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News articles about proposed and future heritage & cultural
destinations
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Never giving up on a
railway dream
Heritage train park plan proposed for
Innisfail
Nov. 12, 2019, Innisfail Province (Johnnie
Bachusky)
Paul Pettypiece remains a grand beautiful dreamer. For more than a decade he's held and pitched a bold
vision of a one-of-a-kind railway heritage park for Central Alberta. Pettypiece,
the president of the 10-member Forth Junction Heritage Society, has
pounded the pavement across Central Alberta to secure support for
his ambitious Forth Junction Regional Heritage Rail Park project.
Countless times he's approached possible investors,
(more)
Jan. 18, 2019, Red Deer Advocate (Lana Michelin)
Call to unite cultures
Red Deer group is pushing to create a local
'international village' to promote unity
A city made up of immigrants has no place for
intolerance, say group members
Disheartened by inflamed anti-immigrant sentiment, a Red Deer group
wants to revive a decades-old plan to start an international village
in the city.
It's time to remind people where their descendants came from -- and
how various cultures make up the fabric of central Alberta, says
group member Betty Wulff, of the city's Norwegian Laft Hus Society.
"It's time to go back and be proud of what your parents and
grandparents did to get you here," she added.
Wulff has been approached over the years by various groups who
wonder how the Norwegians managed to establish the Laft Hus, a
traditional grass-on-the-roof building, that's a cultural hub in Red
Deer's Heritage Square.
Programs drawing on old-world Norwegian traditions are offered
there -- from learning hardanger embroidery and rosemaling painting
to folk singing and dancing and the sale of Norwegian treats and
woolens.
 Wulff tells people that the original idea was to create an
international village in Red Deer, where various heritage groups
could erect their own buildings as a way of keeping traditions
alive.
This 1970s concept gradually lost steam as Red Deer's Cultural
Heritage Society took on big projects, such as moving Cronquist
House to Bower Ponds and establishing Festival Hall, she said.
But with all the anti-immigrant/refugee sentiment being stirred up
south of the border and spilling into Alberta, Wulff believes it's
timely to revisit the village idea. She's supported by a dozen or so
other Red Deer residents who hail from different backgrounds.
Many local cultural groups from European backgrounds are "fading"
as grandchildren and great-grandchildren start identifying less from
where they are descended and more as Canadians, said Wulff.
But she believes newer immigrants from Asia and Latin America would
have more interest in keeping their cultures going by being part of
an international village.
Her group is planning to apply for non-profit status, with the
mandate of seeking private donations and government grants for a
large enough land parcel.
Wulff admitted Heritage Square would be too small for a cultural
village.
Calvin Yzerman, whose wife is from the Philippines, said members of
the local Filipino community are interested in being represented.
Mexican-Norwegian brothers Gonzalo and Bernardo Franco believe the
Latin community would get on board.
Eileen McKee, who's of Japanese heritage, can see starting a
Japanese garden in the village, similar to one in Lethbridge.
Most Japanese Central Albertans are now third generation, she says,
"but we need to have a start in unifying the world by sharing
cultural stories that show how all of us have the same aspirations."
The group plans to grow support by reaching out to other residents
at the farmers' market this summer. Anyone interested can learn more
from the Red Deer International Village Facebook page.
Photos: 1.
Betty Wulff (left) and Eileen McKee discuss the concept of starting
an international village in Red
Deer. 2. Betty
Wulff and Calvin Yzerman in front of the Laft Hus in Red Deer's
Heritage Square.
Photos by Lana Michelin/Advocate staff.
Historic Alberta Central Railway (CPR) Mintlaw
Trestle as Regional Trail
CARTS Eyeing Mintlaw Bridge for
Trans Canada Trail Leg
Between Red Deer & Springbrook
July 7, 2015, Radio News
Broadcast - Sunny 94 FM website
Central Alberta Regional Trails Society is hoping both the County
and City of Red Deer will partner with them to make a leg of the
Trans Canada Trail System a reality between Red Deer and Springbrook.
