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Train shed project launched at History Centre
The Cranbrook History Centre today announced the launch of the first phase of a $4 million Heritage Railcar Preservation Building – a project that has been many years in the making.
This building will ultimately provide a complete building to enclose and preserve our collection of heritage railcars in a heated and air-conditioned display area.
The building is being constructed in a number of phases as donations, grants, sponsorships and funding is secured. It is vital at this point for the museum to erect a permanent roof over the rail cars in order to preserve them. Railcars are not meant to be stationary and are susceptible to element intrusion over time when they are left sitting still, explained Tammy Morgan, Executive Director of the Cranbrook History Centre.
“The first two phases will provide a roof over most of our collection and today we have commenced construction of Module 1 (15,600 sq. ft.), which will cover nine cars on Tracks one, two and three. Module 2 (12,600 sq. ft.) will cover the remainder of the cars on Tracks one and two. Both modules will cost approximately $1 million each and will be fire rated with a full sprinkler system,” Morgan told a gathering of local media, history centre volunteers, directors, staff and local dignitaries.
“Later phases potentially will introduce south facing solar panels, which is anticipated to provide sufficient energy to operate the entire museum, eliminating over $60,000 in yearly hydro bills, and also possibly feed power back into the grid,” she said.
A grand entrance from the existing museum building to this new train roof will be fabricated, constructed, and erected by the College of the Rockies.
“Future phases will add walls, heating, air-conditioning, and concrete floors that will be used as display areas and an overflow gathering area for functions in the Royal Alexandra Hall. Parts of this building will now become fully handicapped accessible areas, unfortunately the interior of the coaches cannot be made handicapped accessible but we are raising the viewing platform to allow viewing of the interiors thru the windows of the coaches,” Morgan said following a ground-breaking ceremony.
“The protection of our heritage coaches is badly needed as weather is winning the race currently and we must get these railcars protected or risk having to scrap some of them as a few railway museums have been forced to do in the last few years.”
Tyee Homes of Kimberley has been secured as the contractor for this project, and with their assistance a one of a kind train roof will be erected to preserve the train roofs for generations to come, Morgan related.
“Safety of our customers and staff is of utmost importance to us, and the development of the train shed and platform will allow us to ensure the utmost safety to our customers. This development further allows access for individuals who are wheelchair bound or in a walker, something we have not been able to do to date. Although they will not be able to access the trains due to the construction of them at the time, they will be able to get an experience of accessing the trains on the outside.
“Further to this we can then also open it up to the general public to explore the trains and our train yard on the outside. This allows us to continue to look and move forward allowing consumers a new and unique experience,” Morgan said.
“Here at the Cranbrook History Centre, we believe that our community is key and we hope that with the continued development of the train shed, we will be able to move forward in solar energy allowing us to reduce costs, greenhouse emissions, and ensure that we are protecting the community and environment we live in and support, all while striving to demonstrate a high level of integrity.
“To conclude, this project will ensure that we can continue build a reputation based on the quality of exhibits, programs, and educational services that we provide to the people of Cranbrook and beyond,” Morgan said during the gathering in the Royal Alexandra Hall.
“The shed will allow us to provide additional school programs and projects, paleontology lectures and programs, and potentially an additional gallery space to showcase information on the Kootenay area. The preservation of the trains is key, and without a train shed they will continue to deteriorate and will no longer be able to be on tour. Ultimately, this would mean a piece of Canadian history will be lost.”
Work on the first phase is expected to take about four months and further work will be dependent on fundraising and grant support, Morgan said.
Lead image: From left: Doug Thorn (Cranbrook History Centre), Brian Dovauo, Tyee Homes, Tammy Morgan and Rob Wheeler of Tyee Homes take part in the groundbreaking ceremony April 16 in Cranbrook. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW photo
Video by Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW
