The Honourable Elmer MacFadyen, Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs, today announced funding in the amount of $550,000 to expand and upgrade the Orwell Corner Historic Village.
"This project will create additional employment and enhance the potential of increased economic development in the eastern part of the province through the attraction of additional tourists," says Minister MacFadyen. "This new site will also provide valuable space for increased promotion of our agricultural heritage while offering a place to preserve and protect artifacts of great historical significance to Islanders."
The local MLA for the area, Wilbur MacDonald, met with several of his government colleagues to attract support for this initiative which will increase development in the area.
Minister MacFadyen stated that, "The provincial contribution will also assist the Museum and Heritage Foundation in leveraging further funding from federal government departments which hinged on provincial funding support."
"The Orwell Corner Historical Village is an important heritage site in this community and for all of Prince Edward Island," says Wilbur MacDonald, MLA for Pownal-Fortune Bay. "I am pleased that government is able to assist in the further development of this site."
The village will continue to have a working farm and village crossroads with additional interpretive capacity and a display of a much larger variety of agricultural equipment. This project addresses the need to better interpret our agricultural heritage as well as to preserve and protect artifacts relating to the province's history.
Economic benefits during the construction phase of the project will include the creation of 60,000 person-hours of employment over the four-year development period. New facilities at the site will also allow for additional employment during the tourist season and will provide five year-round permanent positions to the community.
"I am delighted to hear of the significant contribution being made to one of our most important and popular heritage sites," says Doreen Sark, Chair of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation. "The Museum and Heritage Foundation has been working on this project for several years, and we are pleased to see the provincial government recognize its importance."
Last year, the province, through a combination of a purchase and a gift to the province, acquired the 30-acre Stanley Lindsay property to the west of the village. This acquisition provided a significant increase in the land base of the site allowing for additional development.
Orwell Corner Historical Village was established in 1973 as one of the sites of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation. It celebrates life in the 1890s and is the primary site for the interpretation of the agricultural history of Prince Edward Island.