Conclusion

When one thinks of heritage, a multitude of ideas often come to mind – static objects, old buildings, museums, national monuments, and ancient artifacts – all representing a freezing of the past. However, heritage does not rest solely in the object or the building in and of itself; heritage is a selection of stories, memories, values and perceptions based on the interpretation of an individual or group within a particular time and place. With the Historic Places Initiative, its components serve as heritage conservation tools that allow local communities to resist the fossilization of their local heritage resources, allowing them to co-exist within the past, present, and future social, cultural and economic fabric of their community.

The Rideau Heritage Initiative was the first project in Ontario to promote and advance heritage conservation practices by implementing components of the Historic Places Initiative, in conjunction with Ontario’s legislative framework, into specific communities linked by a common bond, the Rideau Canal corridor. The collaborative nature of the project, which brought governments, community members and students together in a mutual exchange of ideas and skills, led to insights into potential impediments — as well as potential opportunities — for the further implementation of Historic Places Initiative in rural areas. One of the central issues that arose is the scepticism about heritage conservation and particularly the heritage designation of property. Nevertheless, a deep passion for the land, buildings and the way in which residents hold and express the past is never far from the surface along the Rideau. For the Canadian Register, a registry built on the encouragement of heritage designations, the crucial element for success in rural areas will be to connect this robust fervour for the past with the official recognition of it through government policy instruments.

One of the Rideau Heritage Initiative’s most striking insights was that heritage stewardship is not necessarily more effective in municipalities that have the most tools at their disposal. In rural communities, heritage stewardship frequently took the form of organic processes, where leadership, personality, and commitment to place appeared to drive heritage stewardship efforts. These drivers are essential to the implementation of heritage conservation principles and practices, and reflected in the Historic Places Initiative values-based approach. The mere presence of tools, in other words, is not necessarily an indicator of stewardship capacity. Rural communities often evoke a stronger attachment to place and a sense of community, whereas in urban areas, this sense of community stewardship is primarily displaced onto a bureaucracy, which performs these roles professionally.

With the recent designation of the Rideau Canal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Corridor may gain international attention as a tourist destination demonstrating economic potential for communities. However, in order for heritage tourism to be sustainable, local communities must remain active participants in the process in limiting a fishbowl effect – where area residents feel community life has been eroded by the overwhelming presence of visitors. The Historic Places Initiative can serve as a tool and a space for dialogue, where local communities can identify, understand and negotiate imminent tourism pressures along the Corridor.

The Rideau Heritage Initiative revealed that rural communities face particular concerns when managing, conserving, and promoting their cultural heritage resources. Continued efforts are needed to look for dynamic and creative solutions — incentive-based heritage conservation, formal recognition of non-designated heritage properties, exploration of adaptive reuse principles for rural heritage structures, and sustaining organic community stewardship. The Historic Places Iniative, with its flexible and collaborative governance model, proved an excellent catalyst for this discussion.

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