10 May 2010

Fire Risk May Keep Doors Shut on Historic Grain Elevator

Art Birkholz of the Alberta Legacy Development Society hopes to turn this grain elevator in Leduc into an interpretive centre.

Leduc Alberta - At age 76, Art Birkholz is old enough to remember when grain elevators were the hub of western Canadian life.
 
When he was a young farmer, one of his duties was to bring a horse-drawn wagon full of fall harvest to an elevator in Leduc.
 
In those days, the wooden prairie skyscrapers dominated a town's architectural, economic, and even social landscape.
 
As bushels of grain were loaded on to train cars bound for the Pacific coast, the elevators served as a place for farmers to catch up on gossip and discuss issues of the day, from politics to seed prices, to the weather.
 
"Did you know early pilots used them to find their way around Alberta?" Birkholz asks. "There's lots of history behind these elevators. They're what built the towns."
 
Now semi-retired, Birkholz is trying to keep the Leduc elevator's history alive.
 
He and a group of volunteers, known as the Alberta Legacy Development Society, have struggled for nearly a decade to turn the site into a proper interpretive centre.
 
After years of subsisting on bake sales and book sales to keep the project going, the group now has government grants in the bank and a fresh coat of green paint on the exterior.
 
They say they are nearly ready for tourists and school groups. But their dream could still be derailed by one major obstacle:  a long-standing safety code issue that is proving difficult and expensive to overcome.
 
"It's been a long process," Birkholz says. "This is the year we're hoping to get some answers. We'd like to be able to show the kids what happened to the grain."
 
Of the 1,800 or so wood-frame elevators that were constructed in Alberta, fewer than 250 remain. Two were torn down earlier this year just north of Rexall Place. Another in Waskatenau burned down three weeks ago.
 
Twelve elevators are protected as provincial historic resources. The oldest of this group is a 1906 elevator in St. Albert, also the subject of a restoration effort.
 
In contrast, the facility in Leduc is young. It was built in 1978, but that's what makes it valuable. Birkholz says it's the last wood-frame elevator built in the province.
 
The society purchased the property for about $110,000 after Canadian Pacific Railway mothballed it in 2000.
 
Since then, the group has worked to transform it from a dilapidated industrial facility to a tourist destination. Much of the effort concentrated on restoring the elevator to its original look, down to the smallest detail. The idea is to transport visitors back to a time when the facility first started operating.
 
As an example, the manager's office has several vintage touches, from wood-panelled walls, to a classic clock radio, to an old Alberta Wheat Pool calendar. The group even tracked down a giant 1970s era computer that was used to keep records.
 
Other improvements are to come. A warehouse building to the north of the elevator is expected to be renovated for archives storage and a place to view antiques. As for the south warehouse, Birkholz hopes it will become home to the society's offices, the admission booth, and a summer tea house serving visitors hot and cold drinks.
 
But these plans may never be realized unless the society can find a way to deal with the threat of fire. There are no easy solutions.
 
Modern safety-code regulations require such wood-framed buildings to be a considerable distance from the next property.
 
This appears to be an impossible standard to meet in Leduc because the elevator is up against the property line. Even worse, on the other side of that line are train tracks forming part of CP Rail's heavily used main route between Edmonton and Calgary. A side track that runs within a few metres of the building is often used by CP to store train cars, including some that carry propane.
 
"So if this building was to burn, it would create quite a situation in town," says Syd Reynar, chief safety codes inspector for the City of Leduc.
 
"With the tracks, my understanding is that CP is running up to 15 trains a day with 150 cars. So if you have to shut those tracks down due to a fire, you can imagine the impact it would have."
 
One solution would be to take out, or move the tracks, as has been done with other grain elevators that have been turned into museums. CP, however, isn't about to reroute its main line. Birkholz says the society hoped to at least remove the side track or buy it from CP, but the company refused.
 
Another approach involved the society asking the city for a "variance" from the safety codes. The request was rejected. Reynar says he has the power to issue a variance only when alternative safety measures are as good or better than those prescribed in the code.
 
"And in this case, whatever they do isn't going to be as good or better as what's in the code," he says. "It's a tough issue. I think it's been close to 10 years we've been working on this."
 
The society is now resting its hopes on receiving an "order of exemption" from Minister of Municipal Affairs Hector Goudreau.
 
As part of that process, they have hired an architect to recommend measures that can help mitigate the dangers, such as installing a sprinkler system, better wheelchair access, and more emergency exits, Birkholz says.
 
Though frustrating, the project has come too far for members to give up, he says.
 
Eager to show off their efforts, the society will open the elevator for small tours on Saturdays this summer or by appointment.
 
They hope to have a decision from the minister later this year.
 
"Everybody is behind what they are trying to do," Reynar says. "Probably what it comes down to is if the government considers this an important part of the province, they will issue the exemption and accept the liability."
 
Keith Gerein.