Every major ethnic group in the world has its own heritage, and the enjoyment of travel is to experience the differences from one’s own traditions and customs. Imagine how disappointing it would be to discover, after travelling a considerable distance, that there is no difference in the food, the music, the costumes, the buildings, or the festivals and events upon your arrival!
Here on the North Shore, we have two heritage stories.
The first is the record of the Indigenous people who have lived and hunted and fished here for thousands of years. The second and only relatively recent is the arrival of Europeans. Although most people’s concept of our North Shore heritage tends to be Eurocentric, there is a growing awareness of the legacy of the Coast Salish and a recognition of the place names which, before the contact with the Europeans, recorded their community’s history and relation to the land and the land-marks with which we are still familiar today.
In common with other places in the world, the lived experiences of each community are unique, varied and interesting. These differences could be caused by the ravages of war, the damage caused by natural events, or the changes brought about by social upheaval. Many communities make a point of informing visitors and their younger generation of these events usually by place-naming and sometimes by information plaques.
These are all examples of the non-tangible heritage of a place which don’t lend themselves to physical preservation!
However, buildings do lend themselves to being materially preserved as markers of a community’s past. We are accustomed to seeing prominent buildings such as temples, churches and castles being retained and restored but it is equally important that more modest examples of the community’s heritage, such as domestic houses, be preserved.
Due to the relatively small size of such structures, some communities have decided to collect them together into a Heritage Village which can then become a tourist attraction and a destination for school trips.
Having considered the value of heritage preservation in other places, we should support efforts to preserve our own heritage for the interest and appreciation of others.
There are several reasons to do this. Although our built heritage is not as old as that of other places such as Europe and the eastern coast of North America, it still contains materials and workmanship which is difficult if not impossible to find or replicate today. Most of those buildings were constructed of wood and the size of that lumber was obtained from milling the timber of old growth trees which were of a size rarely found in today’s local forest. In addition to the basic materials from which the houses were constructed, there is the evidence and examples of workmanship and the refined skills of various trades. Wood carving, plastering, wrought ironwork, stained glass were all produced by a generation of artisans who no longer exist.
Lastly, in our new awareness of the importance of mitigating the effects of climate change, we have learned that the greenest building is an existing building. There is not only a cost to the environment in demolition and building anew, but there are considerable financial savings to be gained from a retained and restored building. The North Shore Heritage Preservation Society has calculated that $56,000-$71,000 can be saved by retention over demolition. Moreover, a study by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC revealed that “For those concerned with climate change and other environmental impacts, reusing an existing building and upgrading it to maximum efficiency is almost always the best option regardless of building type and climate.”
Taking into consideration the above, it should be clear that several priorities need to be attended to in our efforts to preserve our local heritage here on the North Shore.
We must pass awareness and pride down through future generations via classroom teaching supported by school events such as tours and visits. We must inform and educate the public, be they local residents or tourists, by means of retained buildings available for access and enjoyment and informational signage. In today’s world, these outcomes can be achieved via social media resources and even augmented reality apps.
Lastly, none of this is going to be possible without political will. Budgets must be approved for these ends and legislation must be passed at a municipal and provincial level of government to discourage the destruction of our built heritage and encourage and enable the retention of pre-contact place names.
Let’s hope that in future our Heritage Week events will be a celebration of the examples of heritage that we have and not regret for the examples of heritage that we once had.”
Peter Miller is the president of North Shore Heritage Preservation Society.
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