Niagara Has Lost One Of Its Most Passionate Advocates for Heritage Preservation

Award-Winning Heritage Preservationist and Community Activist Pamela Minns Passes Away At Age 94

A Tribute to Pamela Minns from Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted January 31^st, 2024 on Niagara At Large

One of the last times I saw Pamela Minns in the flesh was two summers ago when she was kind enough to invite me to a gathering of a book club she was a member of.

The book the club had gathered under a gazebo to discuss on that warm, sunny day was one that Pamela had fallen in love with and that she knew I had often used as a reference – what I sometimes called my bible -going back to my years The St. Catharines Standard where my work as an environmental reporter often intersected with writing stories about the good, bad and ugly of urban planning across our Niagara region.

The book was called ‘The Geography of Nowhere – The Rise and Fall of America’s Man-Made Landscape’by U.S. journalist James Howard Kunstler and at age 92, there was Pamela at the book club gathering, with the same sparkle in her eyes and speaking with the same keen mind and passion for preserving what’s left of the best in our communities that I remember when I first met her more than 30 years ago.

It is with a great deal of sadness that I learned of the passing of Pamela Minns earlier this January, 2024 at the age of 94.

A resident of Thorold and a long-time leading member of that city’s Heritage Thorold LACAC (Local Architectural Advisory Committee), Pamela played an instrumental role in the work that dedicated group of volunteers has done to identify historic homes and buildings and to work with the owners and other makers and shakers in the community to have them designated for protection for all time under the Ontario Heritage Act.

If you walk in and around the Front Street area that makes up Thorold’s downtown, and through so many of the residential streets nearby, you can read one historic plaque after another, celebrating buildings and homes along the way.

I can still see Pamela Minns and her fellow Heritage Thorold members at designation ceremonies, standing in front of those properties as they joined the owners in unveiling those plaques with such pride.

In partnership with civic leaders and the owners of retail stores and other buildings, including the historic post office on Front Street in Thorold’s downtown, and the nearby  19^th century Old Fire Hall and Welland Mills building dating back to the early 1800s and the first Welland Canal, Pamela and the group focused their efforts on taking a downtown of the kind we’ve seen in a state of decline in too many cities and towns and revitalize it to a level that in 2017, those efforts earned national recognition with what was described as a “prestigious National Trust of Canada Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership.”

In December of 2019, a large gathering of friends and allies in the heritage preservation field, including political leaders across the region, gathered with Pamela to celebrate her 90^th birthday and all of her community work over the years. Among the many tributes she received during the birthday celebration was a letter signed by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and read by Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey, thanking her for “the contribution (she has) made to (her) community and her country.”

Among the many other honours Pamela received for her years of community work was the “International Women’s Day Award” presented to her by the Women of Niagara (WIN) Council and Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce in 2016.

“Examples of Minns’ dedication and leadership shine throughout her volunteer career with Heritage Thorold, coupled with her roots here in the Niagara region, make her story of achievement one that is an ideal fit for our International Women’s Day celebration,” said WIN Chair Ruth Unrau at the time.

Two years ago, Pamela’s many years of work for the common good received national recognition again when she was awarded the Order of Canada.

Through it all, Pamela Minns remained gracious with generous reminders that she could not have achieved what she did without the support of others she worked with in the community.

I first learned of Pamela’s passing this past weekend from a close friend and supporter of hers, Professor Emerita at Brock University professor Rosemary Drage Hale who helped found a performing arts centre in Niagara and was one of Pamela’s heritage preservation allies.

“She was a real mentor to me when I first came to St Catharines in 2000,” said Hale, “My partner and I,  along with Marg Pratt of Port Colborne, have enjoyed a close and cherished friendship with Pam. We will miss her as will the heritage community of Niagara.  She was our hero.”

Helen Michlik, another close friend of Pamela’s and a fellow member of that book club, said Pamela was also “a wonderful cook and I was delighted when she asked me to illustrate her cookbook ‘The Nostalgic Kitchen’ (and) recently she was still active in our book club.”

“Her passion was the protection and design of heritage buildings (and) she was an avid antique collector. I have many fond memories of our

annual trips to various antique markets, (with) her saying to me; “Don’t let me buy anything!” and within minutes of our arrival, me going;  “Now, how are we going to get that into the car?”

Helen Michlik and Rosemary Drage Hale both ended their notes they sent me about Pamela’s passing with the words; ‘She will be missed.”

I am sure that there are many others across Niagara who will feel the same way.

Pamela Minns was one bright and shining example of what more of us should be doing to protect and preserve what is left of the best in the communities we live and work in.

And while she may be gone, what a legacy she has left us.

Pamela’s heart and soul will live on for generations to come in the many grand old homes and buildings she played such a major role in saving.

May she rest in  peace and may her love of and dedication to community be an inspiration to us all.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

For more on Pamela Minns, here are some links you can click on –

From Niagara At Large – A Happy 90th Birthday to Niagara, Ontario’s ‘Undisputed Queen of Heritage | Niagara At Large

Also – A Year-End Tribute to Two of Niagara’s Great People of Action – Cindy Forster and Pamela Minns | Niagara At Large

Another NAL post from Pamela Minns – Canada’s National Heritage Magazine Features Historic Buildings In Thorold Ontario | Niagara At Large

To read a Niagara At Large post by Pamela Minns, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2016/03/08/canadas-national-heritage-magazine-features-historic-buildings-in-thorold-ontario/

To read a post from Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce on Pamela Minns receiving the 2016 International Women’s Day Award, click on – Pamela Minns Named as Recipient of 2016 International Women’s Day Award – Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (gncc.ca)

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