Dear Minister MacKay,

I am writing to add my name in support of the Garrick Theatre restoration project that is currently going on in the town of Bonavista. I reside in St. John’s, but have a summer home in Keels, which is close to Bonavista, and have been familiar with this area for some 26 years. I believe that the restoration of the Garrick Theatre is a crucial project that is like no other in the region, for it actually relates to sustaining the life of a year-round community. Let me explain.

Over the past 30 years, I have witnessed first-hand the evolution of the Bonavista Peninsula, as more and more changes have reflected the growing heritage industry in the region. One of the best-known example is the emergence of Trinity as a tourist mecca, in large part through the creation of the Trinity Theatre project in the town. However, Bonavista has also seen increased tourist visitors, in part because of the three historic sites found there: the Ryan Premises commemorating the East Coast Fishery; the Bonavista Lighthouse; the Mockbeggar Plantation.

Bonavista has been–and remains–the major town on the Bonavista Peninsula that serves as a centre for year-round economic and social life. While tourists visit there in the summer, it remains a year-round community, with the entire range of goods and services available in any small rural town. The growing importance of Bonavista as both a summer tourist destination and a year-round community makes the Garrick Theatre--and the recent heritage work generally in Bonavista--so important. While the restoration of the Garrick Theatre will benefit the summer tourist industry, it is equally–or more–important to the cultural life of the year-round residents of Bonavista.

Fifteen years ago or so, we used to drive to Bonavista from Keels to go to movies at the Garrick Theatre, movies that would be screened all year round. In those days, the Garrick had become the community movie theatre. Its role in the life of the town was important to residents of the region, not tourists. This is what the restoration project will again permit, a use of this space by community and regional groups. The theatre will not only permit, once again, the screening of popular films. But its use will be broadened to permit local school drama and music events. Adult performance groups will also be able to use the facility. Clearly, it will revitalize the year-round cultural activities in the town, to be used by local residents for public performances that are important to the community–not just to outside visitors.

The restoration of the Garrick Theatre also ensures maintaining the heritage character of the town itself, since the building inhabits a prominent site in the townscape of Bonavista. The Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation, over a number of years, has transformed a decaying town core along the major streets, to a cluster of restored buildings, an award--winning transformation of one of Newfoundland’s most important towns. The Garrick sits in the centre of the town where a number of key commercial buildings are located. It would be important to restore the theatre wherever it might be located, but given its strategic importance on the Bonavista streetscape, its importance is heightened.

For a number of reasons, then, I encourage continued support to complete the restoration of the Garrick Theatre in Bonavista. This project involves restoring a heritage building that will ensure that Bonavista continues to draw a substantial number of summer tourists because of its restored streetscape. But it is the important contribution that the Garrick will make to the cultural life of the town of Bonavista year-round that is the real reason why the restoration should be completed. Residents of the town will put the building to good use for a wide range of performance events, adding to the quality of their community life. The restoration of the Garrick Theatre, finally, relates to the sustainability of rural communities like Bonavista, sustaining them on a year-round basis, providing the quality of life that residents deserve. I urge that support be given for the completion of the Garrick's restoration.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Gerald L. Pocius
University Research Professor
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1C 5S7
Dr. Gerald L. Pocius
Keels/St. John's
gpocius@mun.ca

cc:
Hon. Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Hon. Danny Williams, Premier, Newfoundland and Labrador
Hon. Tom Hedderson, Minister, Tourism, Culture and Recreation
Hon. Kathy Dunderdale, Minister, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
Scott Simms, M.P., Bonavista Gander Grand Falls-Windsor
Roger Fitzgerald, M.H.A., Bonavista South
Paul Mills, Vice-President (Newfoundland and Labrador), ACOA
Mayor Betty Fitzgerald, Town of Bonavista

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