By PEGGY REVELL I
Historical home saved
t was the home Reanne Sharland grew up in, but more than that, the 100-year-old home on Dominion Street was a piece of Medicine Hat history.
paperwork that would be the final nail in the coffin for the building her father Len was born in 1931. His parents owned and operated Len Sharland’s Grocery store on the main level from 1923. Before that, it was McKenzie Grocery. It was a home where Sharland’s own children spent their summers climbing in the trees that her dad had climbed in as a child.
Laurie Sharland speaks with Premier Alison Redford
One of the city’s original grocery stores, it was even lined up to receive heritage status.
But after the flood it was deemed “unfit for human habitation” due to structural damage to the walls at the basement level.
The Sharlands were told it had to be demolished.
“I didn’t want to be the one to do that. My dad didn’t want to be the one,” said Reanne, and she just kept putting off the
The building had survived the flooding in 1995. For the 2013 flood, they had enough time to empty the main floor of furniture and carry other items upstairs. Her parents stayed with her in Ross Glen, and as floodwaters receded, Sharland recalled that from afar the home looked fine. Their hopes were up as she headed down to the River Flats as residents were allowed to return.
“And then I saw this gaping hole in the side of the house. My heart stopped,” she said.
The next month was filled with paperwork — lots of dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s — working with engineers, the City, and finally all that was left to do was sign the papers for the demolition.
And then things fell into place, with a November announcement by the City and
province that the City will purchase the home, without the demolition being required for the buyout. The home will now be saved, flood proofed, and kept where it is for the long term.
“I don’t know — the universe aligned,” said Sharland. “A lot people worked very diligently behind the scenes to make it happen.”
With her parents now moved into a condominium, Sharland says their situation was easier than many others in the Flats — the young families with children and mortgages.
“When you look at our situation compared to that, it’s like wow ... we got off pretty lucky.”
She knows it’s not feasible, but ideally she’d love to see the home turned into a corner store again for the community. But whatever happens and whoever owns it in the future, she hopes they enjoy it as much as her family has for over 80 years.
“When it comes down to it, it’s a building. Memories are in your heart.” ■
Jason Hale, MLA Strathmore - Brooks Constituency
Brooks Constituency Offi ce P.O. Box 873
403-2nd Ave West, Brooks,AB T1R 1B7
Tel: (403)362-6973 Fax: (403) 362-5923 Toll-Free:
1-855-362 6973
Monday and Tuesday 9:00am - 4:30pm
p E-mail:
strathmore.brooks@
assembly.ab.ca our communities ❚ our region ❚ our people 71
41149824•03/25/14
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