The Athabasca Heritage Society has received a federal matching grant for $75,000 to restore the inside of the main floor of the train station.
Mike Gismondi, vice-president of the Heritage Society, said they had to present a plan to the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation for grant approval.
“As we accomplish each step, we can reapply for the next grant,” he said. “This grant will probably be going to help us finish the main floor over the winter.”
The train station has had both sides of the building jacked up to work on the foundations.
“We started with the foundation on the one end, and then we moved to do the foundation on the other,” he said.
“We put in some money, and the town put in some money, for the first part, and we raised money, and now they are giving us some money for
the remodeling of the interior.”
The building is being restored to what it looked like in 1912 when it was built.
Next year the Heritage Society is planning on moving the renovations upstairs.
“Next year we will start all over again, applying for more grants, and working on the upstairs,” he said. “It will be much like downstairs. It will be a little simpler, but we're going to try and recover the original look and feel.”
In the old days, the train stationmaster called the upstairs of the building home.
Gismondi is hoping next year the lean-to shack will be removed from the back of the building.
“We want to uncover the original platform,” he said. “The train actually came on the back side of the building.”
Gismondi recommends that locals go to see the train station restoration for themselves, since it is currently also the tourist information centre.
