Heritage buildings at a Salmon Arm heritage attraction are being added to the city's heritage registry.
At its Monday, March 10 meeting, city council voted to support the addition of 10 structures to the Community Heritage Register, all of them located at R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum. The register is voluntary and does not obligate property owners, in this case the city, to undertake any additional work or provide funding for the maintenance of buildings added.
Buildings to be added include:
• The A.D. Meek Filling Station – formerly located on the south-east corner of Palmer Street and Alexander Avenue (1927-1935), and Paradise Point on Shuswap Lake (1935-1997),the station features an orange and blue colour scheme, a porcelain sign advertising it as a Union 76 franchise, and an overhang that protects the gas pumps. It is valued for its aesthetic, heritage and social significance;
• Broadview School – a two-storey building with a gable roof, covered front porch and distinctive flight of steps, the school was originally constructed at the north end of Broadview Road and moved to the Village in 1988. Built in 1918, the school has significant heritage value as it symbolizes the rural farming community's belief in the importance of education and demonstrates the area’s communal social development;
• Chinese Cook House – a one-and-a-half storey, hand-hewn log home with a steeply pitched roof, the structure was formerly located at 1159 Passchendale Road, Sorrento, BC (1895-1984), and at Minion Field on Harbell Road (now 30 Street SW) (1984-1986). Historically called “China Shack,” the cabin was constructed sometime between Thomas Henry Jones’ arrival at Trapper’s Landing in 1895 and the completion of his letters patent in 1897. Jones sold his property to the Shuswap Lake Land and Development Company in 1909, which then became part of the Kinghorn Estate;
• J. Pearson Shaw Log Cabin – a one-and-a-half storey, hand-hewn log home. Commonly called the Salmon Valley Homestead, dates back to 1889 when J. Pearson Shaw settled in the area, the historic significance of the cabin lies in the community leaders who have taken up residence in the home;
• Laitinen Log Home – previously located at 3861 30 Street NE (formerly Broadview Road North), the Laitinen Log House is a one-and-a-half storey, gable roof home complete with a small front veranda. The house dates back to the early to mid 1920s, when newlyweds Albert and Vera Laitinen constructed it from logs on their property;
• Old Enderby Road – a section of a wagon road that connected early settlers to the community of Enderby. Once leading to Gardner’s Lake, the road is located within the buffering zone of the Helenita Harvey Nature Trail at the heritage village. Old Enderby Road consists of a clearing of 49.8 metres of roadway nestled in a forested area. The road has fallen into disuse but can be viewed by walking on the south easterly portion of the Helenita Harvey Nature Trail;
• Peterson Barn – previously located at 5540 35 Street NE (formerly Peterson Road) (1915-2005), he barn is a one-storey, hand-hewn, square-timbered structure with a steeply pitched roof, constructed about 1915 and commonly called the Peterson Barn. It is valued as a fine example of early Scandinavian settlement construction;
• Pidherney House – previously located on the northwest corner of Fraser Avenue NW and Hudson Street NW (prior to 2008), it is a one-and-a-half storey, vernacular style house built sometime between 1923 and 1929 for cemetery caretaker Ivan (John) Pidhirney and his wife Polly. The house boasts its original flooring, wainscotting, trim, and wall board, and is valued for its association with the Pidhirney family, who were part of a group of Ukrainian settlers taken advantage of by the Schwab Land Company;
• Queest Lookout Tower – formerly located on Queest Mountain between 1952 and 2003, it is a distinctive one-storey Forest Service building made from prefabricated panels and a wraparound deck. The Queest Lookout Tower has historic value, representing the evolution of design and materials of mid- 20th century towers and corresponding forest management practices;
• Valley Methodist Church – formerly located at the corner of Foothill and Donnelly roads (1911-1988), the church is a modest wooden one-storey structure with a steeply pitched roof. Constructed in 1911, it is commonly called the Mt. Ida Church.
You can learn more about the structures and the area's history at R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum, which opens for the season on May 14. For further information, visit salmonarm.ca/463/Heritage and/or salmonarmmuseum.org.
