In 1884, geologist Joseph Burr Tyrrell discovered huge coal outcrops and a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull in the Red Deer River Valley.
Drumheller’s history is strongly linked to its wealth of natural resources. More than 130 coalmines operated in the valley between 1911 and 1979. Though Drumheller has since become world-renowned for dinosaur fossils, it was the abundant coal deposits within the surrounding badlands that gave life to the community.
Samuel Drumheller (behind the wheel circa 1913-15) won a coin toss in 1910 against homesteader Tom Greentree over whose name the site would bear. (Glenbow Archives NA-2389-20).
Peter Fidler encountered pronounced coal seams by the Red Deer River at Kneehills Creek while surveying the area for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1793. After Samuel Drumheller bought local land in 1910 and sold it to Canadian National Railway for further development as a townsite, Drumheller’s coal rush began. The community’s first mine, Newcastle, opened in 1911. Several mines were subsequently founded before Drumheller’s incorporation as a village in 1913, as a town in 1916 and as a city in 1930.
By 1920, Drumheller’s main street was a bustling centre of a growing community. (Provincial Archives of Alberta A15275).
At its peak, this “Wonder Town of the West” was a booming coalmining mecca with over 30,000 residents and once among the fastest growing municipalities in Canada. Some of the valley’s mines lasted for decades. When the region’s last closed in 1979 amid oil and natural gas expansion, it marked the end of the valley’s coalmining era. In the vacuum created by a fallen coal industry, plans to construct a world class museum were put into motion. The Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opened in 1985.
Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site: the last wooden tipple standing in Canada.
Today, Drumheller celebrates its unique heritage as a modern hub of the Red Deer River badlands. This is the place where many of the world’s most extraordinary dinosaur specimens are excavated and showcased, and where some of Western Canada’s greatest coal production occurred. Drumheller Valley is one of Alberta’s best known tourism destinations. Here, you can explore both ancient and modern landscapes.
Written by: Jeff Sterr, Historical Places Research Assistant.
Misunderstandings about alterations to designated historic resources
Now and again, I receive a call or a question from someone who appears to be under the impression that their Provincial or Municipal Historic Resource cannot be “altered” and that it must be “preserved” as is. That is not entirely true. Under Alberta’s Historical Resources Act, “no person shall destroy, disturb, alter, restore or repair any historic resource…without the written approval from the minister (Section 20-9)” if the site is a Provincial Historic Resource. For Municipal Historic Resources, the written approval must come from “the council or a person appointed by the council for the purpose (Section 26-6).” To obtain a written approval, the proposed alteration must be evaluated under the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Place in Canada.
The Standards and Guidelines is a pan-Canadian document that is used as a tool to evaluate and sometimes enforce certain principles in the conservation of our historic resources. There are four major components to the document: the conservation decision-making process, the conservation treatments, the standards, and the guidelines – with each component going into more and more detail. The most critical of these is the “conservation decision-making process”. This process involves three stages that I like to refer to as the acronym U.P.I. (pronounced whoopee!) or Understanding, Planning, and Intervening.
The designation of a historic resource implies that we are trying to conserve it for future generations as part of our shared heritage. Understanding why a designation was put in place is the first step in determining what can and can’t be touched. This is summarised in a Statement of Significance (SoS). Each designated historic resource has one. If you do not know what the SoS for your designated building contains, you can search for it on the Alberta Register of Historic Places.
Planning is the most important part of any project and for historic resources it is critical in order to avoid mistakes and the potential damage or loss of heritage fabric – usually listed as character-defining elements within a SoS. As a Heritage Conservation Adviser, it is part of my job to help you understand and plan (and subsequently recommend approvals for Provincial Historic Resources) for projects that will affect your historic resource before any intervening occurs. When someone indicates to me that they will be going straight to an intervention (i.e. actual physical alteration to a historic resource) without any understanding or planning having taken place, I will tend to react like the guy in this video clip.
