MHPP comes to Drumheller

The Town of Drumheller spans the banks of the Red Deer River north-east of Calgary in the Canadian Badlands. You probably know Drumheller as the home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, but it should be famous for more than fossils. Like all of Alberta’s communities, places throughout Drumheller reflect its unique history. In Drumheller these places show us Drumheller’s evolution from a ranching town to a regional service centre and as the site of over 130 coal mines.

The Municipal Heritage Partnership Program (MHPP) recently trained the Drumheller Heritage Steering Committee appointed by Town Council. This is the first step MHPP takes when helping a municipality evaluate local historic places.

Over the next several months, the committee will develop a context paper defining the people, groups and events that Drumheller feels contributed to its development. The next step will be to identify sites in Drumheller that reflect these influences. Hopefully, many of these sites will have “heritage integrity”—that is, the sites must have enough historic material to reflect the reasons why they are important to Drumheller. If they do, a Statement of Significance will be written for each site.

The Statement of Significance explains why the site is valued and what about it must be conserved for it to remain historic. The statements will help Drumheller decide how best to preserve locally significant historic places.

Navy League Building, Town of Drumheller, AB — The Navy League building may be one of the sites evaluated in the Town of Drumheller's Municipal Heritage Inventory project.

If you would like to learn more about conducting a Municipal Heritage Inventory, please read the Evaluating Historic Places manual found on the MHPP website. If you would like to discuss options please contact MHPP staff.

Written by: Michael Thome, Municipal Heritage Services Officer

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