The Society has studied routes for the trail, with 4 options
identified. CARTS President Paul Pettypiece says they are attracted
to the Mintlaw Bridge option, which brings with it great potential
for tourism "the Mintlaw Bridge is a 21
(more)
Historic Alberta Central Railway (CPR) Mintlaw
Trestle as Regional Trail
Mintlaw Trestle
Preservation opportunity should not be lost
June 23, 2015, Commentary - Innisfail Province (Paul Pettypiece)
Creating trail link to rail bridge an
opportunity not to be lost
June 16, 2015, Letter to the Editor - Red Deer Advocate (Paul
Pettypiece)
There are times in our history when the stars line up to create an
unusual opportunity to do something special that future generations will
cherish. This is one of those times.
A few years ago, Red Deer County was gifted for $1 the relatively
unknown, historic 644-metre-long Alberta Central Railway steel trestle
across the Red Deer River just a few kilometres southwest of Red Deer
along with the right of way from Hwy 2A to Benalto.
(more)
Hanna Canadian Northern Roundhouse
Hanna society
buys historic roundhouse
Dec. 12, 2013, Drumheller
Mail (Pat Kolafa)
The
Hanna Roundhouse is getting a new lease on life as it enters the
next phase of its history.
The Hanna Roundhouse Society has been working on finding a way to
keep the landmark intact for future generations to enjoy. The
biggest stumbling block it had however was the ownership of the
icon.
This September all of that changed.
"We purchased the property on September 20," said Sandra Beaudoin
who has been working on
(more)
World-class destination centre still in the works
Penhold's Paul Pettypiece says dream of the Forth Junction Project
is an issue of timing
Dec. 3, 2013, Innisfail Province (Sylvia Cole),
online Nov. 19, 2013
Although on a bit of a hiatus, the Forth Junction Project is still a
go, says Penhold's Paul Pettypiece.
"The dream isn't lost, it's just a matter of timing," said
Pettypiece, president of the Forth Junction Heritage Society during
an interview last week.
The society has big plans to create a world-class destination in
Central Alberta that would preserve and share the transportation
heritage of the region.
The planned Transpo Centre is a multi-phase
(more)
Hanna Canadian Northern Roundhouse
Big Plans for
the Hanna Roundhouse
Oct. 17, 2013, Drumheller Online (Codi Bangay)
The
Hanna Roundhouse Society has big plans for their recently acquired
1913 Canadian Northern Roundhouse.
While entering the UFA Get'n'Give $50,000, the volunteers of the
society are hoping to restore the century old building in order to
create a Community Cultural Centre.
President of the Hanna Roundhouse Society, Sandra Beaudoin, says "We
are trying to restore this building for future generations to be
able to appreciate and (more)
Hanna Canadian Northern Roundhouse
Hanna Roundhouse celebrates new beginnings
Oct. 2, 2013, East Central Alberta Review (Katie Davis)
Everyone was doing the proverbial locomotion at the Hanna Roundhouse
on Saturday, September 28 as the historical venue played host to an
Open House to showcase it's new look.
The 100 year old structure was recently acquired by the Hanna
Roundhouse Society and has since been given a sprucing up in effort
to promote and preserve this piece of history as one of the last
roundhouses left in Canada. "The roundhouse is a
(more)
Historic Alberta Central Railway (CPR) Mintlaw
Trestle as Regional Trail
Mintlaw
County council looks at bridge
as tourist attraction
April 11, 2012, Red Deer
Advocate (Paul Cowley)
A former rail bridge across the Red Deer River is well suited as a
scenic walkway, but the millions of dollars to make it happen must
come from elsewhere, Red Deer County council agreed on Tuesday.
Council voted in favour of accepting the recommendation of
consultants to convert the former Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. span
into a tourist attraction and link to walking trails, complete with
viewing platforms and parking areas. The cost
(more)
Railway dream shifts to county
Forth Junction targets county
Heritage society envisions rural locale to showcase past and future glories
of railway and ground transportation
Dec. 27, 2011, Mountain View Gazette (2-page article by
Johnnie Bachusky)
Impatient with the City of Red Deer's timelines to redevelop its
Riverlands District, the Forth Junction Heritage Society is now
targeting up to nine sites in Red Deer County for the main location
of its ambitious dream to transform the region into a world-class
heritage tourism destination point.
