mr. Triplett had received a clear message in the consultation process that the arts, culture, sport and environment sectors that were shut out in 2009 should be reinstated. One of the three options therefore was to phase these sectors back in, but only as funding levels returned to 2009 levels. This option was also implemented on January 11, supported by the concurrent increase (or partial reversal of earlier decreases) in the gaming grants budget.

The increased funding and renewed eligibility took effect immediately. A “special intake” of applications ran from January 16 to February 13. Also, organizations that had already received funding in the current fiscal year at the 50 per cent level – youth arts and culture programs, for example, which had remained eligible – could apply to have their funding topped up to the 100 per cent level.

The remaining options addressed governance and something called “purpose of the grants”. Regarding the latter, possibly the most remarkable observation in the report revealed the apparent complete absence of any policy or statement about the purpose of gaming grants. “To the best of my knowledge, the purpose of the gaming grant program has never been formally defined”, the report’s author wrote.

EDITORIAL COMMENT

What is Gaming For? The Gaming Social Contract

Skip Triplett’s report on the provincial gaming program released October 31, 2011 should be read by everyone who has an interest in government-sanctioned gambling.

While the report is subtitled “Options for improving the program and for providing predictability to grant recipients”, the most interesting part of the report might in fact not be the 16 options, but the section entitled “Context”, which consists of five broad statements about gaming in B.C. Points Number 2 and Number 4 are of particular interest.

Point 2 makes the remarkable observation that the author could find no formal statement of the purpose of the gaming grant program, even though gaming grants have been around for decades. Billions of dollars have been taken in and dispersed. Yet the man commissioned by the premier to review the program couldn’t find an answer to the most basic question, “What is the gaming grant program for?”

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Point Number 4 is equally arresting. It concerns the conditional public and political support for the expansion of gaming:

RICK GOODACRE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HERITAGE BC

Many BC communities supported the expansion of gaming from the mid-1980s until the present. Many local elected representatives gave their support with the belief that the provincial government would use approximately one-third of gaming revenues to develop the province’s people and communities.They believed that not-for-profit community organizations would be funded to fill gaps in the services provided directly by the provincial government. Review participants later referred to this conditional community support for gaming expansion as a “social contract” on which successive governments have not delivered.

Billions of dollars distributed, without a clear statement of purpose. A perceived “social contract” between communities and their provincial government that has never been ratified or, some say, honoured. What is going on here?

Meanwhile, the provincial government has taken an increasingly larger share of a pie that gets bigger year by year. At the same time, groups that tap into the gaming grants program have become dependent to the extent that, when their share of the pie first shrinks and then disappears in a final and complete violation of the phantom contract, they reel under the impact.

The Premier’s announcement on January 11, 2012 of an increase in gaming grants and the re-admission of arts and culture groups was very welcome. But in fact the increase is only a portion of what the government has lately taken to plug gaping holes in its budget. Much more needs to be done to put things right. If gaming is to be encouraged and expanded, there needs to be a very clear understanding of why and to what purpose. We need a genuine social contract approved by the people of BC and signed by their government that provides clarity, certainly and consistency to the hundreds of dependent agencies straining every sinew to provide services to their communities.

Billions of dollars distributed, without a clear statement of purpose.

A perceived “social contract” between communities and their provincial government that has never been ratified or, some say, honoured.

HERITAGE TOURISM ALLIANCE

Social Media Services Launched On December 9 during the BC Museums Association’s 2011 Conference, the Heritage Tourism Alliance of BC (HTA) launched the rejuvenated Time Travel BC website, including a new, Apple-approved ‘Time Travel BC’ mobile iPhone App now available as a free download from the iTunes app store. Blackberry and Android versions will follow in early 2012.

Time Travel BC is now a more interactive ‘aggregator’ website developed to help ‘market ready’ BC cultural and heritage institutions to better engage more potential visitors through leading edge online sector resources, social media and visitor tripplanning tools.

If your museum, art gallery, heritage property, historic site, interpretive center, or related site is already registered ‘market ready’ on Time Travel BC, anybody with an iPhone can now use this App to more easily find out much more about your exhibits, programs and special events—and even tell others about you using social media. Since the launch, 50 more ‘market ready’ BC institutions have registered.

This initiative is part of the /HTA’s current ‘Time Travel BC Project’, funded by Canadian Heritage’s Canada Interactive Fund, Tourism BC, and partner contributions including the New Pathways to Gold Society and Heritage BC. 5

Vancouver 125

Places That Matter • “The first public garden of the city was created from 1911 to 1920 by master gardener John Montgomery from unwanted boulders excavated for the adjacent park pavilion.

