• What is the Fernie Heritage Strategy

PROJECT GOALS AND IMPACT

Project Overview

CATEGORY

Heritage Conservation and Placemaking

CLIENT

City of Fernie, Heritage Fernie and Ktunaxa Nation Council (project partnership)

The Fernie Heritage Strategy considers a deeper understanding of Fernie’s heritage, from the distant past up to the present day.

This includes the city’s early roots alongside its ongoing significance as part of the lands and stories of the Ktunaxa First Nation. The strategy will identify and incorporate the broad historical context, community heritage values and historic places that have ongoing importance to Fernie-ites.

The Fernie Heritage Strategy recommends key actions to guide the City and its partners to manage change in such a way that the community’s heritage values are retained, enhanced, celebrated and embedded into overall community planning.

The Fernie Heritage Strategy is a succinct and implementable heritage program for Fernie providing key strategic actions. It is:

Big picture. It is based on a comprehensive understanding of Fernie’s history and heritage, as seen in its buildings, structures, landscapes, neighbourhoods, community rituals and intangible resources.

Integrated. It aligns with Fernie’s OCP and concurrent City master plans and strategies that staff can easily integrate into existing and future planning initiatives, that will be applicable and inclusive to all of the City’s resources, and relevant over the next several decades.

Community based. It is led and co-developed by a community steering committee, and will be informed by consultation, engagement and involvement of the local residents, stakeholders and leadership.

Forward looking. It is based on current thinking and best practices in heritage conservation

Quotes by Fernie residents from the 2019 Heritage Survey

“A collaboration
between business, tourism,
history and local government
needs to be firmly established so
as to make sure the heritage
aspect of our town is continued regardless who is at the
table at any given time.”

“There is some
aspect of heritage
in every part of our
lives here in Fernie -
there are roots to the
businesses, clubs
and institutions.”

“People love
to stay, work,
walk around and
be around old
buildings.”

  • Identify and protect Fernie’s heritage and character through an integrated, holistic, sustainable approach to heritage conservation.

    Re-affirm the identity of the town through a community-wide understanding and celebration of its heritage and character.

    Create heritage policies, strategies and actions for managing change and development in Fernie that are:

    • informed and guided by its community heritage values and through a process of community consultation

    • consistent with legal and administrative limitations, and that reflects principles in Fernie’s Official Community Plan and other master plans and planning initiatives completed or currently underway in the community

    • pragmatic, technically sound and provides clear implementation guidelines in support of local and regional economic sectors

    Integrate heritage conservation into overall community planning processes

  • On February 18, 2020, the Steering Committee and the consultant team concluded their 18-month journey with the hand-off of the following:

    The Fernie Heritage Strategy, which consists in three parts:

    • Fernie's Historical Context, a succinct contextual understanding of Fernie.

    • Fernie's Heritage Resources, an overview of the character defining elements for each, with a call for Fernie's historic neighbourhoods to be re-defined as Character Areas.

    • Sustaining a Sense of Place. The Fernie Heritage Strategy outlines heritage goals, policies and actions for managing change and development in Fernie - aligned with Fernie’s Official Community Plan and concurrent City master plans and strategies.

    Fernie Heritage Strategy Resource Package. Included with the report are a series of resources and templates to assist with impleme4ntation of strategies into civic planning and community initiatives.

    Fernie Heritage Study Report, 2019. This is the first comprehensive study done with residents to determine what they value about their communitys' heritage. This provides valuable data and a template for future measurement and evaluation.

  • As Executive Director of Heritage Fernie, I managed all aspects of the project fairly, inclusively, and transparently, adhering to the same code of conduct and standards of practice for project management and community consultation as our partners.

    Key responsibilities:

    Project Partnerships: Managed the partnership between the City of Fernie, the Ktunaxa Nation Council, and Heritage Fernie. Ensured both partners had necessary resources and resolved any process issues promptly.

    Steering Committee Chair: Advised and supported the project consulting team and partners. Coordinated monthly meeting agendas and ensured timely communication for decision-making.

    Contract Administration: Liaised with the consultant to ensure they had the required materials and input, and that deliverables were submitted on time for review. Managed payments and reimbursements.

    Community Engagement: Facilitated walking tours and public input sessions/focus groups.

    Project Communication: Acted as media liaison, managed social media, print ads, and the Heritage Fernie website.

This is the first time in our history that the Ktunaxa have been give the license to tell our own story, in our own way. With the Fernie Heritage Strategy, we were welcomed as equal partners to the table, to co-author a document together. This project has given us the approach that has been alluding us for working with communities within our traditional territory.

— Janice Alpine

   Business Development Officer
    ,            Tourism Engagement
              ktunaxa Nation Council

The Project   

Journey            

February 2020
Fernie Heritage Strategy Community Open House kicks off BC Heritage Week.

The event drew over 30 interested community residents and stakeholders, giving the project team an apportunity to report back on survey research findings and the strategies the data helped to shape ahead of the final project report going before Council.

2017
Heritage Fernie and Heritage BC partner with the City of Fernie to host a Community Heritage Values workshop.

Heritage Fernie and the City of Fernie invite Heritage BC to facilitate a Heritage Values workshop for Fernie and the surrounding area.

This workshop brought together members of the community, as well as neighbouring communities, and gathered information from them on community heritage values and the evolution of the city to what it is today.

The workshop resulted in the City of Fernie Heritage Values Report.

2019
Fernie Community
Heritage Values Survey launches.

Capaciti Consulting, a local tech consulting agency, developed and hosted the first-ever community heritage values survey. The survey received over 175 responses to the long-form survey and provided valuable data for the project and partners.

Building right-relations with the Ktunaxa Nation Council and people.

A significant outcome and legacy of the project is the evolved relationship between the Fernie Museum/Heritage Fernie and the Ktunaxa Nation Council. Empowered to narrate their own story, the Ktunaxa developed a method to engage with settler communities within their territories through their involvement in the project. Consequently,
a charter agreement that delineates their mutual responsibilities was formulated and ratified by both parties.

2019
A robust community engagement strategy is used to gather input from community residents and stakeholders.

In May 2018, a project website was launched as the point for information sharing and gathering. Shortly after its launch, a community information session was hosted, followed by focus group meetings with community organizations, community open houses, neighbourhood information gathering walks and one-on-one interviews with stakeholders and knowledge keepers. In all, over 150 people and 9 organizations were consulted, not including those who responded to the Fernie Heritage Survey.

2018
City of Fernie approves development of the Fernie Heritage Strategy.

On July xx, Council approved that the City of Fernie participate in and financially support the development of a Heritage Strategy. The other project partners are the Ktunaxa Nation Council and Heritage Fernie.

With the formal and financial support of Council, and a grant from the Columbia Basin Trust, the Fernie and District Historical Society (DBA Heritage Fernie) put out a Request for Proposals for a Fernie Heritage Strategy.

April 2018
Ance Building Services is contracted to lead development of the Fernie Heritage Strategy.

With the consulting team consisting of lead consultant Elana Zysblat and project consultants Denise Cook and John Aitkins, in place, the Fernie Heritage Strategy project begins. The project took 18 months from the initial project kick-off meeting with the consultants to the presentation to Fernie City Council on February 18, 2020.

2013 - 2014
City of Fernie implements new Downtown Design Guidelines, identifies heritage priorities in the Official Community Plan.

In 2013, the building design guidelines for Fernie’s downtown were developed to describe, illustrate and explain the regulation of the visual quality of building design and construction to aid Fernie’s enhancement objectives, and helps maintain the image of Fernie as a historic mountain community.

The 2014 Official Community Plan identifies objectives and policies for heritage, and makes specific mention of heritage as a key aspect of land management, the natural environment and resource lands, fostering a sense of community.

Elana Zysblat
Lead Project Consultant

The committee’s work began with an afternoon of teaching by Leanna Gravelle, a Ktunaxa cultural carrier and an opportunity for the committee to reflect on the effects of settlement on the Ktunaxa and our relationship with the land on which our settlement was built.

February 18, 2020
Formal Presentation to City of Fernie brings an end to
the development of the Fernie Heritage Strategy.

Project partners, along with the Task Force, presented the Fernie Heritage Strategy to the City of Fernie's municipal council and administration within a 10-minute segment of their February 18 agenda. The City Council accepted the document as information and expressed gratitude to the committee for their efforts. Despite its values-based approach and extensive community consultation, the strategy was not officially adopted by the City Council, even though it was designed to meet the stated needs of their Planning Department and co-authored by the City, Ktunaxa Nation Council and Heritage Fernie.

City planners, while employing tools and standards of practice for municipal heritage planning, have not heeded the community's call for a unified approach to preserve and protect the community's heritage assets and identity, despite intense development pressures. Municipalities, not only Fernie, require innovative thinking to dismantle silos and genuinely collaborate with community organizations like Heritage Fernie to pursue common objectives. In the current climate, it is imperative for municipalities to be open to sharing decision-making authority and power to foster civil society.

December 2022
The Fernie Heritage Trust: A community response to the Fernie Heritage Strategy.

Addressing how the community would protect and preserve its heritage resources, while adapting them for future residents of Fernie, was a significant challenge for the Fernie Heritage Strategy. Establishing a Trust was identified as a viable solution.

The formation of the Fernie Heritage Trust was spearheaded by Gordon Sombrowski, and other Steering Committee members swiftly supported this new society, some joining the Board in support. On December 1, 2022, the Trust announced the acquisition of the historic Knox United Church building, with plans to repurpose it into a valuable community performing arts space.

2004
Fernie & District Historical
Society updates heritage
inventory for Centennial.

Connecting with people from previous generations - sharing their lives, dreams, disappointments and hopes - helps us understand ourselves, shapes and enriches our communities. The Sir Alexander Galt Museum was first opened in 1967 and expanded in 1984 to share these stories with the community and visitors

2016
Heritage Fernie is established.

Heritage Fernie is established and a program is delivered by the Fernie& District Historical Society. Through research and advisory services, workshops, awards, training bursaries, and tours, Heritage Fernie promotes the conservation of heritage buildings that preserve our sense of place and identity and foster community and environmental sustainability.

2018
The Fernie Heritage
Strategy Task Force is formalized.

Fernie Heritage Strategy Task Force, comprised of Fernie residents, city council and staff liaisons and representatives of the Ktunaxa, was formed to lead, guide and oversee the creation of the document and to ensure a balance of professional, municipal and community input and advice in the process of its development. In addition to 2 representatives from each of the project partners, we included 1 representative from Tourism Fernie, 1 representative from the Fernie Chamber of Commerce, 1 representative from the Fernie Heritage Cemetary Society, 1 commercial heritage property owner, and 1 residential heritage property owner. The working group is chaired by Ron Ulrich, Executive Director, Heritage Fernie.

L to R:
FR: Randal Macnair, Elana Zysblat, Deb Clapp,
MR: Steve Thomson, Mayor Mary Guliano, Gordon Sombrowski
TR: Ron Ulrich, John Atkins, Derick Cimolini

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