Parry Sound-Muskoka MP and Minister of Industry Tony
Clement announced the first phase of funding on October 15 from the
verandah of the birthplace of Bethune, originally a manse for Knox
Presbyterian Church.

“This is something that I have been pushing for, for a good two and a
half, three years now and it’s good to see it come to fruition,”
Clement said.
The money has been pledged from funds that aim to protect Canada’s
national historic sites and improve visitor facilities in national
parks and historic sites.

The funding will be used for the facility’s renewal, and improvements
to its current visitor centre. Clement said the funding is phase one of the improvements, as further capacity needs to be built onto the site to prepare for an inevitable influx of visitors.
“We want to offer a better quality visitor experience for the current complement of visitors,” Clement said.

Clement said the funding provides the financial means to build a new visitor facility by March 31, 2011.

“Tourism is a vital, key component of our economic fabric,” Clement said.
The World Economic Forum has rated Canada fifth most attractive
country for tourism development in the world. “It’s good to be number
five, but we want to be number one, and it’s announcements such as this
that make that a bit closer to reality.”

The architectural design will be unveiled during the G8 Summit, to take place June 2010 (G20 will follow) in Huntsville,Ontario Clement said.

“We’re obviously going to be hosting the world and what better time to unveil how this new upgrade will look,” he added.

Scott Davidson, site manager at Bethune Memorial House, was overjoyed by the funding announcement.

Davidson anticipates increasing the site’s visitor space to an estimated 5,000 square feet in phase one.

“In the second phase, hopefully we can grow up to 12,000 square feet,
but the funding has yet to be secured,” he said optimistically.
Stakeholder meetings will help to determine the improvements to the
visitor centre, he added.

“We want to focus on the visitor experience. Rather than present the story, we would like to give a memorable experience.”

Davidson said the last management plan associated with Bethune Memorial
House dates back to the late 1990s and the national historic site
deserves renewal on a more appropriate scale.

Bethune House saw more than 3,000 visitors over the Thanksgiving weekend.