7 August 2009
Historic Site Looking for Proposals
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Walter Kozak, chairman of Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island
Inc., poses in the cattle stall area, under the main floor of the barn that the late Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, builder of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, built on Ministers Island in Passamaquoddy Bay in 1898.
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Minister's Island New Brunswick - The barn that
Canadian Pacific Railway builder Sir William Cornelius Van Horne erected on Ministers Island about 1898 looks as solid as ever.
From the inside on a good day, however, a visitor can see sunlight poking through holes in the roof.
It needs work to face the winter storms ahead, Walter Kozak told reporters gathered on the main floor of the barn on Thursday.
Kozak, chairman of Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island Inc., announced a request for proposals from parties interested in developing
businesses on the island in Passamaquody Bay.
Proposals could include eco-tourism, kayaking, organic farming, greenhouses, livestock breeding, possibly equestrian
pursuits, a health spa, business retreats, conventions, art, science, and education.
"We do not want to set up a Coney Island out here," Kozak said, stressing that any business activities must respect the
environment and history of this island just off St. Andrews.
The directors would not look favourably, for example, on proposals for a golf course or long-term residential leases, the
group stated in its news release.
However, the non-profit corporation, which has a 25-year lease to the island, needs money to save and
restore the 11 buildings remaining - the oldest, the home of the late Rev. Samuel Andrews, first Church of England rector in Charlotte
County. The home was built about 1790.
Van Horne, an American born at Frankfort, Ill., in 1843, finished building the CPR in 1885, and became the company's president in
1888.
He bought the 500-acre Ministers Island in 1891, and spent the next 25 years creating a self-sufficient summer haven.
Even when he was not there, a private railway car took fresh produce from the island to his home in Montreal.
He died in Montreal in 1915, but his widow, Lucy Adaline Hurd, and their daughter, Addie, kept a staff of 40 on the island until Addie
died in 1941.
Van Horne's great-granddaughter, Beverly Ann, sold the island in 1960. Several private groups attempted to develop the
island without much success. The province bought it in 1977 following an outcry over a public auction to sell the contents of Van
Horne's island home.
The province ran the island as a tourist destination until Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island Inc. took over operations in 2004.
Last year the province leased the island, a National Historic Site, to the non-profit corporation for 25 years.
The number of paying visitors reached a new record of more than 7,800 last year, enough to support operations but not for the
restoration program the corporation dreams of pursuing.
The corporation would need $15 million to $20 million to do everything it would like to do, but needs a much smaller amount
immediately.
"We're in the barn, and if you notice the roof, it's starting to lift," Kozak said. "We could probably take $100,000
and spend it quite quickly and you probably wouldn't notice it."
The creamery, the gardener's cottage, the boarding house for employees, Parson Andrews' home, and other buildings need work, some more
than others.
"Some of them, if we don't do something soon, we may not have much to restore," Kozak said.
The greenhouses deteriorated to the point that the corporation demolished much of them last year, although the group hopes to
resurrect them someday.
A fundraising campaign with the economy as it is did not seem practicable.
"It's hard to raise money when nobody's got any," Kozak said.
The directors opted for a request for proposals from possible business partners.
"All proposals will be profit driven and fiscally sound," Kozak said.
Business plans must include details of the fee for use or profit-sharing arrangements.
Since it is a National Historic Site, any business activities must conform to Parks Canada rules, Kozak said. The directors would
likely favour proposals that would have the least impact on the island, he said.
The directors set 30 Sep 2009 as the deadline for proposals.
Derwin Gowan.
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