Stretching from Pipeline Road to Coal Harbour this early park attraction had by the early 1950’s become partially abandoned, its story forgotten until revealed by the devastating windstorm of December 15, 2006.”

CELEBRATING VANCOUVER 125

Stanley Park’s Rock Garden and Pavilion On October 23, Heritage Vancouver, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation hosted a celebration in Stanley Park to mark the centennial of the Rock Garden and the Stanley Park Pavilion.

The first public garden in Vancouver, the rock garden was begun in 1911 using boulders excavated for the construction of the new Stanley Park Pavilion. Master gardener John Montgomery was given the go-ahead by the Park Commission, and for the next nine years, until his death in 1920 he created an extensive rock garden that stretched for almost a mile from Pipeline Road to Coal Harbour. For decades the Rock Garden was a feature attraction of Stanley Park, and an integral part of the Pavilion landscape.

In time, portions of the rock garden were abandoned and disappeared into the forest, and the story about its creation was lost with it. While it was rediscovered in 2000 by a Montgomery descendant, its full extent was not realized until the devastating wind storm of December 2006 revealed lost portions of the garden landscape.

At the October 23 ceremony, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation unveiled the first of its “Places That Matter” plaques, a project to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the City of Vancouver.

Interactive Building Permit Database On November 23, Heritage Vancouver hosted the launch of their interactive Vancouver Building Permit Database at the city archives. The database unlocks the secrets of many thousands of Vancouver’s historic buildings and makes them available to everyone.

The Building Permit Database project began in 2009. Heritage Vancouver’s goal is to provide an online, searchable database. It has been a project of many, many hours, comparing transcribed data with the original books, ensuring the data and spelling are accurate, and filling in any missing information and/or additional data. To date, approximately 25,000 individual line entries/permits have been transcribed, with an estimated five to eight thousand more to go.

This exciting project will bring Vancouver’s history alive for Vancouverites. The database project is Heritage Vancouver’s ongoing contribution to the celebration of Vancouver’s 125th anniversary and a permanent legacy for the community.

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Awards LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND HERITAGE

City of Nanaimo’s Heritage Conservation Program Honoured At the Heritage Canada Foundation award ceremony in Victoria last October, the City of Nanaimo’s heritage program was recognized with an “honourable mention” in the competition for the Prince of Wales Prize. This unique award honours the best local government heritage programs in Canada. The only other community in B.C. to have been recognized in the program’s twelve year history is Victoria, which won in 2001.

A mid-size city of 80,000, Nanaimo retains a strong sense of its coal mining and resource industry history. In fact, heritage conservation in Nanaimo extends back a full century, when the Native Sons of Nanaimo led the first efforts to preserve the Bastion, the city’s most familiar historic landmark. But the full-blown conservation program didn’t really get going until the 1970s through the advocacy of the Nanaimo Historical Society and the city-appointed Heritage Advisory Committee. In the years since, Nanaimo has created a robust heritage conservation program to preserve and honour their distinct heritage and to spark economic rebirth in the historic commercial centre.

The heritage program built up a head of steam through the 1980s with assistance and funding from the provincial government’s Heritage Area Revitalization Program and Project Pride initiative. The City’s ambitions were formalized in a Heritage Strategy adopted by Council in 1994, and empowered by a newly-formed Heritage Conservation Program. Building on the strategy and other studies, a Heritage Action Plan (HAP) was completed in 1998 to integrate heritage planning within the larger municipal planning framework. The Plan’s purpose was to “facilitate the revitalization and rehabilitation of the City’s historic resources through appropriate management and incentives”.

Getting the job done was made easier by the provincial Heritage Conservation Statutes Amendment Act of 1994 which put a new “tool box” of legal measures at the disposal of local government.

Putting the Plan into action included a city-wide survey of significant heritage resources and the development of a municipal management framework. Coordinated through the City’s Strategic Planning Department, the project consulted widely with the public and city staff. A community-based Heritage Futures Committee and the Nanaimo Heritage Commission, which had succeeded the Heritage Advisory Committee in 1996, were both heavily involved.

