ATHABASCA – A new paint job on the old Canadian Northern Railway station in downtown Athabasca is just the latest improvement to the historical building, along with a new sign to recognize many of those who have contributed to its restoration over the years.
Built in 1912, just a year after Athabasca Landing was incorporated, the history and development of northern Alberta runs through that train station, hence the interest of the Athabasca Heritage Society which has taken on the restoration of the building as one of its pet projects.
Dan Huber is a member of the heritage society and president of the Athabasca Classic Cruisers Car Club, whose members took it upon themselves, with the help of a few local businesses, to splash a new coat of paint on the train station last year to make it stand out as the historical jewel it is. And earlier this month, an old-style hanging sign was placed to recognize those who have helped out along the way.
“We have our car show every year on that street … and we got tired of looking at that shabby old paint job that was on there, so the car club decided to volunteer our time and repaint it, so that’s what we did,” said Huber.
“The car club has been really good at getting sponsors for everything. The town has been super. We’ve always had very good participation from local businesses.”
The interior of the building has already been modernized with the first floor undergoing renovations in 2014 and the second floor in 2018. The Athabasca Watershed Council currently calls the building home, as does the Tawatinaw Masonic Lodge, of which Huber is also a member.
“Every time we do a project, we try to show who did all the sponsoring,” said Huber. “Home Hardware donated the paint and West Coast donated the scaffolding. Different places donated a fair amount of money and investment. I know the scaffolding would have cost a fortune and the paint we got must have cost them a little bit.”
The sign itself was donated by Diann’s Creations.
It has really been a community effort since the restoration of the property started said Athabasca Heritage Society chair Margaret Anderson, who is also the town archivist.
“It’s a pretty rare Class B station, there aren’t too many of them that are open to the public and are of use,” said Anderson.
Huber and the Masons have been particularly helpful.
“They’ve been instrumental in helping us work at casinos. Dan Huber who is with the car club is also a Mason, so he got all those people organized,” she said.
And the work is still not quite done.
There is still some landscaping to be done, and the addition that was built in 1974 is going to be moved this spring. Huber said at some point he would also like to see a section of railroad installed where the old rail used to be, just to make the restoration and historical accuracy that much more complete.
