In 2006 it was decided that a concerted effort would be made to arrest the deterioration of Ottawa House and to develop  "Way Ahead" plans for the building, the Museum and our Society.  An experience consultant was engaged to formally refine and define our ambition.

In February 2007, the Project Action Committee (PAC) was established to coordinate the follow-up actions in response to recommendations of the Final Report on The Sustainability Project submitted in January by our consultant Project Manager, David Towns.  The PAC is chaired by the Historical Society's Vice-Chair.  The PAC is accountable to the Board of Directors through the Project Oversight Committee (POC) which is essentially the Executive of the Society.

The PAC monitored and advised the several other committees that were involved in furthering the recommendations of the Final Report, and thus served primarily a coordinating function.  The PAC met with the POC on a regular basis to provide progress reports, and brought forth issues requiring higher decision.  The PAC also provided progress reports to the Board, and submitted particular issues and recommendations for discussion and approval.

It was realized that the Final Report is so comprehensive, and contains so many recommendations, that it would be unreasonable to expect the Directors of the Board to approve it as a whole.  To assist the Directors in absorbing the issues involved, the PAC presented portions of it at a Board meeting for discussion and where required approval.

A two-fold approach seemed appropriate.   First, a step-by-step development of our final Visions for the Society, the Ottawa House, and the Museum.  Each step developed so far has been discussed and approved by the Board, so it is hoped by this process that we can reach our final goals in a progressive and logical way.  This involved establishing and approving such matters as Mission Statements, Statements of Purpose, clear and prioritized Goals, Themes and Mandates for the Museum, Strategic and Business Plans, and  a Master Plan for the Ottawa House restoration.  It also involved developing further our vision for an eventual Partridge Island Heritage Site.   This is a work in progress, and will take considerable time and effort by all of us in the Society over many months, particularly the Board.

In the meantime, we had a faily good notion of what we were working toward, and many particular projects were undertaken while we were porgressing our deliberations of developing and approving the big picture.  Many of those specific projects were outlined in sufficient detail in the Final Report that we could take fairly immediate action.  In particular, emphasis this year focussed on Youth Programs, the Gift Shop, the structural Restoration of the Ottawa House, Promotion and the Newsletter.  Details of these projects are covered in separate reports in this package.   So, the second main task of the PAC was to coordinate all the special committees established to action these projects, and to assist where required.  It was realized that with limited resources we could not accomplish everything desired in this one year, so setting priorities and scheduling was required.   We have much more to do, but we are up to it.

2007 was an exciting and fulfilling year for our Historical Society.

For 2008, we are determined to continue the momentum.

Colin Curleigh,   Vice-Chair