Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why are we planning to build the Pugwash Peace Exchange?
First of all, we want to honour the role that Pugwash has played in world events that supports our proud slogan: "Pugwash: World Famous for Peace." Peace is the greatest gift that we can give to our fellow human beings, and we want to create a place where everybody can learn how to contribute towards a more peaceful world. There are many people in the world today who are not as fortunate as we Canadians. Their lives, homes and loved ones are perpetually in danger from the fighting that is occurring on their home soil. By helping to educate people on how to work toward peace, we hope that people in war-torn countries will someday enjoy the same peace and freedom that we do.
2. How did the timing of all this come about? Why now?
As the years passed, and the 50th anniversary of the first Pugwash Conference approached, Joseph Rotblat was convinced that in order to attain peace and nuclear disarmament, the public needed to become aware, involved and educated about this urgent issue. He felt that the legacy of Pugwash needed to become concrete, by way of a permanent facility in the village, so that civil society could learn about peace and nuclear disarmament, and so that the link between Pugwash (the village) and Pugwash (the movement) would never suffer the decay of time.
3. Is the Eaton family supportive of this venture?
Absolutely! Two of the three Pugwash Park Commissioners, who parter with the PPE in this endeavour, are from the Eaton family. They have agreed to lease the land and Eaton estate to the PPE. Other Eaton family members have expressed their support and have been a valuable resource of Eaton family history and early Pugwash Conference history for us.
4. Would Cyrus Eaton have approved of the PPE?
While in some sense it is impossible to answer this question we can say this:
In the 50’s, Pugwash was fulfilling its historic role as a dynamic economic engine for the region. As a Village it was the place where things happened, jobs were created, people came to be entertained, to buy clothes, to eat at restaurants, to make boats and traps and even to shoe horses.
The Village was a beehive of activity. It is only in recent years - the years of its decline - that some have come to conceive of the Village as a place where one sought tranquility as opposed to where one found work. Cyrus Eaton’s every effort, when in Pugwash, was to create jobs and prosperity for the Village. As well, the many gatherings held at his Lodge were an expression of his profound drive to "build bridge" between diversities and to make a true difference in the world. With all of the above in mind, we feel that Cyrus Eaton would have applauded our efforts.
5. What exactly is the difference between the PPE, the Pugwash Park Commission (PPC) and the Pugwash Conferences?
The Pugwash Park Commission: this organization was founded in 1929 by Cyrus Eaton, in order to revive the community. They are the owners of the grounds upon which the Eaton estate sits. The Pugwash Park Commission is currently run by three commissioners: Dr. Giovanni Brenciaglia, Dr. Colin Dodds, and John Eaton. They have been responsible for the care and maintenance of the Eaton estate over the years, and are fully supportive of the Pugwash Peace Exchange’s goals.
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs: this is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work towards reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It is based upon the conference hosted by Cyrus Eaton, here in Pugwash in 1957. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 and continues today, with its most recent conference being the 56th conference, held in Cairo, Egypt.
6. Will the PPE lobby the government against issues concerning peace and disarmament?
The Pugwash Peace Exchange is not a lobby group. Our goal is to create an interpretive and educational facility that will help to teach society about nuclear disarmament, peace and human security. Our visitors will be students, educators, families, tourists and yes, lobbyists - all of whom can become better educated about the issues at hand by visiting our facility, therefore becoming much more effective in whatever way they choose to work towards nuclear disarmament.
7. Why are you proposing the location of the "old tennis court" property on the corner of King and Water Streets?
There are several reasons why that location is currently the only feasible one:
- Most people coming to the PPE Complex will want to see the historic building in which the world events leading to the Nobel Prize took place and will seek the convenience of being close to all buildings.
- That land will be leased to the PPE by the Pugwash Park Commission. Were the PPE to be built elsewhere, the cost of additional land required, the need to build access, sanitation and water facilities, the cost of transporting guests from PPE to the Lodge for tours, as well as additional staff to handle two sites would make the project economically prohibitive.
- If the facility is located close to the Thinkers’ Lodge, our visitors will more likely spend time in the local stores and restaurants
- The inspiration behind the PPE is the Thinkers’ Lodge and its associated grounds and buildings. In order to develop a cohesive and viable educational complex, all four buildings in the complex need to be located close together.
8. How will the PPE affect our taxes, if the Municipality decides to provide financial support?
Over the last several years, there have been multiple projects, both large and small, that have been financially supported by the Municipality. Few of those projects have been in the Pugwash area. The Municipality always has and always will support projects in the region. This is simply the first time in awhile that Pugwash has had projects under consideration by the Municipality.
9. Pugwash needs activities and a place for our youth. How are you addressing that?
The PPE will be strongly oriented towards youth. A large percentage of our displays and programming will be aimed towards engaging and inspiring the youth of our community and our nation. Our current activities with the Pugwash Youth Peace Exchange have been very successful, and we’ve inspired those students to learn more about current affairs, the world around them, and how peace can be accomplished. Youth will always be welcome at our facility, and we plan to do as much as we can to make them feel welcome, and to teach them that they can make a difference.
10. Are the projections of attendance reasonable?
The projections are for 8,000 visitors in year 1 rising to 18,000 in year 4. The Province’s top consultant for these matters, using attendance at similar and local museums and attractions, has derived these figures. As the Peace Exchange Complex will feature concepts that are up-to-date on current events in their treatment of war and peace it will always have new and interesting exhibits, bringing people back for more.
11. What is the break-even number of visitors required for the facility to be financially viable? What happens if this number is not achieved?
