Monday, April 28, was the official start date for restoration of the wooden tipple at the Atlas Coal Mine.
    Macdonald and Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd., a specialist carpentry company based on Vancouver Island, B.C., are undertaking the four week restoration.
    The tipple restoration is phase 1 of the three-phase multi-year restoration project at the national historic site.

Jay Russell, Interim Manager of the Atlas Coal Mine,  accepts a $1,300 donation from Barb Taillon and Jessica Sharpe of the Drumheller branch of Chinook Credit Union. The funds were raised during a branch bake sale held April 17, and during a month-long raffle of a bird house sculpture. Russell said the funds will go toward the wooden tipple restoration that started April 28 at the Atlas Coal Mine.

    “In essence, what we’re doing this time is a couple of big pieces of timber, which is support timber. They’ll replace a couple of those,” explains the Atlas Coal Mine’s Interim Manager, Jay Russell.
    “It is an historical structure, so we have to do it right, and do it smart.”
    “It’s important. It’s exciting.”
    He said there are historical artifacts that must be moved out of the way for restoration, and then returned, without any damage to them.
    Russell notes the tipple will still be open during this restoration.
    “It’s not going to impede our tour offering - the crew has been very gracious, and they’re going to let us access the tipple.”
    The tipple was open for toonie tours during the May Day Miners’ Festival, May 2-4.
    Phase 2 of the restoration could start as early as next year, depending on a variety of factors.
    There were 139 mines in the valley, so there would have been 139 tipples, said Russell.
    The Atlas Coal Mine wooden tipple is the last remaining wooden tipple standing in all of Canada.
    Russell said the structure was built in 1937.

It was a good year for the Drumheller Co-op as it boasts sales of more than $42 million.

The Drumheller Co-op held its 52nd Annual General Meeting on Thursday, April 24. Last year the Co-op had sales of $42,474,026, and the board has approved a patronage allocation of $1,132,126. Of this, it is paying out a 25 per cent allocation of $260,985 cash to members. 

Over all the growth in sales at the Co-op came largely from the non-foods division.  General Manager Gordon Van Kannel said the Co-op had strong fuel sales, as did the hardware and agricultural products divisions, totaling $35.7 million. In the food division, while sales fell by $223,451, they still come in at over $6.7 million.

It has been a busy year for the Co-op as it completed an interior renovation and modernization of it home and agro centre. This included a redistribution of its existing space for more sales floor and completed remerchandising of the facility.

“The amount of work that was completed this past year was incredible,” said Van Kannel in is report. “Our staff had a huge role to play in bringing this project to where it is.  For that, I sincerely want to thank them. This is a facility that, you the member, can be proud to have in your community.” 

The grand reopening of the Co-op home and Agro Centre was March 1-4.

While, the mall continues to be a challenge with a number of vacancies, Van Kannel said the Co-op undertook an aggressive marketing campaign to solicit new tenants, and was able to secure one. They are continuing to look at new ways to attract new tenants. The Co-op has cleaned up some of the space and has discussed ideas on how to reconfigure some of the space to make it more attractive to potential renters. 

Another success for the Co-op is its ability to continue to give back to the community. This year its till tape program gave many community organizations a boost, donating $24,536 through the program. It also contributed another $9,741 through its Co-op Gift Card program. 

There was one resolution presented at the Annual General Meeting. This was to change the board purchase requirement and it passed. This means for a member to be eligible to run for the Co-op Board of Directors, they are required to have spent $2,500 over the previous year. Before the requirement was for $5,000.

The board currently has one vacancy. Richard Faulter completed his term on the board, and Lloyd Marshman, who was appointed to the board earlier this year, was formally nominated and elected to the board.