The plan now is to secure a site of at least 40 acres within 20
kilometres of the City of Red Deer and the CPR main line, the latter
being
(more)
November 9, 2010, Innisfail
Province, (Michaela Johnstone)
HHAS preserving legacy of war
 Members of the Harvard Historical Aviation Society, based in
Springbrook, have plans to build a historically-inspired facility to
house a collection of treasurers from war days long past.
And with 2010 being the 70th anniversary of the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which started the Penhold Air Base, the
timing couldn't be better.
Jodi Smith, president of the society, said they have plans to build
a replica of an H-Hut, which was a barracks building used back in the
Second World War.
"The airmen in training would have stayed in something like this,"
Smith said, showing a detailed drawing of what the building would look
like. An H-Hut looks just like it sounds - like an H, with two longer
buildings on the left and right, connected by a short hallway.
The building would house a restoration shop on one side, the museum
on the other, and a gift shop, reception and washrooms in the smaller
connection part.
"There will be history in it, and the building will be of
historical significance," Smith pointed out.
But as to a building timeline, Smith said, "That's a good question.
It all comes down to money."
The society is currently raising funds for the construction of the
museum. The land was donated to them by Red Deer County, and Smith and
Gary Hillman, the society's vice president, agreed they would probably
need to raise about $400,000 for the museum.
"We're just at the beginning of our fundraising," Smith said, but
added the society has been collecting artifacts from war days since
about 2007.
"We needed to do something to preserve the history here," Hillman
said, speaking of the old air base.
The society has plenty of old photos, stories from soldiers that stayed
at the Penhold Air Base, most of the parts needed to reconstruct an
Airspeed Oxford, which was a training aircraft used during the Second
World War and is constructed mostly of wood.
"The Oxford spent most of its life in Penhold," Smith said.
"They also have manuals; log books; uniforms from some of the
soldiers; a flight simulator called a Link Trainer from the days of the
Second World War; a collection of newspapers that were distributed on
the base, first called the Penhold Log, then the Mynarski Mirror and
then the Harvard Flyer. Smith said they are missing the editions from
when the newspaper was called the Mynarski Mirror. There is equipment,
documents and maps from the control tower and radar station, when they
were active, as well as from the bunker that was on base.
"It's fairly rare stuff," said Smith.
"We're excited," she said of the idea of getting a museum built.
"The challenge is for us to find these people, collect and retain
their stories. The more volunteers we have to help us, the better," said
Hillman.
The society is always interested in more people joining in,
especially those that would like to sit on the board. The group meets
the fourth Monday of the month at the Red Deer Flying Club building on
the grounds of the base, west of the Red Deer Regional Airport Terminal
at 7 p.m. The next meeting will be Nov. 22.
Also, the society hosts a Night At The Museum on the first and
second Mondays of the month for members to work on restoring any museum
artifacts, and it also serves as a good time for chit chat and
camaraderie, said Smith.
To raise money for the museum, the society hosted a raffle for
plane rides this past summer and Smith said they did quite well.
They will also be putting on a show with Buddy Wasisname And The
Other Fellers, a music and humour group, on March 2 at the Memorial
Centre in Red Deer. Tickets go on sale through TicketMaster on Nov. 15.
Photo: Jodi Smith, left, and Gary Hillman, president and
vice president, respectively, hold up a scrapbook that
the Harvard Historical Aviation Society has acquired. The scrapbook
shows what life was like at the Penhold
Air Base during the Second World War. Photo by Michaela Johnstone/Innisfail
Province
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
Forth Junction
Tourism board supports rail project
Oct.
28, 2010,
Red Deer Advocate (Laura Tester)
Tourism Red Deer is
giving an initial stamp of approval to a Red Deer group's proposal
for a children's theme park and group transportation museum in the
largely undeveloped district of Riverlands.
