Perhaps one of the most iconic features of the small, rural communities that dot the prairies is the grain elevator. They were used to store and transport grain and served as a hub for farmers, as well as social and commercial activity.
In recognition of the importance of the grain elevator, the province of Alberta has designated the one in Big Valley, one of the last wood-cribbed elevators left standing, as a Provincial Historic Resource as of September 28.
The process to receive the designation began several years ago.
“We weren’t sure it could be a historic site, because it’s a 1960’s elevator. We thought it was too new. When someone from the government came here to inspect our 1916 church, she took a look at the elevator and suggested putting in the paperwork for the building. She said it was a wood elevator and one of the last of the old style,” said Lois Miller, a Big Valley Village Councillor and member of the Big Valley Historic Society.
The hope is the designation will open up opportunities for grant money to put towards maintenance of the building.
“The big thing is, now it's designated as a historic resource, we can get grants from the government to help pay for what we need to do. Otherwise, we would have been on our own,” said Allan Johnston, president of the Historic Society. “We’ve already paid $30,000 a couple times to get the elevator painted. It’s 105 feet high!”
The elevator was purchased by the Historic Society from the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1999. The Wheat Pool had plans to demolish the building.
Since then the Historic Society has done their best to preserve everything as best they could. The result is one of the last and most authentic grain elevators in Alberta.
“We’re proud of it still being an elevator. We had a couple tourists from England who said they had been to quite a few and they were glad ours was still an elevator inside,” said Miller. “It’s still 100 per cent an elevator and could be fired up if you put the engines back in.”
The elevator was built in 1960 by the Alberta Wheat Pool. At the time, hundreds existed across the prairies, with many communities boasting rows of them.