On Dec. 10, the Sexsmith & District Museum Society announced that the Alberta Wheat Pool Grain Elevator in town has been formally designated a municipal historic resource by Alberta Culture. 

This protects the elevator from demolition and makes it eligible for restoration grants from the government of Alberta. It’s already received generous grants from Alberta Culture, the County of Grande Prairie and GP Rotary. With this money, the building was painted and re-roofed. More restoration work is to come. 

According to the Society, the elevator is the only mid-20th century grain elevator in Northern Alberta with a chance of survival. Two others, in Hines Creek and Kinuso, are still standing, but no initiative appears to be in place to guarantee their preservation. Several elevators have historical designation in central and southern Alberta. 

With the historic buildings along Main Street, three 1930s-1950s churches, the 1921 Blacksmith Shop, the 1929 NAR Train Station, and a number of early residences, the community has been able to stand out as a quintessential mid-20th century northern farming community.  

The elevator was built in 1961 by the Alberta Wheat Pool, with an extension added in 1978. In 2004, the Society bought the building from Agricore and the Town acquired a 20-year lease on the land it’s on from Canadian Nation.  

The elevator still has all the fixtures and furnishings of a mid-20th century elevator. The Society says this makes it ideal for local residents, school groups and tourist to see first-hand how grain was handled in northern Alberta at a time when dry-land farming was the dominant economy.  

Information provided by the Sexsmith & District Museum Society.