Executive director Darren Kuz said the tourism board met earlier
this month with Paul Pettypiece, president of Forth Junction
Heritage Society, to hear the group's dreams for tourist attractions
in the city and Red Deer County that embrace a railway
(more)
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
Forth Junction
Rail tourist attraction idea
gets rolling
July 31, 2010,
Red Deer Advocate (Laura Tester)
A proposed major
tourist attraction focused on the railways and ground transportation
is gathering some steam in Red Deer, says the president of the Forth
Junction Heritage Society.
Paul Pettypiece said the society is getting interest about its
proposed project that is expected to take 20 years to develop.
Members have been circulating their message around through word of
mouth since earlier this year. This fall, Forth Junction
(more)
Proposed Forth
Junction Heritage Rail Park
Our Opinion (Editorial)
New idea for Riverlands worth
an Olympic cheer
Feb. 24, 2010, Red Deer
Express (Johnnie Bachusky)
While Olympians continue
their quest for glory this week in Vancouver, there are those in
this city and region quietly moving forward with dreams of their
own.
Before the recession dropped like a bomb in late 2008 Red Deer was
positioning itself for an exciting and prosperous future with
ambitious Olympian-like plans for the Riverlands that featured a
canal-driven development concept with an ultimate goal of making the
city a major
(more)
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
Our View (Editorial)
One-time
opportunity
Feb. 8, 2010, Red Deer
Advocate (Greg Neiman)
Let's set aside throne speeches, Parliaments, taxes and frozen
windrows of snow for a while and think about something really
important: a model rail museum and theme park for Riverlands.
The first time you hear of a tourism-themed idea like this, the
normal reaction is: "What the heck are you thinking about?"
If the idea cannot climb over that first reaction, it is dead.
Witness the proposal for a set of canals running through the
(more)
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
Commentary:
Happy to hear more talk on
large scale attractions
Feb. 5, 2010, Red Deer
Advocate online blog (Leo Pare) & print edition Feb. 10, 2010
Since the canals project dried up in late 2008, there hasn't been
much talk around Red Deer's future as a tourism destination.
The Advocate recently posted an online poll which revealed readers'
dismal evaluation of our tourism appeal. Online commenters fiercely
debated Red Deer's ups and downs. Some touted amenities like camp
sites, rec facilities, and natural landscape -- all of which are
tremendous community assets to be sure --
(more)
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
Tourism
proposal facing obstacles
Transportation
theme park must capture attention of public
Feb. 5, 2010, Red Deer
Advocate (Paul Cowley)
The toughest task facing a group trying to develop rail- and
transportation-themed tourist attractions for the Red Deer area will
be getting the proposal moving, predicted a local businessman who
previously pitched canals to put the city on the map.
"They're very difficult," said Ken Mandrusiak of ambitious tourist
concepts. "It's like starting a train. Once you get going, you can
create some momentum." A local group called Forth Junction
(more)
Proposed Forth Junction Heritage Rail Park
World-class attraction proposed
for Riverlands
Forth Junction idea as theme
park based on model train village
Feb. 4, 2010, Red Deer
Advocate (Laura Tester)
World-class attractions focused on railway and other ground
transportation are being promoted for sites in downtown Red Deer and
Red Deer County by a group that has been working quietly for a year
on the vision.
Forth Junction Heritage Society hopes to turn Red Deer into a major
tourist destination that would include shops, a children's theme
park and a ground transportation museum in the heart of Riverlands.
Visitor
(more)
January
11, 2010, Red Deer Advocate
(Brenda Kossowan)
 Norwegian
club supports
Red Deer folk festival
Some would see it as a mere curiosity -- a piece of wood with a
carved horse attached to one end.
To a Norwegian maiden, a wooden ironing tool hung outside her door
is a sign that there is a man in her life who would make her his
bride. By taking the mangletre into her house, she tells him she
would welcome his proposal.
Construction of Red Deer's Norwegian Laft Hus and the artifacts and
books collected inside originate in part with Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau's declaration in 1974 when some people from Quebec asked his
government for money to help preserve their culture, says a founding
member of the Laft Hus Society.
Trudeau replied that French and English weren't the only cultures
worth preserving, says Betty Wulff, whose parents had moved from
Norway to the United States and then from there to Central Alberta.
