Spring 2012
A New Deal for the Heritage Properties A decade ago the provincial government decided it would devolve the system of historic sites known as the Heritage Properties. Within a couple of years operators, who were new in many cases, had signed 15-year Site Management Agreements that gave them broad responsibilities for the operation, administration and care of some of B.C.’s most important heritage resources. There have been problems with the devolution process from the outset. While these were varied in nature from site to site, basically they all came down to a single issue: the provincial government wanted to spend less on the Properties, while site managers found they could not fully meet their responsibilities under the terms of their agreements. After years of study and analysis, discussion, deliberation and delay, it appears that the site managers and the government have come to a new understanding. This understanding was expressed quantitatively in the February provincial budget which included $21 million in new funding over three years for the Heritage Properties. In this issue, we look at the history of devolution, the process that brought things to the current state, and the prospects for the future of B.C.’s flagship program of historic places. See full story page 6... BARKERVILLE GENERAL STORE (TOURISM BC: M. DORIGO)
HERITAGE BC Making our case to the provincial government PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: HERB STOVEL 2 Heritage Legacy Fund A Little goes a Long way 3 Heritage at risk hotels: Win some...Lose some 4 EDITORIAl Comment 5 Heritage Properties A DECade of Devolution 6-7 S’Gang Gwaay: A study in community involvement 8 Messages 10-11
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