A force of 12 hopes to save the last remaining wooden elevator in the Calgary area.
Called the Friends of Rescuing the Carstairs Elevator, the group is raising funds to pay for a $10,000 bond for Agricore United to hold the facility.
At one time Carstairs had one of the largest strings of elevators in Alberta.
Built in 1976, this elevator closed in the spring of 2002. The others were demolished.
“It’s the last built in the old style. We want to preserve it for future generations,” said Gwen Day, chair of the group trying to save the elevator.
Possible uses
The group said the annex could be used for a theatre, art gallery or other community centre.
Negotiations with the landowner, CP Rail, must also start because the property is in the centre of town where real estate and development values are high.
A similar group in High River, Alta., formed to save an elevator in the downtown core but a fire last summer destroyed the structure and nothing has been built on the property.