Ok, well maybe on the inside. Suffice it to say, that intervening without understanding or planning is not recommended. Although I did find the guy in the video’s treatment of the new homeowner’s lack of respect for their heritage building interesting – would you agree?!
Written by: Carlo Laforge, Heritage Conservation Adviser.
Hi, I’m Sandy I am the new Heritage Conservation Adviser in the Historic Places Stewardship Section. While new to Alberta’s Ministry of Culture, the field of Cultural Resource Management is not new to me.
I have worked for the City of Ottawa as a heritage planner; for the Heritage Canada Foundation as Medicine Hat’s Main Street Coordinator; was the Built Heritage Project Officer for Jasper National Park; and; the Parks Canada National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Coordinator for Alberta and British Columbia. I was most recently a heritage resources and community planner with the Parks Canada Agency. Amongst my duties in that position I was the Federal Heritage Building Review Office Coordinator all of Western and Northern Canada.
My work with Parks Canada saw me working in massively diverse geographical areas from Waterton Lakes National Park in the far south west corner of the province to Sheep Creek Warden’s Station located in the middle of Ivvavik National Park in the far north and, from Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba right across the prairies through the Rocky Mountain National Parks to Vancouver Island. The heritage buildings and properties that I was dealing with included everything from small wardens’ cabins in the remote back country of the Rocky Mountains National Parks; privately and publicly owned residential, commercial and institutional heritage buildings in national parks and national park communities, and; buildings and structures located at national historic sites. The variety and types of heritage buildings was endless and, when combined with their specific geographic locations, the experiences were all highly memorable.
My education has provided me with an understanding of historic place conservation and management. I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree, in Canadian History and Urban and Regional Geography, from the University of Victoria; a Masters of Environmental Design in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Calgary where I specialized in heritage planning, and; a Masters of Arts in Conservation Studies (Historic Buildings) from the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, the University of York, England.
You will find me to be a very personable person who is highly supportive of colleagues and who enjoys a team-based collaborative work environment. I am truly excited and absolutely thrilled about working as a Heritage Conservation Adviser and look forward to meeting new colleagues, and getting “out in the field” with the owners of designated properties.
Written by: Sandy Aumonier, Heritage Conservation Adviser.
WHEN: Thursday September 19th at the Ukrainian Village & Friday September 20th in Old Strathcona
WHY: To help create a future for Alberta’s historic places.
While each year we try to carefully minimize scheduling conflicts with other important happenings on the heritage scene, sometimes overlaps occur. Some RETROactive readers will want to know that this year’s Forum is taking place at the same time and in the same fair city (Edmonton) as our friends from theAlberta Museums Association are hosting their Annual Conference. Please keep in mind that both the AMA Conference and our Municipal Heritage Forum allow for single-day registrations. This may allow some attendees to maximize their trip to Edmonton to take in the best of both great events. We will also be co-hosting a reception with the AMA on Thursday evening, Friday 19th.
Full information on Forum 2013, schedules, and registration materials will be available soon! Stay tuned to RETROactive for details.
The Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada is holding its annual conference in Edmonton from May 29 to June 1. This year’s event, Infrastructures and Institutions: Settings for Life, will bring people from across Canada together to share information and ideas about architectural history, heritage resource management and other related topics. Over 40 speakers will participate 10 sessions on the University of Alberta campus.
Ministry of Culture staff will make presentations in Session 5: The Role of Government Programs in the Conservation and Commemoration of the Built Environment. This will be a lively, Pecha Kucha format session that promises to be very interesting and engaging. Other sessions will address Aboriginal themes in contemporary architecture, teaching architectural or design history in Canada, the role of churches in our communities, and the place of Arthur Erickson in the history of Canadian public architecture, among other topics. The third day of the conference is given over to an all-day bus tour that includes a train ride and banquet.
You’re welcome to attend! To register, visit the conference page of the society’s website.
Written by: Dorothy Field, Heritage Survey Program Coordinator
A few weeks ago, I was live-blogging from the the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Main Street Conference. The conference is attended by leaders from hundreds of historic main street communities across North America. Here are some final thoughts, after returning home to Alberta.
