This is why the NMI Humanities Council, in cooperation with the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Historic Preservation Office, the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture, tour operators, among other stakeholders, is working on a Garapan Heritage Trail project.
NMI Humanities Council Executive Director Scott Russell told Variety that the project is an outgrowth of the geotourism initiative.
“We’ll be working with a number of stakeholders — both government and private — to develop a self-guided walking tour of important historic and cultural sites in greater Garapan area,” he said.
The project will allow tourists and local residents the opportunity to learn about the hidden history of the islands, Russell said. “There is so much history that’s below the surface. You really have to know what you are looking at.”
He said with the guided tour, they will get as much information out — what happened at various points in time in the past.
Russell said the project is for anybody with an interest in history and culture and will be of interest to tourists as well.
He said, “They’ll get authentic information on what makes Saipan or the CNMI unique.”
The NMI Humanities Council and the allied agencies are working on having interpretative signs at various sites on the walking tour, he added.
He said they do not have an exact number, but they might be looking at over 15 sites.
The signs will have old historic photographs to show what the sites looked like in the past.
Aside from the signs, the Humanities Council will be working on a self-guided map in various languages.
“We are also having a self-guided map available in multiple languages — major tourist languages — that would be available at the hotels. The map can be picked up at the front desk,” Russell said.
He also said they’ll have website dedicated to the Garapan Heritage Trail that anybody can access.
Asked about the funding, Russell said the project is still in its early stage and the council has yet to discuss funding among other specifics of the project.
But the council wants to complete the project by the end of the year.
“It is a model that can be replicated in other parts of the islands, in other islands,” Russell said, referring to the project.
