Prize money offsets financial load to preserve history

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

When the Western District Historical Society were required to make an out-of-the-blue abrupt decision in purchasing – and therefore preserving – the 105-year-old Strathmore Anglican Church, the organization faced thousands of dollars to move the existing structure to a temporary location and off its current land. With fortuitous timing, the society was able to attract the attention of three judges at the second annual Let’s Make a Pitch event that awarded the society the prize money of $5,000. Having been quoted moving costs of $10,000 along with additional $2,000 per beam to go underneath the structure, cost of insurance at the new location, and the moving of power lines, the winnings will help offset some of the society’s financial load.
“We were given the offer of purchasing the church or not and we had to make a fairly quick decision, because it has to be moved very soon,” said Lynne Fair, member of the Western District Historical Society.
“Preserving it is important, and the Anglican Church people are very happy that it’s not leaving town. If we hadn’t taken it there was a buyer all ready to take it and it would’ve been gone. But the major cost is in the moving.”
The grass-roots committee, which received its society status in January, has met for the past two years, worked on strategic-planning, and sought advice from experts at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. By acquiring the Anglican Church, the society hopes to incorporate the structure into their plans of establishing a museum, and possibly accommodate an even bigger vision of a Strathmore Historic Park.
According to Fair the project will focus on the rich heritage of the CPR Demonstration and Supply Farm and the Irrigation District that played key roles in Strathmore’s history from 1908 to 1943. Although currently still in a planning phase, the society is aware their vision may take years to come to fruition and will require ongoing fundraising.
“The planning of the museum is a very long-range project … this doesn’t happen overnight,” Fair added. “If we don’t spend a lot of time doing all of our visioning, needs assessments, planning, and paperwork before anything gets off the ground, we may not be as successful as we would hope.”
Ticking off all of the criteria for this year’s Dragon’s Den-inspired Let’s Make a Pitch event, the project aims to promote community pride, engage community involvement, strengthening the quality of life, and inspire change.
The competition is the brainchild of Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Strathmore Dwight Stanford, who was inspired when he participated in a similar event at the Economic Developers Conference last year. Winning $500 for his team’s idea, Stanford reinvested the funds – which grew to $10,000 – into the project that most impressed the judges for beautifying the town.
Mimicking the same style, Jerry Lemmon with Talisman Energy, William G. Turnbull president of W.G. Turnbull & Associates, and Kenneth Struss with Cancorp Property Group deliberated five pitches, which included little free libraries, a graffiti initiative, eats of Strathmore, and park enhancement.
“The judges took it very seriously,” said Stanford. “The Western District Historical Society was neat, because the group dressed the part. They’ve got a group that’s enthused about it. They have some members with good history of this area, and hopefully in the future they can get set up and get a facility.”
While Stanford was pleased with the turnout and Travelodge’s donation of their facility and refreshments, plans for next year may be shifted towards the end of the year. With program-filled summer months, Stanford expects moving the event to the fall will provide non-profit organizations with more time to prepare and possibly increase participation.