NLIS 2
May 1, 2002
(Industry, Trade and Rural Development
)
 

Makkovik group to preserve community museum

Lawrence O�Brien, MP for Labrador on behalf of Gerry Byrne, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and MHA Wally Andersen, on behalf of Industry, Trade and Rural Development Minister Kelvin Parsons, today announced $114,796 in funding for the White Elephant Museum Committee in Makkovik.

The committee is upgrading the 87 year-old building known as The White Elephant, formerly part of the Moravian Mission in Makkovik and a registered heritage structure. The project involves a complete heritage assessment and renovation to preserve the building, a museum that highlights the 250-year history of the Moravian Mission in Labrador.

"The history of the Moravians on the coast of Labrador is long, colourful and well documented," said Mr. O�Brien. "This project is a way to ensure that the legacy of that time is given a suitable home where it can be preserved and presented to Labradorians and visitors alike."

"This facility is important to celebrating and promoting the Moravian and Labrador culture as an economic opportunity," said Mr. Andersen. "By investing in its restoration, we are not only helping to preserve that culture, but also creating new jobs and developing the tourism industry in the region."

The building was originally intended to be a boarding school, but was soon used for a variety of other purposes, so many that it acquired the nickname "White Elephant," the name by which it is known all over the Labrador coast. Since 1996 the building has functioned as a museum, housing Moravian and settler/Inuit artefacts, and is a popular site for tourists in the area.

The project will involve repairs to the building to structurally stabilize it. The committee will also carry out restoration work to the interior and exterior, and will hire a heritage planner to ensure that historically significant aspects of the building are preserved.

Memorial University of Newfoundland archaeologists have excavated the site of the earliest Moravian mission established at Nisbet Harbour in 1752. The site is very near Makkovik. With restoration of the museum building, it will be possible to house some of the artefacts uncovered at this site as well as that of a second archaeological dig further south.

"The committee is very pleased to receive this funding as it is necessary to preserve the heritage structure and to make a better showcase for historic artefacts," said committee chairperson Joan Andersen.

Funding is being provided through the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Comprehensive Economic Development Agreement (CEDA). The agreement is a six-year, $94.99 million initiative designed to strengthen and diversify the provincial economy and complement existing federal and provincial economic development programs and agreements. It is administered federally by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and provincially by the Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development.

Media contact:

Peter Graham, Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of State for ACOA

(613) 957-9959

Doug Burgess, Communications
ACOA
(709) 772-2935

Josephine Cheeseman
Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development
(709) 729-4570

Joan Andersen
White Elephant Museum Committee Inc.
(709) 923-2275

2002 05 01                         11:15 a.m.


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