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Some of the ideas from the first 'Five Year Plan' were carried out successfully and there were many people actively involved in trying to put Tatamagouche on the tourist map.

1998 - 2003 saw the second 'Five year Strategic and Action Plan' from the North Shore Community Development Association, with continued development along the waterfront and ideas for the Creamery, the Farmers' Market and with kiosks along the Trail. There was talk of connecting Creamery Square to the Barrachois Marina and beach, renting kayaks, boat trips up the French and Waugh Rivers, Heritage tours, craft outlets and other facilities and activities.

In 2001 Colchester County Council,assisted by CoRDA, commissioned a study to develop a concept plan for Tatamagouche - the 4 Square Plan. Four areas were identified as possible development sites. These were the Village Square, the Recreation Centre, the Village Common and Creamery Square.
The first meeting was held in the Fire Hall, hosted by Colchester County -there were a number of groups represented - the largest from the Museum and Archives - and there were many questions.

In 2002 - Central Nova Tourism Association (CNTA) completed a new tourism development plan for the region they covered - Colchester, Cumberland and East Hants counties. Their goal was to concentrate on - identity, packaging, marketing and infrastructure. They noted the earlier weaknesses sited in reports and put emphasis on creating new destination attractions. All this supported the Creamery Square vision
It is interesting that in many respects the report written in 1983 - The Cumberland Tourism Marketing Plan for the Gulf Shore, was still pertinent in 2003. In 2013 the same ideals are discussed, but little progress seems to be made!

Organizations involved in the Creamery Project were Colchester Regional Development Agency ( CoRDA), Central Nova Tourist Association (CNTA,) , North Shore Community Development Association (NSCDA ) and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

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A village square - one of the Four Square 'development' proposals
30 July 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
Creamery Square Heritage Society

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The different areas in the village were considered

The Four Squares project (1) -The Village Square - this area is bordered by the backs of the stores on Main Street, while on the other side are elegant older homes, built facing the water, and surrounded by mature trees.

The land under consideration was partly privately owned and some mobile homes were placed on the site.
There was a suggestion that the area become a village park, with car parking and back access entry to the shops, - today there is quite a large free parking area and some shops have back access, but there is no park. Maybe at a future date?

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Another of the Four Square areas considered for improvement
30 July 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
Creamery Square Heritage Society

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The North Shore Recreation Centre was built in 1974 and houses a full size ice rink, used from October to April for ice hockey, figure skating, public skating, curling and broom ball. Various tournaments are held here. There is a fitness walk constructed around the arena for winter walking and a fully equiped Fitness Centre. Upstairs is a large hall (with stage) and catering kitchen, so the Centre offers its facilities for Birthday parties, and special events; the Oktoberfest has been hosted here for many years and for the last 4 years the arena has been used for the highly successful Tatamagouche Tattoo, -in fact every space needs to be utilized on this occasion, as performers come from all over the Province.

The area behind the Recreation Centre was rough ground , with a sizable hill at one end. - it was not selected for furthur development in the Four Square Plan at that time. But the dream did not die, In 2006 a decision was made to raise the money to level the land for a full size soccer pitch, 400 metre running track and softball diamond, The funding provided by Provincial and Municipal Governments plus private donations and fund raising, has finally been achieved, and by the removal of hundreds of tons of soil, the area has been levelled. Some 6000 yards (5486 metres) of sod has been placed as well as gravel for the track.. There is still work to be done for the softball and surrounding areas but 2012 saw the project.well underway, with part ready for use - so the village benefits again from the efforts of various members of the community.

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The Village Common/playing field
30 July 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
Creamery Square Heritage Society

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Known for a long time as the Village Common, it was the site for various community events including the very successful Festival of the Arts in the 1950's and 60's.

Most of the field belongs to Colchester County School Board and provides playing fields for the North Colchester High School, which faces the fields. There was a time when it was suggested that the school playing fields should move to the Recreation Centre, leaving the original field for a park, flower beds and cultural activities,(perhaps a remembered time from The Festival of the Arts) but there was some opposition from people who prefered to watch sporting activities, so the field is still used for soccer and other games.

A small area near the main road belonged to the Department of Transport and negotiations were made for the community to construct the new environmentally - friendly Library which opened in 2012. Half the funds for this project was raised by the community so they had considerable say in the design which is delightful and in keeping with the village. It even has an electric car outlet and is increasingly popular for after school activities; there is a 'public room' for use by any organization in the village - free of charge

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The Creamery before alterations
20th Century. Circa1980/90's
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
North Shore Archives

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Creamery Square with the original Creamery and associated buildings beside a tidal river would create an attractive destination for the locals and visitors.
This earlier picture of the Creamery show it as it was in 1993 . Since then all the windows and doors have been replaced - the window to the left of the door is now a 'false' one, letting in no light to the coat hanging space inside.. The door on the right is no longer there.but basically the Creamery looks as it did originally - being a Heritage building, very little in the way of exterior alterations were permitted

Public meetings were held to determine if the local people wished to go forward with the idea of developing the Creamery and the Square into an 'Attraction Cluster' or 'Critical Mass' destination. Meetings were attended by most of the cultural and heritage groups and it became apparent that most would find it adventageous to re-locate to the Square. So the project was accepted - decisions as to how the buildings would be used changed over the following years but the enthusiasm remained .

