'Bulldozing our history': Alberta man working to restore town's grain elevators
![Nanton Grain Elevator Discovery Centre Nanton's Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre features elevators that are nearly 100-years-old, shown in Nanton, Alta., Wednesday, June 12, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/6/23/nanton-grain-elevator-discovery-centre-1-6937794-1719155009022.jpg)
When Leo Wieser worked in the movie biz, he built a million-dollar swimming pool that was used for one day.
Now he’s fighting to raise at least that much, entering contests, running raffles and hosting movie nights, to preserve two 21-metre icons of the Prairies – twin grain elevators in Nanton, Alta.
"These were the beacons. These were the things from the 1910s and 1920s that were actually landmarks,” said Wieser.
“You're going to go in the office (there), you're going to talk about world and current events, you're going to talk about the gossip, the chin wagging, alcohol imbibing, the games of cribbage.
"All of this made it a social network of its time that we're never going to experience again."
Wieser is president of the Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre in Nanton, 80 kilometres south of Calgary.
Wieser grew up in Calgary next door to Heritage Park. There, visitors experience Canadian history from the 1860s to the 1950s through exhibits and chatting with costumed interpreters at the general store, the coal mine water wheel, the railway, the blacksmith shop and the grain elevator.
“I would always be playing there and not really thinking about it,” said Wieser.
“As I got older, I started realizing all these things I took for granted, all this history, was getting bulldozed or knocked down and was just not valued at all.”
Wieser went on to earn a master’s degree in scenic design and stage directing and worked 30 years conjuring up special effects for movies and TV: “Prey,” “K-19: The Widowmaker,” “Shanghai Knights,” “Heartland,” “Jann” and “Wynonna Earp.”
Restoring the Nanton elevators, he said, is a lot like staging a production.
"I look at this as a show. We're going to put on a show -- give them an impression of history, of space, of a place in time."
He has his work cut out for him.
The elevators, each big enough to hold about 40,000 bushels of grain, are approaching 100 years old. The weathered wooden structures, designated provincial historical resources, are structurally sound but feeling their age.
Wieser recently entered the elevators in the national “Next Great Save” contest. Run by the National Trust for Canada, the contest awards prizes for preserving history.
The elevators finished third, winning $5,000. It helps, said Wieser, but it’s a drop in the bucket.
He's hunting for other grants, approaching family foundations and running raffles. He hosts movie nights, showing films on the side of the elevators, and passes the hat afterward.
"Just for the restoration – not even to do anything too special -- we're probably looking for about a million dollars,” he said.
The goal is preserving a small reminder of the towering sentinels that were linked by railways and defined hamlets, villages and towns.
The number of elevators has declined drastically, from 5,700 in the 1930s to less than 100 today.
"We lose about five a year across Western Canada,” Wieser said.
“We lose our values, we lose what put us here.”
He sees the returns of keeping history alive in his current “hobby job,” driving a steam locomotive at Heritage Park.
"We're under full steam and we're chugging away ,and (in front of us is) the front entrance to the gate," he said.
"The kids and adults look at the engine chugging towards them -- and the smile and the look on their faces is so incredible."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6778341.1708561001!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'I got no remorse': Greg Fertuck, convicted of murdering missing spouse, sentenced to life in prison
Greg Fertuck will spend life behind bars with no chance of parole until he is 90 years old, a judge ruled on Thursday at Saskatoon's Court of King's Bench.
'Ford's dry summer begins': All LCBO stores closed as workers go on strike
All LCBO stores are closed on Friday as thousands of workers hit the picket lines after their union and employer failed to reach an agreement.
How does Canada's lowest hourly minimum wage stack up to the rest of the country?
Hourly minimum wages increased in several Canadian provinces this spring with more on the horizon, which economists say will likely impact workers and businesses differently.
Crocodiles cannot outnumber people in Australian territory where girl was killed, leader says
Crocodile numbers in Australia's Northern Territory must be either maintained or reduced and cannot be allowed to outstrip the human population, the territory's leader said after a 12-year-old girl was killed while swimming.
Possible shark sighting temporarily closes popular Maritime beach
A suspected shark sighting caused a popular Nova Scotia beach to close temporarily Thursday.
Canadian couple 'very frustrated' after WestJet strike, Hurricane Beryl cancels flight home
After 10-plus years as a loyal WestJet traveller, Jennifer Hewitt says she is swearing off the Canadian airline after a series of unforeseen flight cancellations left her and her husband still stranded in Jamaica.
Canada's global reputation suffering under Trudeau, Garneau asserts in autobiography
Former foreign affairs minister Marc Garneau says Canada has lost its standing in the world under the tenure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he criticizes as an ill-prepared leader who prioritizes politics and makes big pronouncements without any follow-through.
Police seize loaded gun and $3.5M in drugs after arresting man in Mississauga
An investigation into an armed individual in a Mississauga neighbourhood has led to the seizure of drugs that carry an estimated street value of $3.5 million, police say.
A new U.K. government renews hopes for a free-trade deal with Canada
The major shift in the British political landscape after Thursday's election will likely have little impact on Canada's relationship with its ally across the pond, experts say, though it is reviving hope for a possible free-trade deal.