After the 90th Anniversary celebration a week ago, the International Peace Garden is looking ahead to the next 10 years in planning strategies.
"We're really excited to be looking ahead at the centennial with a strong 10-year plan coming together," shares CEO Tim Chapman. "That'll really help the Garden remain sustainable and continue to improve in all areas."
Chapman adds they are working with a designing team out of Winnipeg to make the best use of grant money from both sides of the border. This entails discussions with their staff, Board of Directors, and local community stakeholders to better understand how to make the Peace Garden stronger, more sustainable and a better partner to their neighbours to the north and south of the border.
"So, over the next few months, we'll be having more stakeholder meetings, and crunching numbers to make better sense of what's working well for us. Is there anything we should scale back on, but really trying to be the best Peace Garden, and the most responsive Peace Garden to the communities we serve," he explains.
Upgrades and restoration continues at some of the historical buildings, such as the Peace Chapel and the Willis Pavilion. Chapman says grant funding has been crucial to keeping the buildings maintained. However, the sheer size of the Garden means they need to be most efficient in allocating their funds to where it's needed.