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Push to preserve wee building gaining big momentum
By Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
It may be a small building but it has become a big symbol of the need for Cranbrook to continue to preserve its heritage.
The Water & Electrical Building (aka: the brick building), located behind Cranbrook City Hall, with its cracks and sags, came close to demolition over a year ago but members of the Cranbrook Heritage Association (CHA) stepped up and seized the initiative. They convinced Cranbrook City Council to hold off on demolition and give them time to formulate a plan to preserve the wee but historically important building. And now the association is asking the city to rescind the demolition order.
CHA president Karen Crawford appeared before city council May 26 to provide an update on progress and to outline the importance of the building and its connection to ongoing heritage restoration efforts in the city, and why the demolition order should be rescinded.
“We believe that this building will become a key element in the city’s plan to revitalize downtown and repurpose the area around city hall. We have already paid for and tabled a structural report from Nelson Engineering, which states that the building is amenable to stabilization and future restoration,” Crawford told council.
“Cranbrook does have a history of trying to revitalize the past,” she said.
The CHA, formerly the Cranbrook Baker Hill Neighbourhood Heritage Association, has been busy restoring the city’s past, including partnering with the city in designing and purchasing city street signs that indicate the former names of Cranbrook streets.
“Both visitors and residents still enjoy linking the old Cranbrook with the new,” Crawford said.
The association also worked with the city in developing the ‘Baker Hill Heritage Management and Neighbourhood Plan,’ which resulted in city bylaws securing the look of the Baker Hill area.
The CHA is happy to continue its partnership with the city to “stabilize the small brick Water & Electrical Building and ready it for future use,” Crawford said, outlining current fundraising efforts as about one-quarter of the way to their $40,000 goal.
They have received a grant for $9,479 and have raised another $2,000 through the sale of bricks ($10 each) and cornerstones ($25 each).
“We’ve got a very dedicated team,” Crawford said, noting they will be at this Sunday’s Cranbrook Farmers’ Market (June 1) and will out and about in the community through the coming months. “We’re working hard.”
The $40,000 figure would be enough for an engineer’s report, interpretive signage and replacement of garage doors, the roof, six windows, doors and the restoration of the exterior and interior.
“The small brick building does have value,” Crawford said, explaining the 1,152-square-foot building was constructed by the city in 1936 to serve the growing needs of the city maintenance crew. It was constructed on top of a heating pipeline that connected the fire hall furnaces with city hall, thereby heating all three structures.
“Although humble in appearance, the Water & Electrical Building reflects a structural design which is complimentary to the fire hall in front of it. As well, the stabilized structure will allow the city to designate a future people-oriented use that will draw attention to the heritage city hall and fire hall and the empty spaces surrounding the area. We have a sheer wall engineer’s report that will be given to the Mayor next week, moving us further along toward actual construction,” she said, showing slides of former city buildings, including the two fire halls before the current building (right).
“You can see from the roof lines and construction how the Water & Electrical Building has mirrored the architecture of the fire hall,” Crawford pointed out.
“The Quoin corners shown here are now visible in only one other building in existence in our town,” she added.
“This visible link with the past of our city, coupled with the future potential of the small building and the area surrounding, is why we are asking the Mayor and Council to rescind the demolition order placed on the Water & Electrical Building,” Crawford said. “We are simply asking council to work with the heritage structures which we can save.”
Crawford showed slides of heritage buildings lost to the wrecking ball, including the “federal Post Office building across Norbury Avenue, an icon of Cranbrook’s downtown. A past council decided to tear it down and it was lost on June 29, 1971. The clock faces and mechanism were shipped to Fort Steele Heritage Town where they were added to the collection and stored,” Crawford noted, adding, “A later city council partnered with Cranbrook Rotary to retrieve the clock components and build the clock tower on Baker Street. This action did not address the loss of the beautiful Post Office building, but it does speak to council’s historic interests in working with outside groups to re-introduce historic elements into the downtown area.”
Preserving the past is vital for the community, Crawford pressed.
“While standing at our fundraising table at Superstore on Saturday I observed that our modern day world is fast-paced and leans toward disposable goods that are easily replaced. Our heritage structures are not easily replaced. They hold memories and a link to where we came from. Many personal family histories were recounted to me by seniors viewing photos of heritage structures on our display table. They are monuments to the solid determination of people who cared enough about Cranbrook to set down roots here and work hard to build the city we have today.
“The Cranbrook Heritage Association feels strongly about saving the Water & Electrical Building, and our fundraising has led us to realize that a large portion of Cranbrook’s residents feel the same way. We do not want to lose another piece of our heritage, as we did when a previous Cranbrook council filled in the largest outdoor swimming pool in Western Canada,” she concluded.
City council will review the demolition-rescinding request and handle a motion at the next council meeting.
However, several council members proclaimed their enthusiasm in seeing the structure preserved.
Coun. Gerry Warner, the first city councilor to speak against demolition of the building, urged residents to donate “what they can.”
Warner will be presenting the motion to rescind June 9.
Coun. Angus Davis, originally in favour of knocking the building down, commended the CHA.
“You’ve breathed new life into it. You are on the road to doing wonderful things,” he said.
Mayor Wayne Stetski said he finds it incredible what the community can achieve when on the initiative, “including changing council’s mind. From my perspective, I am in favour of the motion (to rescind).”
Anyone wishing to make a donation (more than $20) who would like a tax receipt, please make your donation at Cranbrook City Hall.
For more on the Cranbrook Heritage Association