Debert Eco-Industrial Community
This is the Debert of the future…a place where there is a blending of healthy and colorful cultural, social, commercial and environmental philosophies and undertakings. A place where the ancient Mi’kmaq culture, military history, industrial activity and community presence are merged with modern, environmentally responsible practices. A place of revival of pre-war technologies and infrastructure into cutting edge manufacturing, innovative technologies and green multi-objective infrastructure. A place where people want to live and work.
Debert is a village that has a population of just over 1400 people. Debert has an interesting and varied economic mix, composed of farming, an industrial park and tourism. Its cultural development is centred around military history and the Mi’kmawey Debert initiative. Plans are underway to develop the Debert Paleo Indian National Historic site of Canada. This location provides evidence of the earliest human occupation in eastern Canada dating to between 11,000 and 13,000 calendar years ago.
Eco-Industrial Park Development
The Debert Air Industrial Park (DAIP) spans an area of approximately 4200 acres. Debert is attractive to distribution and transportation centres, as it currently houses a number of these types of facilities. And there is no shortage of space for future development! Debert has approximately 1600 acres available for industrial development. CoRDA and its partners are in the process of developing the DAIP in an eco-industrial fashion using principles from industrial ecology. Check back to our site regularly for updates!
Mi'kmawey Debert
More than 11,000 years ago, this land, known as Mi’kma’ki by the Mi’kmaq, was the home to the first peoples in Canada. In Debert, Nova Scotia, a suite of archaeological sites first discovered more than 60 years ago continues to reveal new evidence of people on what was a glacial landscape. These are the oldest directly-dated archaeological sites in Canada, and they are among the largest, most intact and most important archaeological sites of this age in North America. This is part of the remarkable legacy of the Mi’kmaq that must be protected. The Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre is an outgrowth of efforts to protect the sites, with an all-Mi’kmaw Board of Directors, a mandate of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, and on-going guidance from an Elders’ Advisory Council.
When visitors arrive to the Cultural Centre, they will be immersed in a dynamic cultural landscape that comes alive with Mi’kmaw worldviews. Unlike most museums and cultural centres, visitors here will experience a wide range of experiential learning programs and activities lasting from one hour to several days. The Centre will meet educational demands provincially, nationally and internationally by being a year-round learning place and by providing a robust outreach program to off-site locations. Specifically-designed programs will offer a dimension of personal and community healing for the Mi’kmaq. The first public milestone of the project was the opening in 2003 of a beautiful 4.4 kilometer interpretive trail. Located along Plains Road in Debert, the Mi’kmawey Debert Interpretive Trail has become a popular destination for visitors from near and far.
The future Centre will help weave the spirit and pride of being Mi’kmaq back into daily life – fostering all aspects of healing: emotional, physical, mental and spiritual, while at the same time ensuring that Mi’kmaw culture and heritage is integral to family stories and the early history of North America.
Debert's Military History
The
Debert Military History Society (DMHS) began in when a small group of concerned citizens felt it was important to preserve the military history of the former Camp Debert (16X, RCAF/RAF) and to restore the former CFS Debert Museum which closed in 1996 when the military pulled out.
Built in 1939-40, Debert was a staging area for an estimated 300,000 soldiers being shipped overseas to fight for our freedom in World War II.
When Debert Military Camp was built in 1940, 1400 carpenters, 1600 labourers, 200 steam fitters, 150 painters, 100 electricians and 150 truck drivers were employed. The government paid 35 cents to 60 cents per hour depending on the skill of the work-man. There were 200 buildings on the completed site, with the streets laid out and a sewage system installed.
DMHS was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in March of 1998 and planning for a museum got underway almost immediately. The museum is now open May to September.