That response sparked a multi-cultural movement that caught the
imaginations of a large number of people in Red Deer, Wulff said
while visiting at the Laft Hus on Saturday.
With Trudeau's word emblazoned on their hearts, volunteers from
numerous cultural backgrounds put together the city's first
International Folk Festival, held in 1974 on the city's fairgrounds,
then located next to the Red Deer Arena, to celebrate the area's
growing diversity.
At their post mortem party, the festival manager suggested that Red
Deer could create a tremendous tourist attraction if the cultural
groups involved could get together and build an international
village.
Wulff had brought a group of people together to form the Norwegian
club in support of the Red Deer folk festival, which she described
as an "overwhelming" success.
"It was a chance to encourage new immigrants, to welcome them, help
them, make them feel at home, make them feel like I'd like to be
made to feel if I went to their country."
The fledgling Norwegian club started off with a fundraising project
to buy a practice dummy -- the Norwegian-made Resuscianne -- to be
presented to the community for teaching and practising artificial
respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The club's ultimate goal was to build a log house and fill it with
artifacts for their part of the proposed International Village, said
Wulff.
It took 13 years from the time they started planning until 1987,
when the house was finished and ready to be moved to its current
site, a plot of land in the city-owned Pioneer Village, across the
street from where the fairgrounds had been located.
For a variety of reasons, the idea of creating an International
Village had fizzled, in part because the people who had been keen on
it were sidetracked in 1975 by an equally worthwhile project, said
Wulff.
Members of the International Folk Festival Society were plowing a
great deal of resources into moving the Cronquist house across the
Red Deer River from West Park to a new site at Bower Ponds, where it
would be restored and opened to the public.
Leap forward to August of 2009, when the Alberta Museums
Association gave museum status to the Norwegian Laft Hus, a source
of pride and accomplishment for the many volunteers involved in its
construction and development.
But it's a lonely place, considering that all of the other cultural
groups that are not represented in the same way, said Wulff. It
would not be realistic to expect that the international village
envisioned in 1974 could be built at Pioneer Village, she said.
There simply isn't room.
Wulff remains committed to the concept, which she believes would
create an amazing draw for a city that she said falls short on
tourist attractions.
She still hopes to inspire people from as many cultural groups as
possible to revive the project, find a site, and build a village.
"I'm seventy-five and a half, and I don't want to go to Heaven
until I know somebody is picking up on it," she said.
Photo: Joyce Rosenberger Norwegian knitting
May 22,
2008, Central Alberta Life (Brenda Kossowan)
 Museum
idea takes off
Volunteers raising funds for
Springbrook
Few decisions have
contributed as mightily to Red Deer's growth as the move to create
an air force training centre.
As surely as the Nova Chemicals plant at Joffre has contributed
millions of dollars to the local economy, the creation of CFB
Penhold re-shaped the future of what had been a small prairie city
with an agriculture-based economy.
Re-named CFB Penhold in 1966, the flight training centre originated
as a military school in 1939 as part of the British Commonwealth's
network for training pilots that would be needed for the Second
World War.
The city experienced tremendous growth as young families from
across the country were shipped to Red Deer both for training and to
run support services.
Closed for a few years after the war ended, the air base and
support networks were re-commissioned in 1951 to serve Canada's
commitment to its allies in NATO and NORAD, including construction
of a communications centre across the road from the air base and a
radar station further east.
Facilities grew to include a pair of bunkers secretly built during
the early 1960s. Among them the now-famous Diefenbunker, built as a
secure area for housing provincial and local leaders in the event of
a crisis. It was sold in the mid-1990s to private investors, and
then re-purchased and destroyed in 2001.
The flight school continued to operate until 1965, when the NATO
contract ended and airport operations were handed to the City of Red
Deer.
The few buildings that remain from the base's military role,
including barracks, permanent quarters and hangars, have been either
destroyed or decommissioned and subsequently sold, including the
hangars, barracks, officers mess, recreation centre, and housing
complex.
Originally named for war hero Andrew Mynarski, the homes have been
upgraded and incorporated into what is now the hamlet of Springbrook.
What remains is the lingering desire of a small group to gather and
preserve the effects of the flight school itself.
