Improvement of a Provincial Historic Site in Spruce Grove

The Cause

The Spruce Grove and District Agricultural Heritage Society provides facilities, programs and events that bring people together to celebrate agriculture’s influence on the past, present and future of our community. We are the owners of a Historic Resource - a wooden Alberta Wheat Pool Elevator built in 1958. Also on our site is a Museum and Archives, a historic barn built in 1927, a restored water tower, and two buildings which house a weekly Farmer’s Market. The agricultural history of the community is held here.
Our plan over the last two years has been to improve our property in the following ways:
• move the historic barn onto a permanent concrete foundation
• build a structure to protect and display our collection of farm machinery
and tools
• install a new source of power to the property to supply the new building and
barn, and to more reliably supply power to the workshop, archives, and Farmers
Market building.
• landscape the area around the new building, barn, and restored water tower.

The barn has been moved and we are creating agricultural displays there. The display building structure is complete.

To be completed:
• Install power throughout the site. Presently all power comes into the
property through electrical panels located in the Grain Elevator. We can no longer add power through these panels. A small building is needed to enclose the new electrical panels safely. New panels and trenched in lines will supply a safe reliable source of power to all areas of the property.
• Level and grade the ground around and inside the machinery shed so that it is
safely accessible.
• Complete landscaping. Remove gravel and replace with soil as needed, grade
the garden areas, add shrubs, trees, gardens, benches and pathways around the
buildings (water tower, barn, display building).
Water conservation, water collection, composting, mulching, drought resistant gardening, and other ecologically friendly practices will be displayed

Who Will it Benefit?

The people of Spruce Grove will benefit, as well as our neighboring communities of Parkland County, Stony Plain and Edmonton. The history of this area is built upon the arrival of the railroad and the establishment of Grain Elevators. As a new Provincial Historic Site, we feel obliged to provide an educational, well organized, and professional looking display of our history. The population here are not as aware of history as their predecessors, and will benefit from a modernized approach to education.
"Spruce Grove had a population of 38,951 in 2020, the 12th highest in the province. The population of Spruce Grove increased 1.46% year-over-year, and increased 15.8% in the last five years. Spruce Grove is the 16th fastest growing municipality in the province.
Spruce Grove remains a family oriented community; a graph reflects this through its shape which shows peaks in the populations for adults from ages 25 to 44 and for children under age 15. For large populations in North America, the Baby Boom age cohorts (born between 1946 and 1966; aged 48 to 68) have been the most defining, but
Spruce Grove’s population does not reflect their typical dominance, which confirms the importance of parent-child families for the community. This has been the case for at least the past three years. " From Alberta Municipal Affairs Population Lists
Increased tourism from improved displays, and from Historical Designation of our site in 2020 will help with economic development and recovery from COVID-19.

This is a project that enriches the life of the whole community. Specific examples include:
• School classrooms will be able to experience curriculum related activities relating to local agricultural history. From the Grade One Curriculum: “They’ll see the many aspects of communities, including community history, and
explore your family history. “
• Senior’s bus tours are very popular at the Elevator. Seniors will enjoy the green space and sitting areas provided by landscaping. A walking area, over level ground, to look at the historical agricultural equipment and tools will
make things safer and more enjoyable for them.
• Visitors from across Canada and other parts of the world visit our elevator site to see how an elevator works and to learn about how it influenced settlement.
• New Canadians, who often come for elevator tours in family groups, are particularly eager to learn about Elevators and how they affected our Country’s history.