NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES OF CAPE BRETON
LIEUX HISTORIQUES NATIONAUX DU CAPE-BRETON

Changes To The VRC 

Over the last couple of years, we have been instituting changes to update the look and messages of the VRC. Working on some slender funding has drawn out the timeline and necessitated some ingenuity, but this year’s changes are very noticeable and really tie it together. 

We have new banners in a brighter colour scheme to complement the large Frederick Gate model introduced previously and the new wooden deck of the lower exhibit area. It is a great relief to finally see the end of the 70s orange and lime green. The new colours are chosen from Parks Canada’s official palette for publications. 

The entrance to the exhibits tunnel is brightened by a large photomural of the Dauphin Gate. The slightly recessed central photo of the town seen through the gate makes visitors feel they can almost enter it. Like the Frederick Gate and the photomural of the King’s Bastion behind the ticket counter, the Dauphin Gate mural is recycled from the Siege at Louisbourg exhibit from Boston. 

Throughout the tunnel there are new and more attractive backlit panels. The photo collages at the bottom of the tunnel are worth special notice. The panel messages have all been reworked to more clearly reflect the site’s commemorative messages. New and much more energy efficient lights have also brightened this area. 

Thanks to funds from the National Marketing Initiative, we are installing a new projector and screen for the AV “slide” show. This has been reformatted to DVD and according to Peter Gravel from the Atlantic Service Centre, it will look like a new presentation. We also have a new plasma monitor installed in the lower level kiosk which Heritage Presentation staff can use to post daily schedules and other information for the visiting public. 

Finally, a new ship model is being installed in the tunnel. This is a model of the HMS Granado, a bomb vessel, which was part of Admiral Holbourne’s fleet that blockaded Louisbourg in 1757. A highly detailed model in 1/24 scale, this was a donation to the park and only required re-rigging. 

Utilities, the Carpenters, the Painters, HP staff, Brian Harpell and especially Jimmy MacIsaac and John Ward from the Artisan Shop all deserve thanks for their efforts in putting this together. The design work and consultations of Sylvia Ho and Jean Pearl were of great help. Thanks to the Cleaners for their flexibility in working around the installation. 

Sandy Balcom 

News from AGB 

On board S.S. “Cedric” (Postmarked April 27, 1907) Excerpt from “Letter from Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell to (her mother) Mrs. Gardiner Greene Hubbard: 

“I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to go away and leave you to bear your new burden without whatever help I could give but this was so little and there was no one else to take care of Alec. I feel he needs care very much for he simply won’t do anything for himself or by himself. It is hard enough for me to follow the doctor’s directions, in fact he won’t.

Nevertheless I think he is getting some benefit from the entire change and greater amount of exercise. He is also enjoying the men he is meeting in the smoking room and they are an unusually respectable lot. We had afternoon tea this afternoon with Mr. Wm. Field, Marshall Field’s brother, a lady who I think is his daughter, Mrs. Whitelaw Reid and Mr. Hazard. Mr. Field made us some of his tea, a very select brand of “Tye Ping”, made from a blend of the four most select Chinese teas exported for the private use of tea importers. It was certainly extremely good tea but I think it was in part due to Mr. Field’s manipulating. It was so fine in itself that there could be no apology for using the teakettle off the stove and cream out of its original bottle. Mr. Field invited us to come again tomorrow and I am quite pleased.” 

Visitor Season 

As everyone else is in the CBI Field Unit we are preparing for the visitor season. The training agenda is ready to go and guide training begins Monday, May 2nd and so does fee collection. Four students have been hired under FSWEP. 

Innovation Fund Proposal 

The Innovation Fund Proposal for which AGBNHSC applied was approved in the amount of $50,000. The funds will support the ‘Engaging the World Through Liberated Learning” project. So far, a Program Assistant has been hired to work with the Baddeck Liberated Learning Showcase (BLLS) Research Assistant, Valerie Mason. The technology is being installed that will allow visitors to read simultaneously presentations as they are given by staff in Orientation, Ideas and Mr.Bell Theatre. 

 April Tours 

April brought many group visits including people from the Louisville School for the Blind, Katimavik, Sea Cadets as well as community groups and organizations using the library and theatre facilities as a venue for their meetings. Building Renovations Following the second flood in the administration area and the public hallway in that same area, it has been decided that the carpet will be replaced by ceramic tile asap and the carpet has been removed to that end. 

New Invention 

A new invention has been developed by Danny Kaiser which should speed up productivity on the kite making supply assembly line when it comes to winding kite string. 

Condolences 

Our sincere sympathies to Judith Romard and her husband Tom on the death of his brother, Joseph Romard on Saturday, April 16^th 

Anyone wishing to submit an article to the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Please forward to Donna MacNeil at donna.macneil@pc.gc.ca  or telephone 733-3551.