In 2003, under the leadership of CoRDA (Colchester Regional Development Agency),The Middlepoint Consulting Group were retained; they held several meetings with the stakeholders (representatives of interested groups) to discuss the Creamery Square concept and how it would be developed. It was to mean a lot of co-operation and understanding between the interested groups

Various studies were made to help move the project forward - especially marketing and fund raising strategies. Finding Funding Partners, obtaining architectural designs and drawings, finding a project manager, ensuring communications with the public together with a need to maintain motivation of the residents, - all were necessary..

So there was a new vision - A Heritage Centre integrated with the Farmers' Market and other commercial enterprizes that reflected the culture and heritage of the region.
The product - an interpretation centre incorporating the Sunrise Trail Museum, The Roy Kennedy Collection, Brule Fossils, Creamery artifacts, the Anna Swan Collection and the Archives; a Performing Art Centre, Art gallery,Visitor Services, Farmers' Market and Trail Head for the Butter Trail part of the Trans Canada Trail. So various organizations would 'become one' as well as the grouping together of museums and archives. An ambitious plan for Creamery Square and it was to take a long time to achieve.

Obviously funds had to be found, Through the co-operation of Scotsburn Co-operative Services Ltd, Nova Scotia Office of Economic Development, Nova Scotia Department of Tourism,Culture and Heritage, Human Resources, Skills Development Canada, CoRDA, ACOA, AgriFutures , Agri-Food and the local Bavarian Society, together with funds becoming available from the Federal Government, (with help from the local MP), the Provincial Government (with help from the local MLA) and the County of Colchester (thanks to the local Councellor and the Mayor), the project was able to begin.. As time went on so individuals were approached.and Corporate Funding acquired. Sometimes promised money was reduced in amount, which did not help when a building was underway!

Charitable Status needed to be applied for.. this took several months and consequently held up application for many grants.
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ACOA proposed a three-phase approach to this $2.6 million project - it would be difficult to fund it all at once. A suggestion was made that the Performing Arts building be built first as it would help bring in money and CoRDA were prepared to help with bookings, but this did not happen. However it was agreed that a three phase project be accepted, and donors could decide where they wanted their money to go.

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Creamery Square - of the Four Squares, this was chosen for development
20th Century. Oct 1994
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
North Colchester Development Committee

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2004 saw four committee groups set up - Communications and publicity, Events and programming, Property and management, Fundraising - corporate, government and individual; the heads of these groups met every 2 weeks. At this time it was thought the entire project would be completed by 2006! Although wrong about this, achievements by 2006 were impressive thanks to an increasing number of hardworking, intelligent people most of whom, were volunteers

By 2005 with the funding in place and Phase 1 - the Farmers' Market underway, thoughts turned to the old Creamery building.

This plan showed the Creamery housing a Playhouse and Visitor Information Centre; The Shed building housed boutiques, and the Brule Fossils were placed in the Ice House. At this stage the Scotsburn's Co-Op store was still in operation. The Solar Aquatic Greenhouse idea is a bit of a mystery!

Many lessons were learned in Phase 1 - things not thought to be important suddenly became very important. Great diligence would be needed in proposing budgets for the next phase.

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Tatamagouche Creamery in 1992
20th Century 1992
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
Museum of Industry, New Glasgow, NS

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Back in 2003 the Creamery Association Committee (CSA) was formed, made up of members from the different groups involved and the general public. - they would take on responsibility for Creamery Square, with the organizations involved sharing the cost of snow clearing and garbage removal when the time arrived and being responsible for the exterior maintenance of the buildings.

One of the on-going problems for a while was the reluctance of the different organizations to relinquish their 'independent turf' and embrace the big picture of Creamery Square; this attitude was reflected too in the Heritage Centre, where three museums and the Archives came together. It took a while to get used to the concept.

A CSA membership of $5.00 was agreed upon and it was decided that panels be set up informing the community about the project. An audio documentary plus slides were to be sent to some radio stations for publicity about the project and a power point /video was made for presentation to prospective funding partners.

A letterhead and logo were designed; a Code of Ethics worked on.

Work started on obtaining the leases for the Ice house and Stilts building and approaches were made to the Department of Natural Resources for the lease of land that would be turned into a parking lot.

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Site plan for Creamery Square 2003
21st Century May 2003
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada

Credits:
CoRDA (Colchester Regional Development Association)