Heritage Advisory Board
The Heritage of the Town of High River is the tangible expression of the intangible historical, cultural, aesthetic and social values that gives our community its sense of time and place and is the cultural expression of what that place is and that cultural expression is an anchor for development.
At the September 26, 2011 regular meeting Council established the Heritage Advisory Board which is governed by Bylaw 4313/2011 .
Heritage Inventory Project
As High River grows, expands and develops, we want to ensure that we maintain our identity and protect the heritage buildings which are an integral part of our town’s unique character. The first step towards protecting our heritage is to identify and list buildings which are architecturally or historically significant to High River, and then evaluate the ones that merit conservation. This type of list is referred to as a “Heritage Inventory”, and the Town has received a $20,000 grant from Alberta Historical Resources Foundation to prepare an inventory of the downtown area.
The Town has also created a Heritage Advisory Board to provide ongoing guidance and support for this project,. As its first task, the board has assisted in selecting Community Design Strategies Inc. (CDS), a heritage consulting firm, to provide professional expertise in evaluating the Town’s potential historic resources. With the board’s help, the consultants have now compiled a list of potentially significant buildings in the downtown district and have begun photographic documentation, research and evaluation. It is anticipated that the project will focus on historical buildings located within High River’s downtown district, although other sites in town may be considered, in consultation with the Heritage Advisory Board and staff liaison.
CDS will follow the evaluation guidelines developed by Alberta’s Culture and Community Services Historic Resources Management Branch. to assess the eligibility and significance of the selected downtown properties. CDS will also be responsible for writing Statements of Significance, which accurately reflect the values the community places upon a site, for listing on the Alberta Register of Historic Places. . Once a building has been evaluated and a Statement of Significance has been completed, it may be eligible for designation as a Municipal Designated Resource which legally protects the property and opens channels for government funding. The list of municipally designated buildings is posted on the Alberta’s Register of Historical Resource. In order to qualify for funding, the buildings have to be thoroughly evaluated for eligibility and significance. For more information about the guidelines adopted by CDS for evaluating our inventory, please click here. To view historic resources on Alberta’s Registry please click here.
Open House
The first public open house was held at the Highwood Memorial Centre on Tuesday, February 28th to launch the Heritage Inventory Project (H.I.P.) and provide residents the opportunity to learn about the process and to share their knowledge about local places.
The H.I.P. photo contest was also launched that evening, with photos and the first written clue provided regarding Heritage Building #1. (Click Here for details or to enter).
Approximately 30 people were in attendance, and heard brief presentations regarding the Alberta Municipal Heritage Partnership Program in general, as well as specific details of the H.I.P. regarding downtown High River. Photographs, both current and archival, of the 26 Places of Interest were on display, and participants were invited to share verbally or in writing any historic details regarding those properties.
Photos of those 26 and a form to submit your stories can be found by clicking here. The Town of High River and CDS Inc. consultants would strongly encourage all residents to examine the properties shown, and provide any historical details regarding ownership, use, construction/builder, previous tenants/businesses, etc. either by completing and submitting the fillable form attached to each photo, or by contacting the Town’s Heritage and Culture Planner Vidya John at 403.603.3418 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Next steps: Town of High River staff and CDS consultants will continue gathering material regarding the history of the 26 Places of Interest which have been identified as warranting further investigation, hopefully with the assistance of local residents. Ultimately the consultants will be working with the Heritage Advisory Board members to prepare draft Statements of Significance to outline the important features/elements of each site, and those draft documents will be brought forward for public review and assistance at an Open House currently planned to be held on June 13th, 2012. Further details of that event will be advertised on-line and in the High River Times/Town Crier.