Approved by Council in 2001, the Plan’s achievements since include: • Adopting an official Community Heritage Register which now includes 171 listings • Creating a downtown Heritage Conservation Area • Adopting a Heritage Procedures Bylaw • Promoting heritage awareness • Expanding Heritage Commission responsibility • Formalizing a City records management policy with the Nanaimo Community Archives • Adopting an Archaeological Sites policy that ensures cooperation with the Provincial Archaeology Branch and the local Snuneymuxw First Nation • Creating financial incentive programs to encourage heritage conservation including the Downtown Residential Conversion Tax Incentive Program, Heritage Façade Improvement Grant Program, and a Heritage Home Grant Program.

PHOTO: DAVID BRADLEY, CHAIR, HERITAGE CANADA, PRESENTS THE AWARD TO MAYOR JOHN RUTTAN; PHOTO COURTESY THE CITY OF NANAIMO.

NANAIMO COMMUNITY

HERITAGE COMMISSION

THE PRINCE OF WALES AWARD NOMINATION FOR NANAIMO:

Nanaimo’s efforts to conserve its built heritage have been measured and persistent.

Reaching maturity in the past two decades, these efforts have brought conservation thought and action fully into the mainstream of municipal administration and policy, and have committed the City both culturally and politically to a long term and sustained effort with respect to conserving its heritage resources as one of British Columbia’s oldest settlements and industry towns.

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ISSUES

Development Proposal Angers Vancouver Neighbourhood A Vancouver development plan involving an historic house on the City’s heritage register was rejected angrily at a public hearing last year. As a result the “A” listed building may be headed toward demolition.

The late Victorian residence at 1241 Harwood Street known as the Gordon T. Legg home is situated on a property in Vancouver’s West End that has been targeted for development for some time. The proponents submitted a proposal last year that included an 18 story tower block, with 26,000 square feet of bonus density to cover the costs to restore and rehabilitate the large, imposing historic residence. The bonus density had to be used on site because the City’s density transfer program has been frozen since 2007 as a result of an accumulated over-supply in the density bank. The Legg House development scheme, articulated in a proposed Heritage Revitalization Agreement, would have seen the historic house relocated on the lot, some setback relaxations, and the loss of a tulip tree, among other things.

The proposal was shouted down by neighbours at a public hearing in May. The negative reaction to the proposal seems to have had more to do with a number of earlier projects in the area approved by Council which had annoyed many residents who felt that the City Hall approvals were compromising the character of the neighbourhood. With the Legg House, they apparently decided to draw a line in the sand.

DID YOU KNOW?

Heritage Tax Exemptions Are a Powerful Incentive!

Tax exemptions are commonly used by local government as a form of incentive for heritage conservation projects.

Under provincial statutes, full or partial relief from municipal tax can be offered for a number of years to help offset the cost of rehabilitation and upgrading of a heritage building. But taxes collected by municipal government cover a lot more than the municipality’s share. School, hospital and regional district taxes are collected as well. Are these also exempt under the heritage agreement? Apparently they are. Where there is a heritage tax exemption the school tax is automatically exempt as well, and when school tax is exempt, the same goes for hospital tax. In fact, the City of Victoria finance department says that a heritage tax exemption provides exemptions for all major taxes: municipal, school, hospital, regional, BCAA, MFA and BC Transit.

The only taxes not exempt are all relatively minor by comparison.

That’s a pretty powerful incentive.

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Responding to the sharply critical reaction from the residents, Council turned away the HRA application and told the proponent and City staff to come up with an alternative that better addressed neighbourhood concerns.

The proponent has since come back with a simpler proposal that includes a tower with one less floor, fewer bylaw relaxations, saves of the tree, but sees the heritage house demolished. With an HRA no longer required, the new application does not have to go back to Council, and needs only Development Permit Board approval.

At the request of Heritage Vancouver, Heritage BC wrote in December to Vancouver Mayor Roberts and Council, urging them to take another look at the project, which is within their prevue to request. While we believe that neighbourhood concerns should be respected, it is also the case that Council has a duty to make its best effort to keep an “A” listed heritage register property out of the landfill.

PHOTO COURTESY HERITAGE BC

Government A CALL TO RENEW

Union of BC Municipalities As part of our “Call to Renew BC’s Heritage Program” campaign, Heritage BC has pushed hard to have local government take up the cudgels in the name of communitybased heritage conservation. Municipal and regional governments now carry the can pretty much on their own where heritage is concerned as both the federal and provincial governments have offloaded their responsibilities over the past several years.

So it was essential to have local governments on the Call to Renew bandwagon.

