The East Coulee School Museum has achieved a milestone, being designated a Provincial Historical Resource.
In 2014, The East Coulee School Museum name Drumheller Valley’s first Municipal Historic Resource in 2014. And in 2017, the Province of Alberta formally recognized the School Museum as a Provincial Historic Resource – the highest and most prestigious designation.
The Alberta Provincial Historical Resource Act allows the Alberta government to designate and protect Provincial Historical Resources. The East Coulee School Museum is vital in telling the story of the Coal Mining Era.
When a site is designated, the owners are obligated to be good stewards. There are strict guidelines to preserve the property. Written approval from the Minister is needed to make significant changes.
With this designation, it also provides owners with resources to keep the sites in good standing, such as matching grants, technical expertise from Heritage Conservation Advisors, promotion of the site for tourists or education purposes.
This designation allows the Society to apply for annually for grants of $100,000. The Society then works to match whatever grant funds they are awarded.
The museum is already actively preserving the site. This process was started by the replacement of the coal-fired boiler in 2015 with a new high efficiency gas boiler using the same radiators and pipes. The next step is the overhaul of the roof. The old roof needs to be taken off and a new torch on roof put in its place with all the Heritage Details on the roof edge to be preserved and returned to its proper place on the roof.
The East Coulee School Museum is owned and operated the Dinosaur Valley Historical Society.
To date the museum has raised approximately $56,000. Of this, $36,250 was just received from the Alberta Heritage Resources Foundation. It needs to match this amount and raise more funds. The roof estimate has come in at $170,000 to do the entire roof.
