If you want to move a grain elevator, you’ve got to have deep pockets.
That’s what Gord Ross says, and he has experience to back him up.
Ross is president of the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village Museum, located just south of Moose Jaw.
In 2007, the museum moved a 1913 Warner Victoria McCabe grain elevator from west of Eyebrow, Sask., a distance of 100 kilometres.
“That was the shortest route that we could get it without moving too many power lines. That’s where the cost comes in,” said Ross.
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The move cost $60,000 and was worth every penny.
“It’s a great draw and we’ve had so many comments about it. It was worth the work and the money,” he said.
Ross has heard about a project to move an Ogilvie elevator from Wrentham, Alta., to Stirling, Alta., and wished the organizers well.
The Sukanen elevator celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013, and it received a paint job and new shingles on the driving shed in preparation for the party, which drew a large crowd.
Ross said it continues to be a tourist draw, and there are plans for displays to help explain the workings of wooden grain elevators.
