Niagara has a wealth of historical and cultural assets that can be usedto help strengthen the region’s economy, say supporters of a plan tocreate an inventory of those assets.
Members of Niagara Region’s culture committee, set up several years ago to advise politicians on ways to enhance Niagara’s arts, culture and heritage, told regional politicians at the Nov. 29 council meeting that developing a cultural policy and strategy will allow those assets to be promoted.
Ultimately, that could be a boost to the region’s economy, they said.
Committee members Rosemary Hale, dean of humanities at Brock University, and Rebecca Cann, head of cultural services for the City of St. Catharines, said Niagara is behind many other areas of the country in terms of taking advantage of cultural assets.
"Niagara has some catching up to do," said Hale. "Across Canada, progressive communities are recognizing the value of their cultural assets."
The culture committee is in the midst of a detailed study of the region’s cultural assets, including everything from the canals and battlefields to festivals, museums, libraries, theatres, the Underground Railroad in which slaves fled slavery in the United States, to the many people who work in the arts — potters, dancers, musicians, painters, sculptors and singers.
It is still mapping out such things as archeological sites, sacred sites and aboriginal sites.
So far, the committee has identified 3,645 cultural assets. Cann said a detailed database, still in the works, will enable the region to do such things as analyze the economic impact of the sector, look at how the sector can grow and what impact culture and heritage have on reducing crime.
The committee expects to return to the region in 2008 with a completed cultural policy and strategy. That’s no easy task, because by its very nature exactly what culture is varies from person to person, said Hale.
But defining Niagara’s culture, with its "extraordinarily rich history," will help the region to describe its identity, she said.