(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

PROTECTING, PRESERVING, PROMOTING HERTIAGE

Lacombe Heritage Resource Committee recognized with Alberta Heritage Conservation Award

Oct 3, 2024 | 2:04 PM

Lacombe’s Heritage Resource Committee (HRC) has been named the recipient of the Government of Alberta’s Heritage Conservation Award, which recognizes significant contributions to protecting, preserving, and promoting Alberta’s heritage.

The HRC was given the award due for its work on the Heritage Survey and Inventory Project as well as their work to municipally designate historic properties across the city of Lacombe.

“Lacombe city council is grateful for the ongoing contributions of the HRC to our community, and this award is a fitting tribute to their exceptional work,” Mayor Grant Creasey says. “Lacombe is a community that treasures our history and the HRC is helping to ensure our past is catalogued, protected, and remembered going forward.”

Work by the HRC has resulted in Lacombe having the highest per-capita rates of municipally historic properties in Alberta, City representatives say.

The current form of Lacombe’s Municipal Heritage Survey was compiled in 2010 and documented in the 2010 Municipal Heritage Survey (PDF). The 2023 update includes a survey of existing sites on the Places of Interest List (POIL), documentation of demolished sites with an analysis of historic retention rates in Lacombe, the addition of properties now older than 50 years to POIL, and the creation of 15 new Statements of Significance for Lacombe’s most notable historic properties.

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As of the 2023 update, the Survey includes 555 sites, of which 326 are active. The updated inventory now now includes 70 properties, each with a completed Statement of Significance. Additionally, Lacombe has 15 properties protected as designated Municipal Historic Resources, five of which have been designated in the past year.

“Everyone on the Heritage Resources Committee was excited but also humbled when we heard the news,” HRC Chair Myles Chykerda shares. “There are numerous Albertan groups that every day are doing incredible work in preserving our province’s heritage in all the many forms it takes. We’re honoured to be included in that group. But this isn’t just the HRC, and all citizens of Lacombe should feel just as proud. This is a collective effort, one that has created a shining jewel in Lacombe’s crown.”

The following buildings/structures in Lacombe are designated as Municipal Historic Resources:

• St. Andrew’s United Church (2013)
• Lacombe Blacksmith Shop (2015)
• Young Residence (2016)
• Urquhart/ Kanngiesser Building (2016)
• Michener House (2016)
• Lacombe Cenotaph, Lest We Forget Park (2016)
• Fraser MacDonald Building (2017)
• Flatiron Building (2021)
• Trimble Residence (2022)
• Denike Block (2023)
• Campbell Block (2023)
• McLear Block and Annex (2024)
• Lacombe Nurseries Limited Residence (2024)
• Garland Residence (2024)
• Presbyterian Manse (2024)

“Our province is full of natural treasures that tell the story of Alberta’s rich culture and history,” Tanya Fir, Government of Alberta Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, comments. “Congratulations to the City of Lacombe Heritage Resource Committee for your work that will safeguard our heritage for generations. You are helping to ensure Alberta’s stories continue to be told and remembered for years to come.”

The province’s Heritage Awards are given every two years and can recognize anyone from individuals, to non-profit organizations, corporations, municipalities, and First Nations and Métis settlements.

The Heritage Conservation Award recognizes projects that demonstrate excellence in the:

• Conservation of a Provincial Historic Resource, Municipal Historic Resource or Indigenous Historic Place;
• identification, protection and management of historic places; and/or
• protection and management of paleontological and archaeological resources.

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