Culinary Revival in Historic Places
The final session of the Main Street Conference in New Orleans featured Robert St. John , a celebrity chef and authority on southern culture and food, as speaker. His humorous presentation focused on his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. There is a lot of focus these days—and not only in New Orleans—on how culinary excellence works hand-in-hand with revitalizing historic main streets. The food scene—in all its dimensions—is major player in today’s “cultural economy.”
Robert’s presentation reminded me how a number of our historic Alberta Main Street communities are great places to enjoy good food in authentic, fun environments. In particular, his presentation reminded me of Downtown Lethbridge, where an exciting food and coffee culture has emerged over the past several years. Other places in Alberta are seeing great new restaurants, coffee-houses, artisan bakeries, micro-breweries, and fantastic food trucks enrich and enliven neighbourhoods, and jump-start uses for historic buildings. There are some tremendous entrepreneurial opportunities out there. The historic vibe, feel, and values in our traditional commercial districts only adds to the appeal.
Next Year in Detroit –Works in Progress!
Detroit will host the 2013 Main Street Conference.
The wrap-up session concluded with a presentation by next-year’s host city: Detroit, Michigan. Now, much ink has been spilt describing Detroit’s catastrophic urban decline over the past few decades. Hundreds of blocks of blighted houses and commercial buildings have been bulldozed due to the severity of the situation. But that is all changing. Detroit is using Main Street’s Four-Point Approach® to bring its downtown back from the ashes. Jane Jacobs said that “new ideas need old buildings,” and that is definitely part of what is happening in Detroit.
It’s inspiring to see what is happening around the world, but it’s even more exciting to see what’s happening across Alberta, in our own backyard. Stay tuned to RETROactive for updates on historic main street news from across the province.
Written by: Matthew Francis, Manager of Municipal Heritage Services
It’s been a long winter, but summer is almost here. The lengthening days signal that it is time to start planning some of the regular maintenance every building needs to deal with the winters still to come. Have you noticed long, heavy icicles hanging from your home’s eaves this winter? If you did, the building likely has a problem with ice damming. Examining the damage, effecting repairs and solving the underlying problem should be a priority.
Ice damming happens when warm air that rises in a building suddenly hits the frozen roof. Any snow or ice sitting on that roof melts and runs towards the eaves—where it promptly freezes again. That ice plugs the eavestroughs, overflows (hence the icicles) and is often forced into the roof itself. Many think that icicles hanging from the eaves are beautiful, but the water forced into the roof can wind up in the ceiling and walls. Ice damming is often the root cause of problems with mould, rot and even structural failure.
There are several ways to minimise ice damming. Keeping snow off the roof prevents it from melting in the first place. Heat cables can be installed at the base of the roof to prevent water from refreezing at the eaves. However, if the roof is nearing the end of its useful life and in need of rehabilitation, this is an opportunity to address the underlying problem.
Ice damming is indeed a symptom of a larger problem with the roof. Those long, heavy icicles are a sign that a roof lacks proper insulation or ventilation. The more heat escaping from the attic, the more quickly the snow on a roof will melt. The more poorly ventilated the roof is, the less likely the rising heat will dissipate evenly.
What to do? Careful observation and a little research is always the first step: you cannot solve a problem you don’t understand. Get into the habit of comparing the amount of snow on your roof to the amount on the roofs of other buildings in the area. If snow disappears more quickly from your roof, that could be evidence of poor insulation. If the amount of snow is unevenly distributed a few days after a snowfall, your roofing system may be poorly ventilated.
How to fix the underlying problem? Since ice damming is caused by melting snow that quickly refreezes, a solution will limit the amount of heat escaping through the attic while distributing the heat that does inevitably escape evenly across the roof. Be careful—adding too much or the wrong type of insulation or installing it poorly creates its own problems.
