By Sheldon Spackman

ReThink Red Deer aiming to build world’s largest ‘pollinator hotel’

Jul 28, 2018 | 5:04 PM

A local organization dedicated to enhancing the long-term quality of life in Red Deer and surrounding area is aiming to break a world record by building the world’s largest ‘pollinator hotel’.

For the last five years, ReThink Red Deer has joined forces with an ambitious group of organizations, businesses and volunteers to manage the Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project at the Piper Creek Community Gardens.

Together, they have installed one of Canada’s largest Food Forests and Pollinator Gardens, restored the banks of Piper Creek and planted lots of new beaver habitat.

Now in this final year of the project, ReThink Red Deer is teaming up with Top Peg Timber Frame Construction and the Timber Framers Guild to “ReFrame the Watershed” and build the world’s largest ‘pollinator hotel’.

The proposed plan is to host a community barn-raising to replace the old iconic barn that was demolished for safety reasons.

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A $25,000 grant secured from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation will help host the timber framers and coordinate the project, but officials say more funds or corporate sponsors are still needed to get materials and equipment most grants don’t cover.

Once funds are raised, officials say a formal application can be presented to the City of Red Deer for building permit approval.

“Our goal is to rebuild the barn as an open-air timber frame structure to harvest rainwater for the planted areas of the site,” says Rene Michalak, Project Lead, in a press release. “But what we’re most excited about is the opportunity to break a Guinness World Record by making the barn the largest insect (pollinator) hotel ever.”

Officials say the barn walls are designed to serve as space for installing pollinator habitat and if the barn-raising is successful, could support and amplify the City’s Pollinator Parks initiative which aims to provide habitat for many native pollinators across the city.

With no capital funds being requested of the City, project organizers are leveraging volunteer efforts by tapping into the power of crowd funding.

A kick starter crowdfunding campaign to assist with the project will run from August 4 – September 30 and wrap up on Alberta Culture Days weekend.

It’s expected that guild members from around western Canada and the Pacific Northwest will gather at Piper Creek gardens at that time to get familiar with the project and run some timber framing demos.

For more information on ReFraming the Watershed or to make a contribution, visit ReThink Red Deer at www.rethinkreddeer.ca/barn-raising.