Heritage BC contacted a number of local governments directly and pressed them to get involved. Board members and staff made presentations to councils and community heritage commissions, urging that they consider passing resolutions backing the Call to Renew. Almost all that were approached did, and the resolutions were sent to the Union of BC Municipalities to be put on the agenda at the 2011 convention. They also laid out their concerns and backed Heritage BC in letters to the Premier and minister responsible for heritage. This wasn’t easy with the steady change of players over the past couple of years offering a moving target. Still, they persisted and some wrote repeatedly.

They also forwarded resolutions to their regional local government associations, which in turn sent in their own resolutions to the UBCM, compounding the effect.

By the time of the September UBCM convention in Vancouver the local government push had worked up a head of steam. The Call to Renew resolution had been endorsed by the UBCM Resolutions Committee, and when it made it onto the UBCM Annual General Meeting Agenda on September 30, it was passed by delegates, officially putting the weight of the UBCM behind Heritage BC’s advocacy campaign.

ANOTHER MINISTRY REORGANIZATION

Heritage Branch Repositioned...again If you enjoy musical chairs, then you probably would be happy working for the provincial Heritage Branch.

The Branch has once again been moved within the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations organization chart. It has happened so often during the turmoil of the past two years that you don’t even get to know the players before they are traded. The Branch’s staff line up is unaltered, but their relationships within the ministry, and the bosses that the Branch reports to, keep changing. This requires a continual rebuilding of connections, understanding and support within the larger ministerial framework.

UBCM RESOLUTION BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ADOPT HERITAGE BC’S “CALL TO RENEW BRITISH COLUMBIA’S HERITAGE” INITIATIVE BY: ADOPTING THE PROVINCIAL HERITAGE STRATEGY COMPLETED IN 2009 BUT NEVER IMPLEMENTED; RESTORING THE BUDGET FOR THE HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY OF TOURISM, TRADE AND INVESTMENT; RESOLVING THE HERITAGE PROPERTIES QUESTION, WHICH INCLUDES ISSUES RELATED TO PROVINCIALLYOWNED HERITAGE PROPERTIES; RESTORING COMMUNITY SUPPORT THROUGH GOVERNMENTAL INITIATIVES INCLUDING PROGRAMMING AND GAMING FUNDS; REINVESTING IN THE HERITAGE LEGACY FUND IN ORDER TO SUPPORT LONG-RANGE HERITAGE CONSERVATION WORK THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE.

The Heritage Branch now reports through the Integrated Resource Operations Division (IROD) under Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) Gary Townsend and Executive Director Francesca Wheler. IROD has also acquired Archaeology and Resort Development. The Division includes Compliance and Enforcement, GEOBC, Recreation Sites and Trails BC and Wildfire Management. The reorganization integrates heritage with other operations delivery Branches of the Ministry.

The latest organization of ministerial furniture is not without precedent. In a previous incarnation in Tourism, the Heritage Branch was part of a division that included Recreation Sites and Trails, Resort Development and Archaeology. Heritage Branch Director Jennifer Iredale notes, “we already work collaboratively with these Branches so this new configuration will only serve to benefit our work”.

This is a very big ministry. We just hope that heritage does not get lost in the shuffle.

FOLLOW THE LATEST NEWS ON OUR WEBSITE: » www.heritagebc.ca 9

in the news HBC Annual Conference 2012

THE HERITAGE BC ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM RECOGNIZES ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION. • NOMINATIONS FORM ONLINE! DEADLINE MARCH 1 2012

Moving the annual conference date to early fall last year seemed to work pretty well, so the Board of Directors has decided to go with the same time frame for Conference 2012. Dates and venue have not been confirmed, but the conference will be in the Lower Mainland in late September or October. For anyone putting together a budget for 2012, it is safe to assume that the cost of attending the conference this year will be close to the same as last.

Awards Nominations Deadline March 1st While there is a link between the annual conference and the awards program because the award presentation ceremony always takes place during the conference, the deadline for submission of award nominations is still March 1. The rest of the schedule leading up to the ceremony remains the same as well, with the jury making its decisions and notifying nominators and recipients in May.

EDUCATION

New Graduate Level Programs at UVic Last fall the Cultural Resource Management Program at the University of Victoria announced a new online Graduate Professional Certificate (GPC) in Cultural Heritage Studies and a Graduate Professional Diploma (GPD) in Cultural Heritage Management.

The new programs offer professional develop at an advanced level in either museum studies or heritage planning specialization. They focus on cultural heritage, engagement and sustainability, reflecting an inclusive approach to thinking about the diverse types of heritage that are valued, preserved and presented by cultural institutions, sites and other agencies.

According to UVic, the new programs promise “a carefully balanced mix of conceptual, practical and strategic skills that will help you play a leadership role and be an agent for change in your practice, your organization and your community.” » www.continuingstudies.uvic.ca/cultural/graduate/

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Wayne Wilson To Retire from Kelowna Museums WAYNE WILSON EXECTUIVE DIRECTOR KELOWNA MUSEUMS

After 34 years with Kelowna Museums, executive director Wayne Wilson will retire this June. Wayne started in 1978 as Exhibitions Coordinator and later served in education and public programming before moving to the Laurel Packinghouse to work on the establishment of the Orchard Museum (1989) and the Wine Museum (1996). In 2000 he became Executive Director in charge of all Kelowna Museums operations.

Wayne feels his most significant impact as Executive Director has been to shift the museum into the role of heritage services provider for the community. “Just as the Y provides recreational services or the Boys and Girls Club provides social services for our community, I’ve worked to bring the Museums along the same path in support of tourism, business development, the Cultural District and other professional services.”

As to the future, Wayne expects to continue his career in a consulting role and do more writing.

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messages President’s Message Like operas, conferences are booked far in advance.

The lead up to a series of heritage conferences in the fall of 2011 created lots of anticipatory talk and promised a dizzying alignment of events. Fortunately for the BC heritage scene, most of these meetings took place locally and heightened awareness of “things heritage” on the west coast, and we hope, caught the attention of local and provincial governments, and the business community.

The revamped Heritage BC conference was well received, especially the awards ceremony “appetizer reception” where attendees could mingle, nibble and talk. As the Union of BC Municipalities conference had just ended nearby, we were fortunate to have several mayors and councillors attend and be engaged on the issues. Though these are challenging times for HBC, the buzz was of pride in work well done and a positive outlook for what lies ahead.

BOARD MEMBERS Eric Pattison President New Westminister 604.525.3232 eric@pattisonarchitecture.ca

ERIC PATTISON PRESIDENT HERITAGE BC

Only two weeks later we were off to Victoria for a confluence of heritage groups the likes of which we’ve not seen on these shores. The Association for Preservation Technology attracted delegates from across North America and overseas with a theme of “Heritage on the Edge” – the “edge” of the continent (maritime Victoria) and the beginning of a new era of sustainability as we move to greater environmental responsibility by repurposing and revitalizing our historic places.

Concurrently, and also at the Victoria Conference Centre and Empress Hotel, Heritage Canada held their annual conference, and in partnership with The Land Conservancy of BC, hosted the International National Trusts Organization. The concluding statement: “The Victoria Declaration on the Implications for Cultural Sustainability of Climate Change”, again focused on heritage, communities and the environment.

I also attended the 17th General Assembly of the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) at UNESCO headquarters in Paris (yes it was a bit of a holiday). With nearly 1,200 attending, this conference was impressive and farreaching. The meeting produced “The Paris Declaration on Heritage as a Driver of Development” – boldly stating that only through sound conservation can we realize a sustainable future.

From the BC focus of the HBC conference, to Paris where the French UNESCO ambassador spoke on world heritage, the issues were surprisingly similar and the way forward equally creative, perplexing and promising. I came away with a sense that though these are challenging times for heritage initiatives, there is a world of sound ideas in play and many, many people and groups exploring them – we are part of that movement and we’re here to stay and flourish.

“We are growing on the soil of the past.”

— Steward McLean

Heritage BC Quarterly

Larry Foster Past President Kelowna 250.764.8418 lvfoster@shaw.ca Helen Edwards, HCF Governor 250.386.6598 heritagelady@gmail.com Shirley Gratton Director Prince George 250.962.7055 grattons@netbistro.com Zlatan Jankovic Director Vancouver 604.871.6448 zlatan.jankovic@vancouver.ca Donald Luxton Director Vancouver 604.688.1216 donald@donaldluxton.com Bjorn Simonsen Secretary/Treasurer Victoria 250.294.1150 bjorno@shaw.ca Helen Cain Vice President Victoria 250.216.7395 helen.cain@yahoo.ca

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Next deadline is April 15 2012 11

HERITAGE BC CORPORATE MEMBERS

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British Columbia

In

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Become A Time-Traveller!

Join with other BCMA members and our tourism partners to increase visitor numbers and community engagement. List on www.timetravelbc.com.

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