Insulating a roof in the wrong way can easily compromise the ventilation. The areas where a roof meets the walls will always be warmer than the peak. Proper ventilation moves heat from the warmer to the cooler areas of the roof, limiting the potential for the snow and ice to melt. In older homes, a lack of ventilation is quite common: exposed rafters or decorative boxed-in soffits with crown mouldings often restrict air flow within the attic. There are ways to improve ventilation that do not comprise the heritage value of your home.
It’s always a good idea to consult a professional. An architect or roofing engineer can help you evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different solutions. You must consider all of the variables and materials that compose a roof before implementing a solution:a roof is not just a layer of shingles but a system complete with external and internal components.
Written by: Carlo Laforge, Heritage Conservation Adviser.
Matthew Francis, Manager of Municipal Heritage Services with Alberta Culture’s Historic Resources Management Branch, is live-blogging from the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Main Street Conference.The conference is attended by leaders from hundreds of historic main street communities across North America.
Tuesday was the last full day of the formal conference, while Wednesday features a number of post-conference tours to various Main Street communities. I, however, will be travelling back to Edmonton on Wednesday, via Houston and Calgary. Seeing as I would miss the extended tours, I signed up to participate in a mobile workshop called “The Rebirth of Upper Canal Street,” which showcased the renewal of this 18th and 19th century neighbourhood which had endured decades of decline. Now, two distinct districts are emerging along Upper Canal, one with historic theatres, focusing on entertainment, and another focused on biomedical research and development.
New Orleans Civil Rights Heritage: Can it be Conserved?
Canal Street Streetcar
A group of about 20 of us hopped on one of the great streetcars that continually traverse Canal Street, the major thoroughfare through downtown New Orleans. Our guide, the Director of the Downtown Development District of New Orleans, pointed out numerous places of interest within this complex environment. One such building was a now-empty Woolworth’s store, which we learned had been the epicentre of the early Civil Rights movement in Louisiana; this Woolworth’s lunch counter was one of the first to be de-segregated in the 1950s. Now, however, the building lays vacant, and is currently slated for demolition.
A Historic Entertainment District – Renaissance
Across LaSalle Street from Woolworth’s stands the early 20th century Saenger Theater. Damaged extensively during Katrina, but also ailing for some time before that, the theatre was in urgent need of a multi-million dollar rehabilitation if it was to have a future. Through application of historic tax-credit support, in addition to a comprehensive business plan for sustainability, that project is now well under way. I took a picture of the sign to indicate the number of partners – both public and private sector – involved in this massive endeavour. In approximately two years time, this once-great movie palace will again become a centre for performing arts in New Orleans, and will anchor future development on Upper Canal.
Joy Theatre, Upper Canal Street, New Orleans
Across the Street from the Saenger Theatre is the Joy Theater, a 1940s Art Deco gem, now restored to its period of significance. The Joy has already become a popular centre for performing arts and is driving the district as an entertainment hot spot. To my eye, it also bears some resemblance to Alberta’s Garneau Theatre , a Municipal Historic Resource, located in Edmonton.
New Technologies and Bio-Innovation
On the next block up from the theatres, several older buildings have been re-purposed for use as medical and scientific research facilities, and new infill, including a multimillion dollar, highly advance centre for “Bio-Innovation,” has been developed. The Upper Canal area will also become home to a new Veteran’s Administration hospital, a 2 billion dollar initiative, replacing an existing hospital devastated by Katrina.
The tour concluded with discussion about the ingenuity and collaboration required to facilitate these projects. It was intriguing to see an area like Upper Canal – very much a work in progress – and to anticipated the future results of the work being undertaken today.
I’ll conclude my live-blogging from the Conference with one more post on the final plenary session. Stay tuned!
Matthew Francis, Manager of Municipal Heritage Services with Alberta Culture’s Historic Resources Management Branch, is live-blogging from the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Main Street Conference.The conference is attended by leaders from hundreds of historic main street communities across North America.
Monday’s conference sessions offered rich content from professionals seasoned in Main Street leadership in various contexts. I attended three:
“Creative Collaboration Efforts Between Main Streets and Municipalities”
“Font of Information: Successful Graphic Communication for Main Streets”
“Authenticity as Economic Catalyst”
Each presentation inspired my enthusiasm and got me thinking on a deeper level. While I could write a lot about each of them (and did take copious notes – it was good stuff!), for this post, please allow me to just summarize a few of my ‘take-aways,” from the first session.
