I watched a show on PBS last night about grain elevators and how they are disappearing from the Alberta skyline...I think they said there are ten left!!!! In some cases the companies refuse to sell them to the locals despite the locals wanting to keep these little pieces of history in the area...
The program also followed the man who is responsible for demolishing them........he brings them all down with just a digger most times.....and then he keeps much of the timber from them as he says one day people will want to buy a little piece of this history for their homes - to hang above their fireplace as a mantel or something.....he didn't even see the other view point about demolishing them.....he didn't see it as sad....he came across as a bit of a dumbass actually.....
The show focused on Mayerthorpe where Christie used to live...and showed a group of 7 people who were fighting to keep the grain elevator in the town - finally at the end, with a grant of $25,000 from the Provincial government, they got to keep the land AND the grain elevator.
Many times when you see paintings of the Prairies, you will see grain elevators shown....I have photographs I took of one near Tofield last year....they really are a magical part of the Alberta landscape and I think it will be a very sad day when they are all gone....now you only find them in museums like the Ukrainian Cultural Village.
You can read more about grain elevators at:
http://www.grainelevators.ca/
8 hours ago
