The Western Heritage Centre, which promised to honour the way of the
West, could be sold to the Town of Cochrane for $1.
A plebiscite on Dec. 2 will ask taxpayers if they favour the Alberta
town taking over the 84,000 sq. foot building and 136 acre historic
Cochrane Ranche site. The Alberta government has been holding the
property since the bankrupt museum closed last year.
“It is a shame that it is just sitting there,” said town official
Brenda Romanchuk. “It is a beautiful building.”
Town council is not bound by the results if voters say no, Romanchuk
said.
The province has assured the town it would not assume debt carried by
the museum.
The town is in land annexation negotiations with the Municipal District
of Rocky View. The ranch and museum site are part of the annexation
agreement.
The museum cost more than $15 million to build and opened in July 1996.
It hoped to attract about 350,000 visitors annually, but fell far short
of projected guests and revenue.
