The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site is one of the beneficiaries in this round of Alberta Heritage grants, receiving $90,000.
The Ministry of Culture and Community Spirit released its list of recipients of funding through the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation. This year they have committed to 58 grants to projects with a price tag in the area of $1.3 million.
“The returns on investing in heritage preservation are knowledge and awareness of our past, pride in our communities today and economic growth for a strong future. Culture matters to Albertans and an Alberta built for the future is one that honours its past,” said Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Culture.
For the Atlas Coal Mine, this means the Tipple will be getting some needed attention.
“This is to go to phase one of tipple stabilization. It is urgently needed to make sure the tipple is still there in perpetuity,” said Linda Digby, executive director for the Atlas Coal Mine.
She explains the funding will get the organization about half way through the project and the Atlas is looking at fundraising opportunities to finish the project, and has some promising leads. She says the Canalta Tourism Destination fund is supportive of the project.
“They really understand that building the product and maintaining the product that is here is really important to building the tourism industry. For example, if there wasn’t a standing tipple in the valley that’s going to really impact the whole tourism industry in the valley,” said Digby. “With that in mind they are a generous supporter of this.”
This latest provincial grant funding comes through three distinct granting programs, the Municipal Heritage Partnership Program, the Alberta Main Street Program and the Heritage Preservation Partnership Program.
The Atlas received this grant through The Heritage Preservation Partnership program and is a conservation grant. According to a release, the Atlas was an integral part of the coal industry and holds significance because of its several “trailblazing” techniques of coal extraction and processing.
Among the significant innovations introduced at the Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine were the use of a self-propelled coal-cutting machine on the tracks and the Cardox method of retrieving coal.
The Atlas was not the only area project that received support from the Ministry of Culture and Community Spirit.
Under the Municipal Historic Resources program the Craigmyle Historic Society received $14,580 for the Craigmyle United Church. According to a release, originally a Methodist Church completed in 1918, the Craigmyle United Church building stands as a valued place of worship for the small hamlet of Craigmyle, as well as a meaningful place for community and social interaction. Methodist activities in the Craigmyle area date back to 1909, when religious services were initiated. A parsonage was erected on the present church property in 1914, and services were, for a time, conducted there. The congregation joined the United Church of Canada at the time of the union of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in 1925.
The Village of Delia also received a $3,400 Heritage Awareness Grant. In the Village’s Centennial year, it has commissioned a series of interpretive signs denoting the early history and former buildings and will be erected in pedestrian accessible locations throughout the village.
A Calgary student was recipient of a Roger Soderstrom Scholarship to help look at the Hanna Roundhouse. According to the list, Charles C. Moorhouse received the “Continuing the Narrative: Reclaiming Sites of Industrial Decay (Calgary) Scholarship amount: $7,500: This Master of Architecture Thesis (Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University) will focus on abandoned ruins and potential adaptive reuse solutions for conserving the Canadian Northern Railway roundhouse in Hanna, Alberta.”
