The Alberta Historical Resources Foundation has helped the Canadian Northern Historical Society preserve the Big Valley Train Station with a $25,000 grant.
Through its various programs, Alberta Heritage is supporting 71 projects and have awarded close to $1.3 million. Included in this is the roof project in Big Valley.
“The pride that Albertans take to preserve our colourful history is a result of the efforts of many individuals, organizations and municipalities,” said Alberta Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk. “By conserving our historic sites and landmark buildings, and documenting the province’s journey through time, we preserve the legacy of those who came before us and help build the cultural capacity of communities across the province.”
The Canadian Northern Society has restored three CN Railway stations in Meeting Creek, Camrose and Big Valley.
Director Janine Carroll explained about a year and a half ago the Society was doing some upgrades in the Big Valley Station and the contractor indicated the roof was going to need attention. The Society began fundraising for the project as part of its centennial celebrations last year.
“Thanks to huge support from local people and organizations, and from the Alberta Prairie Railway, we were able to raise funds needed to match a grant (not quite all, but a fair amount),” she said.
Last winter however was not kind to the roof and the Society had to get moving on the project.
A grant from Alberta Heritage allowed the roof of the Big Valley train station to be restored.
“What happened then made us take the project off the back burner and get it done fast. The small repairs we had completed did take care of some minor leaking, but an ice dam that was causing the problems just moved further up the roof and created major leakage,” said Carroll. “We needed to get the full project completed quickly. We hired a company and scheduled a complete re-roofing for as soon as possible.”
She said they were working with blind faith, hoping the government would approve the grant announced last week.
The Canadian Northern Railway Station and Roundhouse in Big Valley was built in 1912 and it served the Canadian Northern, the Canadian National and the Central Western Railway. Today it has 22,000 visitors annually and is a stop on the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions.
