Partnerships aid in heritage preservation

Fine old company houses in Sydney, which were vacant and rapidly deteriorating, would have been lost without partnerships and advocacy.

Political scientist Tom Urbaniak explained to the provincial heritage conference, which met recently in Greenwich, how cooperation made a difference.

“To save our historic places we must renovate our organizations,” he stated.

Urbaniak described how a community group called the Affordable Housing Renovation Partnership (which does research and demonstration projects), helped to establish Habitat for Humanity’s presence in Cape Breton, and proposed Nova Scotia’s first local heritage conservation revolving fund. This fund is administered by the Sydney Architectural Conservation Society (SACS).

It’s first renovation project was a circa 1870 house, which was purchased with donated monies in 2011.

Two years later, Urbaniak said, following a careful review of request for proposal responses, the society sold an old home, Liscombe House, to a qualified renovator. Prior to the sale, a covenant was put on the home to ensure that it will never be demolished. The covenant even included ensuring that the exterior siding will go back to wood or wood shingle.

Funds from the sale were used to rescue another threatened heritage landmark, and so on. According to Urbaniak, students from Cape Breton University, where he teaches community economic development, studied housing repair in Glace Bay. That helped broker grants.

The chairman of Canada’s National Trust also spoke about work to save the Gabarus lighthouse, which was threatened by erosion. He said he and his students made friends in the village of 80 permanent residents.

“There are challenges in rural Cape Breton,” he said, “but we found a resilient community that values everyone’s talents.”

Urbaniak, who has Polish roots, was involved in maintaining the crumbling Polish village hall and the rebuilding of the historic St. Mary’s Polish Church in Whitney Pier after it burned in 2014. The rebuild cost $1.5 million and the church, which re-opened in June, retained its provincial heritage status.

By the end of his talk, Urbaniak was asked by a Grand Pre resident how to heal his community and move forward.

“We have been unable to agree how to focus on Grand Pre,” this individual said.

Urbaniak spoke of individuals who can be ‘servant leaders,’ the need for self sacrifice and for transparency.

Other partnerships

Pastor Adam Snook outlined the work of the Mahone Bay Three Churches Foundation to protect the iconic churches that make the town’s famous streetscape.

According to Snook, the foundation has linked to a number of area businesses for sponsorship. For example, the Salt Box Brewing Company puts out a ‘Nunon-the-Run’ beer and gives some profit to the foundation.

He described how a weekend of couples renewing their wedding vows has bumped up the foundation’s coffers. The only employee is a social media expert and the 15-member board is all volunteer.

Nova Scotia Heritage Trust president Joe Ballard spoke about other partnerships that allow rum and chocolate to be sold at Louisbourg in Cape Breton and outlined how the heritage sector made similar linkages in St. John’s and Elliston in Newfoundland.

Ballard suggested that some organizations and site have created wide-ranging opportunities by partnering with business and non-profits.