The visitors will actually be only one aspect of the PPE. As per our business plan (link), we will have several different sources of revenue, such as our larger and smaller conferences, our youth conferences and workshops, our gift shop and the rental of our facilities for other conferences and events. Due to having a broad base of business, any fluctuations in visitor attendance will not have a major impact. As well, due to our built-in connection with the Pugwash movement, we anticipate that a significant number of our visitors will be involved with that movement in some way, and will likely make a specific effort to come and visit the PPE, helping to offset any changes in the general number of visitors to our region.
12. Will the Village be clogged by excessive traffic flow and parking requirements?
The best advice we have is that projected traffic levels at the above numbers, occurring over the course of about 6 months, can be handled without any great disturbance in the Village. The PPE agreed years ago that when the time comes, it would work with the Village Commission as well as the Municipality’s urban planner to plot the means to minimize any challenges that parking and traffic might pose.
Having broken down the anticipated visitor numbers for year 5 and beyond, during our busiest month, we would anticipate about 15 visitors arriving every hour, averaging 2-3 people per vehicle. We do not predict a need for a large amount of parking, as the Anne Murray Centre, which has traditionally averaged 20,000 visitors per year, has 14 regular car spaces, 2 accessible car spaces and 5 RV spaces.
13. Why not plan the parking and traffic flow now?
If we are successful in achieving our funding goal of $10 Million we will still then need to work with professional architects and planners regarding configuration of the buildings. At the most optimistic we are still several years away from the arrival of any visitors. Given these considerations, any exercise to look at parking and traffic conditions now would be solely theoretical. We do, of course, still welcome any suggestions or ideas that the community can offer in regards to how to address the question of traffic flow and parking. Those suggestions will then be brought to the table once the actual professional planning commences.
14. Pugwash does not have a strong and stable source of water. How will the PPE avoid putting an extra strain on this resource?
The PPE aims to be as environmentally green as possible. When site development is being planned, we intend to work with professionals in order to avoid straining the current water supply. There are several available options, such as reverse osmosis systems, or salt-water flushing. These, and many other options, will be explored in order to find the best solution for our facility and for our community. We aim to reduce our environmental impact as much as can be managed.
15. The PPE will have a gift shop. Will you be competing with other gift shops in the village?
The merchandise we sell in our gift shop will be very specialized and focused towards the Pugwash Peace Conferences, the nuclear disarmament movement, and other such topics. We predict little to no overlap with the local gift shops. As a matter of fact, the Pugwash and Area Chamber of Commerce supports this venture, feeling, as we do, that the presence of the PPE will strongly benefit the local gift shops, as our visitors will be spending extra time in the community and will be very likely to want to buy souvenirs of the local area.
16. You mentioned that this project would be good for the economic development of Pugwash. Why is that a factor?
Pugwash is a wonderful community, and has a history of being a vibrant, wonderful place for people to work, to raise children, and to enjoy the sense of community and togetherness that a small town can engender.
The face of Pugwash has changed considerably over the years. Fewer and fewer young families are here. Young people are moving away and not coming back. The unemployment rate is over 50% higher than the rest of the province. Our hospital has only 4 acute care beds, and last year, our elementary school was being considered for possible study for closure, and is still experiencing declining enrolments - between 1994 and 2006, enrolment dropped from 197 students to 137 students; a 30% drop. In the 2007-2008 school year, only 8 students were anticipated to be entering Grade Primary, with only 3 of those students being from the actual village. The enrolment in our high school has declined every year, and is projected to drop from 344 students in 2004 to 271 students in 2010, a drop of almost a quarter of the students. In 1957, Pugwash School was so full that a room was opened in the basement to hold the overflow. South and West Pugwash, as well as the Gulf Shore had additional schools with about 40 students.
Pugwash is indeed a beautiful, tranquil community. However, a vital part of any community is its services - banks, schools, hospitals, restaurants and stores. Economic development is absolutely necessary in order to have any kind of hope of keeping those services and in keeping our children, our jobs and our young families here in the village. We anticipate that by year 5, we will have 3 full-time employees and 4 summer staff. Of course, the larger picture is the $25 Million economic spin-off created by the PPE and the increased staffing needs created for the local shops, restaurants and other services.
17. Who supports the Pugwash Peace Exchange?
The PPE has over 1100 members, with over 300 of those members hailing from the local area. The Village Commission, the Pugwash District High School, the Northumberland Historical Society, the Cumberland East Recreational and Development Association, the Pugwash Chamber of Commerce, the July First Volunteer Association and the HarbourFest group -- all are supporters of the PPE.
18. How do I become a member?
We always welcome new members! As a member you will experience the satisfaction of helping to create a facility that will help teach the vital message of peace to all visitors, and will inspire them to work towards a more peaceful world. You will also be entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting, receive newsletters and other correspondence, and to attend members-only events with notable guest speakers, such as this summer’s second annual "Dinner of Peace". Please contact us at 902-243-2328 or view our "Contribute" page to become a member today!
19. What''s next?
The Pugwash Peace Exchange is looking forward to an exciting year ahead. The Board of the Pugwash Peace Exchange is committed to this project, which they strongly feel will help the community and help our world, not just for a few years, but for decades to come. Our community has an incredible opportunity to contribute to the well being of all humans and to our peaceful coexistence, all while preserving the prosperity of the village that we all love.
If you would like any additional information on the Peace Exchange project please contact us at (902) 243-2328 or mail@pugwashpeaceexchange.org.
