New Fishing Village Director has many plans

The New Director of the North Pacific Fishing Village has just begun to settle in to his new job, but already see some great potential at the Port Edward Historical Site.

Andrew Minigan relocated from Ontario to take on the job at the Fishing Village and the Daily News provided a profile of his experience and preview of his ideas in the Friday paper.

Looking to take lid off cannery past
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Friday, July 06, 2007

Andrew Minigan's first-ever trip west of Ontario has certainly been a memorable one.
Originally from Belleville, Ontario, Minigan had not set foot west of the Ontario border, even though he was building up his resume in museum management and curatorship.

Yet, the timing of his hiring at the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward seems to have come at an appropriate time. After all, the North Coast was alive with adventure racers from all over the world last week, uncovering various areas of the surrounding wilderness for the first time, and loving every minute of it.

Minigan himself was on hand at the wrap-up party Saturday night, and while he didn't participate in Raid the North Extreme himself, the same reason those athletes signed up for the race is why he decided to take the job on the North Coast.

"I had never been west of the Great Lakes," he said.

"It seemed like the ideal adventure in curating. I'm looking forward to putting in a few good years at the North Pacific."

But unlike some arrivals in Rupert in years past, Minigan doesn't seemed to be concerned about the moist North Coast weather.

"I was not looking forward to another hot Ontario summer," he said. "I don't mind (the rain) at all.

"I've never been one to let the rain keep me from doing stuff."

And the wilderness has always been something that has intrigued Minigan. Never mind the fact that he is an avid snowboarder, and is already drooling at the prospects of spending his first-ever winter in B.C., but he also likes to hike into the wilderness, and doesn't shy away from the odd bushwhack either.

"In Ontario, when you into the woods, you're the biggest and baddest thing in the woods," he said. "But not here."

Minigan has quickly fallen in love with the North Coast, including Prince Rupert.

"I like Prince Rupert," he said.

"It's a small town, but it still has the diversity of a big city. The cultural diversity ... I really like it."

Minigan's arrival in town three weeks ago can be seen as nothing but good news for Port Edward, which has been hard at work during the past few years, trying to get the cannery museum on everyone's tourism radar. Minigan himself has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Waterloo, with specialization in culture, and he has worked museum summer jobs since 2000.

He also took the intense museum management and curatorship program at Fleming College in Petersborough, Ontario.

"It's very hard, but it gives you an idea of what you're going to face," said Minigan.

It was a career he decided to pursue back in high school, where he realized that he greatly enjoyed working with history.

"The big transition period was in my teens years," he said. "I was digging for dinosaur bones when I was four years old ... I sort of fell into museums, and it felt like a good fit."

Minigan has several plans that he would like to implement for the cannery, but he is well aware it won't be easy, because finding funds for museum projects continues to be very difficult.
"Finding grants ... that's high on the list," he said. "This summer, it's finding what's required for restoration, and a plan for (the next) five years.

"I want to eventually expand the scope of what we do here."

For example, Minigan points to the Japanese area of the boardwalk, which during the 1800s, actually had a bathhouse. He would like to try to recapture that.

"It would be really cool, and historically accurate," he said.

Minigan is also trying to form relationships with various people on the North Coast, who in one way or another, feel tied to the North Pacific Fishing Village.

"I want to take advantage of the local knowledge of working history at the site and mobilize the community," he said. "Everyone in the community is really supportive of the cannery, so I want to make our bond with the community stronger."

Minigan knows managing the cannery museum won't be easy, but he is eager to build the momentum of tourism as more and more people learn about the North Coast.

"I've got a ton of ideas," he said. "I have high hopes for this place."

The North Pacific Fishing Village is now open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.