There’s a well-known saying, “If you love something, set it free.”
We – the Elk Point and District Chamber of Commerce – did that last week, and for me, it was very much like seeing the child you have nurtured for 18 years graduate and head off to follow their dreams.
Eighteen years – that’s how long it is since the chamber first got the idea of replacing the train station that sat at the end of Main Street for decades after it was built in 1927, when the first train whistle was heard on Sept. 22. It was long gone by 1977, nothing showing its original location but the trees planted around it long years before.
Trains still passed through Elk Point en route to Heinsburg until 1980, when Elk Point became the end of the steel. Thirteen years later, the steel had retreated further west, and CN Rail sold the corridor to the County of St. Paul. It wasn’t long before a volunteer group banded together and began a lengthy process of developing the Iron Horse Trail, which steadily became longer as the railway line was removed from Waskatenau to Cold Lake. Municipalities along the way formed North East MuniCorr in 2002 and took over ownership of the railway right-of-way and sidings in the communities along its length.
Early in 2005, when it came time to develop the siding that would become Elk Point’s staging area, the chamber and newly elected president Sandy Smith got involved and began exploring the possibility of obtaining the former Myrnam CPR train station and moving it here, along with making applications for a $201,000 Centennial Legacy grant and a $125,000 Community Facility Enhancement Program grant. Smith and vice president Shirley Harms laid out a potential plan for the site, which would also include the Trail Riders snowmobile cabin and a gazebo donated by the County of St. Paul.
When town councillor Thomas Kondla contacted a CPR historian, he was told that this would likely be the only one of its kind to be preserved in Alberta, something chamber past president Glenn Harms, who had suggested the move several years earlier to lukewarm reception, said he felt it would draw the community together and re-energize the population.
Environmental testing of the site went well, but when the cost of moving and renovating the structure were added up, “ a slightly disillusioned chamber saw their dream turn onto another track and a motion to build an exterior replica of the original Elk Point station was passed on a 12-2 margin.”
An enhanced and more detailed design came with a $385,000 price tag, plus $400,000 for interior finishing, and a year later, the chamber went back to the drawing board and the exterior replica, with self sustainability and green technology.
Three years into the quest for a station, solar panels, a small wind turbine and geothermal heating were discussed to keep operating costs down, and at the end of October 2008, Minister of Municipal Affairs Ray Danyluk presented the chamber with an $182,906 cheque for the project. The next April, a fundraiser featuring Danny Hooper and Brett Kissel was huge success, with ground broken for the structure a month later.
By the end of November, construction was nearing completion and the solar panels went up, with interior finishing waiting for installation of the elevator. The turbine was up and spinning by May of 2010, and at the end of that month, Elk Point was named Chamber of the Year by the Alberta Chamber of Commerce. Just weeks later, Premier Ed Stelmach cut the green ribbon to officially open the Elk Point Tourist Information EcoCentre.
At that point, the chamber heaved a collective sigh of relief. It was like raising a child through the terrible twos and finally sending them off to kindergarten. As in parenthood, the ensuing years saw good times and bad times when things had to be fixed, money grew tight and dissension arose.
And now, as the Town of Elk Point takes over the ownership and decisions, we’ll miss it, even though it was sometimes our number one problem. It’s sad to see it in other hands, but for us, it’s time to let go.
