Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation

The Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation is a non-profit organization created in 1998 by the Bonavista Historical Society, in cooperation with the Town of Bonavista and other community and regional groups, to implement the Bonavista Historic Townscape Management Plan. In accordance with the Management Plan, the Foundation's mandate is to protect and develop the heritage resources of Bonavista in a manner which provides new economic opportunities and business development for the town and the region, especially in the area of cultural (heritage) tourism. Proper protection and management of the Town's heritage resources can create a more "liveable" community and thereby enhance social and economic prospects for the region. The Foundation's two major initiatives to date, the Historic Properties Investment Program (HPIP) and the Historic Church Street Revitalization, have demonstrated that improving the quality of life in a community can generate new economic activity. The restoration and redevelopment of the Garrick Theatre will also provide a remarkable illustration of how this can be achieved.

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Bonavista Historical Society

The Bonavista Historical Society is a non-profit heritage organization incorporated in 1984. It sponsors and supports the Bonavista Museum, maintains genealogical and manuscript collections, and provides historical information to a vast array of researchers with an interest in the history of Bonavista and area. In recent years, the Society has also been on the leading edge of heritage conservation in the region. It initiated and oversaw the Bonavista Historic Townscape Management Plan, which led to the formation of the Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation, and its $2 million heritage conservation and townscape development project. The Society has also been acquiring historically and/or architecturally significant heritage properties that have been vacated by their owners and may be under threat of demolition. These include the Archibald Abbott House, Robert Brown Store, Samuel Mifflin House, Edmund Mouland House, Theophilus Mouland House, Thomas Mouland House, William Power House, Albert Rolls House, James Ryan Tenement House, Ernest Sharpe House, James Squires House, Keough Shop, Bridge House and the Garrick Theatre. With the assistance of the Foundation, the Society successfully restored and placed several of these properties on the market.

Town of Bonavista

Incorporated in 1966 under the Municipalities Act, the Town of Bonavista (www.bonavista.net) serves a municipality of about 4000 residents. Recognizing the need to diversify the local economy in the wake of the 1992 ground fisheries closure, in the last decade the Town has sponsored a number of tourism developments including the popular Old Days Pond Boardwalk. The Town also supports a number of tourism initiatives sponsored by community development organizations such as the Matthew Legacy Project and the ACT (tourism planning) committee. In addition, the Town has fully supported the initiatives of the Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation under the Townscape Management Plan, including the Historic Church Street Revitalization and the immensely successful Historic Properties Investment Program. The Town is also the primary sponsor of the Bonavista Museum located at the Ryan Premises National Historic Site.