Cape Jourimain gets $40,000 in relief funds from province

Cape Jourimain Nature Centre will remain open for six more weeks, thanks to a last-minute $40,000 infusion of provincial funds.

Earlier this month, the board of directors that oversees the struggling tourism centre announced that the facility would close on Aug. 24, six weeks earlier than usual, due to a funding shortfall; noting that the entire future of the beleaguered nature centre was in jeopardy.

Paul Bogaard, chairman of the board of directors of the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, said late Monday that the funds will permit the centre to remain open until Thanksgiving while allowing most of the scheduled programs and activities to operate as originally planned.

Speaking after the conclusion of a meeting held at Cape Jourimain (on Monday afternoon) with CJNC senior staff, board members, provincial Tourism Minister Stuart Jamieson and Finance Minister Victor Boudreau, Bogaard said the board is now cautiously optimistic with regards to the centres future.

The board of directors motive today really wasnt to salvage the season, it was to signal that the shortfall that we knew we had coming into the summer really was a shortfall and rather than worry too much about this season, why dont we talk about next year and the year thereafter so we dont run into this problem again, he said.

Bogaard noted that part of the negotiations between the board and federal and provincial government representatives over the past week, which ultimately led to the centre being able to remain open for another six weeks, also included dialogue centering on how all parties can get moving on long-range discussions.

The really heartening news is that on the federal side we had a teleconference this morning and this afternoon we actually had a meeting with the ministers of tourism and finance and their staff and we were able to talk through the range of issues that we thought were going to have to be addressed; and I think that were all agreed on that, he said.

Bogaard added however, that no definite decisions were made concerning the future of the nature centre.

Rather, the direction is set and the scope of their interest and willingness to find ways to make this work were fair. We found this very heartening even if this it was only the first of . . . a series of meetings and discussions, he explained.

He added that what really matters is what is included in the various departments budgets, be it federal or provincial departments.

We wanted to talk with them early enough so that they could work out details, and options so they could be included in next years budgets . . . waiting until next spring to begin talks would be far too late, he said, adding that a meeting tentatively set for later in September will see both federal and provincial representatives come together with Cape Jourimain staff and board members for further talks.

Whether the nature centre will continue with the types of programs and activities currently offered has yet to be completely determined, he noted.

There certainly are a number of things on the horizon that would require somebodys encouragement, somebodys approval, sometimes requiring financing . . . that meeting in September I think is going to be a very interesting nuts-and-bolts discussion about where the future for Cape Jourimain lies most realistically. The sort of discussions weve had so far do not signal that the only way we can move forward is to substantially change directions. On the contrary, were convinced that the folks at Cape Jourimain have a pretty good idea of what they can do and where they should go and what sort of things we can add . . . Bogaard said.

He said the centre is no different than many other tourist centers who have had difficulties in the early years of operation.

I know of one large tourist attraction in this province that, after about 15 years of operation is just now coming into its own. Cape Jourimain has only been in operation since 2001 so what were really experiencing here is some tough growing pains, he admitted.

Bogaard gave much credit to the nature centre staff who spent much time cancelling programs and activities over the past couple weeks, only to be told to reverse those actions and try to get things back on track for the remainder of the 2007 tourism season.

We have a great staff here; and how do we reward their good work? By asking them to undo everything wed just told them to do; it was quite a difficult thing we threw at our staff, but theyve managed to get things back on track for the remainder of the season, he said.

Located at the foot of the Confederation Bridge, the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, which attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors each year, is a unique ecotourism-based facility within the 675-hectare Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area. Among the attractions and services offered at the centre are a provincial visitor information centre, several kilometers of trails, restaurant, interpretive centre, three-storey observation tower and gift boutique.