The focus was on collaboration between Main Street Organizations and local governments, which is 100% applicable to the kind of work we do in Alberta, with MHPP and our Alberta Main Street Program. The presenters, which included the Mayor of Washington, Missouri, a city manager, and a State Main Street Program administrator with over 20 years experience, provided some really practical case studies from their work in Missouri.
John Simmons described the 16 year process he went through to conserve a “Richardsonian Romanesque” bank building in downtown Sedalia, Missouri. Built in 1888, the building had changed hands numerous times, and had suffered a major fire in the 1990s, leaving it roofless for two years.
Missouri Trust Building in Sedalia, Missouri
John candidly described the efforts – including some failed partnerships in the past – that took place before the timing was right to make the conservation achievable. Even now, while considerable work has been done, the actual project is only beginning. John promised an update in two years on the “Missouri Trust Building.” Even though the story is still unfolding, it was a testimony to the tenacity required, sometimes over many years, for a community to achieve its goals of revitalization and heritage conservation. We’ve seen similar challenges with significant historic places in Alberta, and I can think of a few other major projects that may involve these same ingredients – partnerships, creativity, and commitment – if they are to garner both conservation and business success. Not all heritage conservation projects become success stories, but the key message from this session was that greater viability and sustainability is often achieved through partnerships.
After Monday afternoon’s two other excellent sessions, we had the evening free to explore the city a little. Here is a lagniappe of my photos from the remarkable French Quarter, steeped in history with a deep connection to Canada (well, pre-Confederation New France). Enjoy!
Cafe du Monde, founded in 1862, is located in the French Market, and still serves the same menu of beignets and cafe au lait.
West End of St. Louis Cathedral
Plaque at Faulker House.
Faulkner House, where the great southern novelist William Faulkner lived.
Henriette Delille was the founder of an order of African-American Catholic nuns in New Orleans.
Plaque at Jackson Square
Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral.
New Orleans “heritage marker.”
The Palace Cafe on Canal Street – the illuminated marquis reminds me of the Palace Theatre sign in Calgary.
Preservation Hall on St. Peter Street, which some consider to be the birthplace of jazz music.
Matthew Francis, Manager of Municipal Heritage Services with Alberta Culture’s Historic Resources Management Branch, is live-blogging from the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Main Street Conference.The conference is attended by leaders from hundreds of historic main street communities across North America.
Sunday Afternoon / Evening
After a flight delay in Denver, I arrived in New Orleans just in time to arrive at the Conference’s opening plenary session. This event is always an enthusiastic kick-off to the conference, which (in addition to being educational) has the feel of a mega pep-rally. Each coordinating program brings in its delegation and waves placards announcing the place they are from. For instance, the delegation of Main Street communities from Wyoming was almost a hundred strong on its own! Clad in matching purple T-shirts, the Wyomingians proudly announce that they represent “the Wild West” in New Orleans.
Some purple-shirted Wyoming Main Street leaders, listening to the keynote presentation.Jeff Speck, keynote speaker for opening plenary
The opening keynote presentation was given by Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, and described some of the benefits of looking at revitalization of downtown areas from a pedestrian perspective. (I’m pretty sure these princiles apply in Canada too). Walking is healthy, sociable, and environmentally friendly. It was an enlightening presentation. To increase walkability in our cities and towns, Jeff described how there needs to be:
A reason to walk
A safe walk
A comfortable walk
An interesting walk
So many factors go into increasing the walkability of our communities, but it is definitely worth taking a good look at becoming more walkable.
I will devote another post to saying more about these unique communities, and what we in Alberta could perhaps learn from them. In the meantime, here is a photo of some of our fellow Canadians at the Conference in New Orleans.
Some members of the “Canada” delegation – from Ontario and Saskatchewan – at the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Conference
RETROactive 