Pieces from its storied past rest in shelves and boxes in the
basements and garages of people who had a past association with the
flight school, including former instructor Bev Hughes, airport
business owner Gary Hillman and retired Mountie Jim Thoreson.
Along with a few like-minded individuals, they have formed the
Harvard Historical Aviation Society, named for the hefty and
somewhat cantankerous craft on which so many of Canada's young
pilots were trained.
The time has come to shake the dust off of that memorabilia and
give it a home, where people can get a sample of what the school was
like and the tremendous influence it had in Central Alberta, says
society president Jodi Smith.
The group has raised more than $15,000 toward the establishment of
a permanent site. However, it has remained homeless for some months,
although the board is negotiating with Red Deer County for a piece
of land at Springbrook.
If all of their dreams come true, the museum could include both
static and interactive displays along with space that could be made
available for meetings and functions, says Smith.
High on the board's wish list is acquisition of a plane similar to
the ones used when the training centre was still active. Not far
behind is the plan to get some schools on board to help bring life
to the people and stories behind the flight school and the role it
played in local history.
"We want it to be fun," says Smith, who readily admits that she
hated studying history.
Flight simulators and other interactive displays can help get
students engaged in the stories, rather than just staring at
artifacts and attempting to absorb lists of facts, she says. But the
museum needs a home before the board can really start putting any
flesh on its ideas, says Hillman.
With luck and good management, the Harvard Historical Aviation
Society hopes to have its museum ready for a grand opening early in
2009, in time to celebrate Canada's 100th year of powered flight.
Information about the society and its plans is available at
penholdbase.com.
Photo: President Jodi Smith hopes she and other Harvard
Historical Aviation Society members can get a
museum at the Red Deer Regional Airport off the ground. Photo by Randy
Fiedler/Advocate staff
Sept. 1, 2007, Red Deer Advocate (Paul Cowley)
Springbrook
Plan calls for salute to
aviation history
Springbrook's aviation heritage would be saluted on key street
corners and in a showcase museum, according to a proposed plan for
the fast-growing community.
The Harvard trainer on display at the Red Deer Regional Airport
would be moved and joined by other aircraft connected with
Springbrook's past as a Second World War training ground for pilots.
The planes would be placed around the community and form a
historical walking tour emphasizing the community's aviation roots
and which would be connected to a museum at the entrance to the
community.
As the community grows, the existing Harvard Business Park area
would be incorporated into a new town centre and form a link with
the airport. A full-sized hockey rink and tournament-sized sports
field would be joined by other recreational facilities, and a major
food store would be part of an expanded commercial and retail
centre.
These are some of the visions that emerged out of a series of
workshops and design meetings earlier this month held by
Calgary-based planning firm T-Six Urbanists. The $79,000 Springbrook
Heritage Urban Design Plan will show how the community of 1,500
could look at 5,000 people.
Urban design intern Lisa Niro said one of the key issues raised by
local business people, the community and other stakeholders was how
to ensure the airport fits in with the community as both grow.
"Right now, there's a concern that there's a lack of integration
between the residential and the airport facilities."
Access to Springbrook also remains a high priority issue.
Currently, there is only one road in but the plan will propose
possible entryways along range roads 280 and 281.
The plan will also suggest preserving land to allow for a commuter
rail link between the community and Red Deer, which could possibly
go further south to Penhold.
There has also been talk of a high-speed rail link between Calgary
and Edmonton. The plan would place that route west of Springbrook.
But if the bullet train becomes a reality, a new plan will have to
be developed because a high-speed rail link would likely create a
surge of community growth and require planning for hotels,
restaurants and even convention facilities, said Niro.
Planners expect to complete their draft plan in about two months
and it will be unveiled at an open house in the late fall. Revisions
will be made and the final version will then go to Red Deer County
council for approval.
News
articles about the vision and progress of the Forth Junction Heritage Society
News articles related to the railway
heritage of Central Alberta
News articles about green transportation:
transit, biking and high speed rail
News articles about recent
rail-related development projects in Central Alberta
News articles about related regional heritage,
history and culture
News articles about regional destinations, tourism
and miniature worlds
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