Rossland’s new Heritage Management Plan isn’t just about protecting pretty buildings downtown.
“I think we all kind of look at the buildings and say, ‘They are so pretty, Rossland is such a great heritage town’,” says city planner Stacey Lightbourne. “But this plan is to create that enthusiasm again and really understand why we value these buildings. It’s not just that they are pretty, but they have other values.”
And just what those values are — defining them, and deciding which are priorities — is the goal of the new steering committee set up to consult on the project.
The city has hired consultants and put out a call for people to participate in the committee.
“We want to talk to the community about why we value these different heritage resources — it’s not just the buildings,” says Lightbourne. “It can be things like the swimming pool, or the ski hill — there’s lots of different heritage values in the community.”
The call-out for participants found approximately 10 people, including local business owners, property owners, museum and tourism operators, culture and youth workers. Lightbourne says gathering people from various backgrounds is important to the process.
“You can’t move forward with a management plan and heritage conservation pieces without having buy-in, without everybody involved, or who could be involved, in the process.”
Rossland has had heritage plans and conservation plans before, but the new plan will help define values and protection priorities for a new generation.
“Now the community is changing, there are new people moving to town, and this is a chance to talk about it again,” she says. “Why are these things important, or even, are they important?”
Heritage buildings can be pretty, but it’s the history and the meaning beyond the mere architecture that sometimes has to be protected, as well. And those values change over time.
“For instance, the Miner’s Hall in Rossland, it looks like a beautiful building, and that’s a value in itself,” she explains. “But what about the social values it also portrays as a history of the unions? And its social value as a community gathering place?
Previously: Planning for the future of Rossland’s past
“Heritage doesn’t necessarily mean old. It can be something of value the community wants to keep for a variety of different reasons.”
Determining just what those are is the work of the consultants and the steering committee.
The committee will not only consult on what should be saved, but who should take responsibility for protecting heritage. Lightbourne says with so much open to input from the public, it’s not certain what will be in the final plan.
“What should come out of it — who knows?” she says. “Because largely the management plan will be largely driven by the people involved in the process and it will move from there.
“The goal in the end is to create conversation to see what is important and why, and moving forward, how do we conserve that through different planning mechanisms and different organizations into the future?”
The committee begins meeting next week, with various workshops, community consultations and public meetings over the coming months. A report should be prepared for council by about March. The planning process is being funded by the Columbia Basin Trust.
