By Tom Fletcher - BC Local News Published: February 27, 2009
B.C.'s heritage sites are getting an $8.1 million share of the B.C. government's year-end cash injection to the slowing provincial economy. Tourism Minister Bill Bennett announced the funds Thursday at St. Ann's Academy, the Roman Catholic school in Victoria that has been a heritage site since 1973. He said the sites will have a three-year budget to work with, instead of applying for annual grants to keep the historic tourist attractions open. Provincial heritage sites include Barkerville, the gold rush town east of Quesnel, Fort Steele, the Kootenay gold rush community near Cranbrook, Hat Creek Ranch west of Kamloops, the Grist Mill at Keremeos, Kilby Store and Farm near Agassiz, Historic Yale in the Fraser Canyon, Xa:ytem Longhouse near Mission, and in the Victoria area, Emily Carr House, Craigflower Manor and Point Ellis House. Jan Ross, manager of Emily Carr House, said the investment is welcomed, and allows heritage sites across the province to work together to keep B.C. history alive and accessible. Bennett said the added funds reverse cuts to heritage support that were made after the B.C. Liberal government was elected and undertook its "core review" of all ministries in 2003.
"Each year since then, we basically have tried to find money to keep the sites open, and give them money for capital as much as we possibly could, but they've never really known from year to year what they were going to get in terms of operational funding or capital funding," Bennett said. The new money gives them three years of stable operating funding and some for maintaining the site, "considerably more" than they have received in recent years.
The funds come from the B.C. government's "supplementary estimates" bill now before the legislature. Finance Minister Colin Hansen said the economic downturn prompted the government to spend $800 million, almost all its surplus funds, before the fiscal year ends on March 31.
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Starlee Speers - Vernon 105.7 SUNFM: Vernon Misses Out on $$
The Provincial Government announced an opportunity for Heritage properties to access eight million dollars in funding Thursday, but the North Okanagan's O'Keefe Ranch will miss out. Mayor Wayne Lippert says it's because the ranch is owned by the city and not the province. Lippert says there's been no success in convincing the province to take on the Ranch as one of it's own heritage properties. There are 12 provincial heritage properties that will receive funding including the Hat Creek Ranch near Cache Creek. Vernon council has committed over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Ranch for 2009.
2 comments:
Where is our MIA Liberal MLA?
I thought the O'Keefe ranch was a heritage site. Should we make an application to have current MLA a heritage person.
What a pile of garbage as usual.Give the keys to the province and lets see what they will do. Has anyone heard from our famous MLA on the issue of the O'Keefe Ranch?It is such a burden-the mayor and our MLA do nothing for Vernon.
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