Editorially speaking...
One of the best things about writing the Chronicles weekly is receiving input (hint, hint) from readers. Last week’s tribute to Capt. John T. Walbran inspired this missive from friend and reader Bill Irvine in Victoria:
Capt. John T. Walbran whose British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906 is considered to be one of the most valuable history books ever. —ABC Bookworld
“Mornin', Tom:
Thanks for another good read from March 23 issue. Your Capt. John T. Walbran article brings back good memories for me. As a lifelong (so far) resident of Vancouver's Island, mostly everything you write reminds of something related to it.
Back in the 40s my dad and late brother used to camp for a week at the western end of Lake Cowichan. I (the runt of the family), never got to go but when reaching adulthood I certainly made up for those lost opportunities.
After buying my brand-new, 16ft runabout with 40hp Evinrude engine on the self-bailing well in 1964, I was able to spend many enjoyable times at the 19-mile-long lake (30km) with family and friends.
One of our go-to spots was Walbran Creek. Back in the day there was no such thing as a 'campsite': we camped anywhere we liked. Walbran was one of them. The others: northern (western actually) beach right at the end of the lake; Shaw Creek and Walbran Creek.
So thanks for the memories, Tom. At least one of our three kids who accompanied us are now old-age pensioners! Time's way is not standing still.
Bill
P.S. We didn't know who Walbran Creek was named after until reading it in your Chronicles.”
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Historically, the big news story of the past week is the closure of one of Victoria’s most significant historic sites, Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens, for want of sufficient government funding.
Almost hidden by waterfront industrial activity, Victoria’s landmark Point Ellice House is now on hold while the provincial government seeks a new operator. —https://vancouverislandbucketlist.com/experiences/point-ellice-house/
This, from a provincial government that just blew a onetime only windfall of 5.7 BILLION dollars as fast as they could shovel it out the door.
The same government that, when in opposition, slammed the Liberals for their penny-pinching approach to B.C. heritage.
For two years, the volunteer organization that operated Point Ellice House had pleaded for more funding and warned against having to pull the pin but to no avail as is made dramatically clear by their announced departure.
But the situation is even worse than this.
PEH executive director Kelly Black warned that Point Ellice isn’t the only heritage site at risk of closure, pointing out that, for four years now the operators of the ghost town of Barkerville, Yale Historic Site, Kilby Historic Site (Harrison Mills) and Hat Creek Ranch near Cache Creek have been also been treading financial water.
Making their challenges all the greater is the fact that these are volunteer groups dedicated to saving our heritage for the benefit of future generations. Commercial operators would have walked away long ago.
Black says it would cost $335,000 per year to operate PEH “on a sustainable level” and the province has budgeted one-third of that amount for the coming year’s operation. This isn’t to say that the province hasn’t spent money on the site, citing $425,000 for unspecified “site operations” since 2019, $338,000 for site maintenance and a one-time grant of $226,000.
So, yes, saving our history is expensive and the public purse isn’t bottomless.
But that doesn’t address the crux of the issue—that history, to be saved and made accessible to the public who pay for it, must be maintained and daily operations must be funded.
What would have been the point of spending millions several yeas ago to “rehabilitate” the Kinsol Trestle, only to starve it of maintenance funding until the day of inevitable closure?
Would it have made sense to save the Kinsol Trestle from demolition if we didn’t intend to keep it open to its 100,000 annual visitors?—Toad Hollow Photography
In short, saving our history may not make hard business sense but it comes down to the question, do we or don’t we? If we’re going to do it, there doesn’t appear to be a half-loaf, we have to do it right.
Or not at all.
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