Arvida | Arvida Heritage Committee

Promoting the conservation, awareness and appreciation of Arvida’s cultural landscape and built heritage

In June 2010, the City of Saguenay established a committee, the Arvida Heritage Recognition Committee (Comité pour la reconnaissance patrimoniale d’Arvida - CORPA), a multipartite body bringing together decision-makers, business people, elected officials, residents and various stakeholders, including stakeholders from the cultural and urban planning sectors, the commercial, touristic and governmental sectors and the aluminum industry.

The mission of the Arvida Heritage Recognition Committee is to support concerted efforts and reinforce initiatives that protect and promote, raise awareness, get recognition and transmit Arvida’s heritage. The Committee is dedicated to promoting conservation, awareness and appreciation of cultural landscape and built heritage. It also aims to foster an understanding of the significant importance of Arvida in the development of architecture, urban planning and human history, at. local, national and international levels.

This includes short-term projects of protection or development, such as collecting memories and life narratives from citizens of Arvida, as well as a long-term goal of obtaining a World Heritage Site designation by UNESCO. Indeed, convinced that Arvida represents a unique and determining chapter in Canadian and world history, Saguenay hopes to contribute in its own way to the knowledge, understanding and representation of Canada on the national and international scene. The dual issue of urban planning and cultural influence makes the broader recognition of its heritage protection effort all the more important. Intent on promoting heritage of which residents are custodians, Saguenay thus entrusts the Arvida Heritage Recognition Committee with the task of raising public awareness on the architectural and urban landscape properties of Arvida whilst supporting the efforts of the local population and the sense of belonging of citizens of Arvida and the world pertaining to the history and heritage value of the city.

Composition

Office of the Mayor of the City of Saguenay;
City Manager of the City of Saguenay;
City Councilor for the neighborhood of Sainte-Thérèse;
Office of the Federal Member of Parliament for Jonquière;
Office of the Member of the National Assembly for Jonquière;
Borough director of Jonquière;
Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Culture and Communications;
Arvida Heritage Museum;
Canada Research Chair in Urban Heritage at the University of Quebec in Montreal;
Arvida Centennial Committee;
Arvida Downtown Corporation;
Rio Tinto Trust;
Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 209 – Arvida;
Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan;
Promotion Saguenay;
Saguenay Historical Society;
Syndicat National des Employés de l’Aluminium d’Arvida (SNEAA);
Rio-Tinto;
Department of Culture, Sports, and Community Life of the City of Saguenay, providing technical support and secretarial services;
Communications Department of the City of Saguenay, providing technical support;
Land Use Planning and Urban Planning Department of the City of Saguenay, providing technical support;
Two (2) professional members working in the field of cultural heritage in Saguenay and hailing from the fields of archives, history, museology, architecture, urban planning, etc.