Moving a grain elevator is a costly proposition, but the directors of an agricultural museum in Saskatchewan are determined to raise the money and get the job done by this fall.
Long-range plans developed by the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum near Moose Jaw, Sask., call for a small siding and three boxcars to sit next to the fully operational elevator, giving visitors a demonstration of how grain collection works.
Director Stan Bowes said the 1913 metal-clad elevator in Mawer, Sask., would be moved 110 kilometres to the museum south of Moose Jaw.
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A Mawer area farmer has donated the elevator, one of two left in the community after the rail line was removed.
The estimated cost of the move is $50,000.
“It meets all the criteria for a heritage property,” Bowes said of the 18,000-bushel structure originally owned by McCabe Grain Co.
“It’s just a beautiful little elevator.”
There is funding available for restoration through heritage organizations, but moving a building doesn’t qualify. The museum has set aside money for the project, but Bowes said the board is asking for donations to help pay for the move. He said he believes many people in southern Saskatchewan are interested in preserving the past. The museum will issue a tax receipt for donations of $100 or more.
Two power lines would be affected during the move. Bowes said SaskPower has said if the museum can pay for that cost, the corporation will donate the money back as a grant.
The museum’s most recent acquisition is the Diefenbaker Homestead, which was moved from Regina in 2005.
The addition of a grain elevator would round out the village, which includes a general store, blacksmith shop, settler’s house, municipal office, railway station and other buildings, as well as the Dontianen, the ship that Finnish immigrant Tom Sukanen built in the 1930s with the intention of sailing it back to Finland. More information can be found at www.sukanenmuseum.ca or by
phoning 306-693-7315.
