World Heritage Site designation is being sought for the first commercial oil field and the Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs.
Charlie Fairbank is taking the lead in submitting a joint application for the properties to be added to the Canadian nomination list for recognition through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
"I think it's exciting that Parks Canada reached out to Mr. Fairbank's, rather then it being the other way around," says Lambton County Warden Bev MacDougall.
Fairbank was contacted by the federal agency administering the application process to ensure he was informed about submitting an application to be on the tentative list.
"I think that, as both the provincial and federal governments are moving to bioeconomies and the change into renewables, that the timing is right now to enshrine that history in a permanent destination for people to come and study and learn about how we started with oil," says MacDougall.
Fairbank believes the application to include the two sites on the Parks Canada list will be well received.
The deadline to submit is December 16.
The oil field and museum property already share National Historic Site designation.
