15 July 2008
DOI Council Investigates Saving Historic CPR Lodge
Canadian Pacific Railway Lodge.
Fort Point British Columbia - The land that the historic
Canadian Pacific Railway Lodge is situated on is going up for sale to settle the family estate of Ian and Lucy Weir. At the regular
meeting on 8 Jul 2008 as an item of new business, councillor Bob Campsall suggested the District of Invermere (DOI)
investigate saving the building by purchasing and moving it to another plot of land.
Built around 1923 and currently located on Fort Point, the lodge will be sold along with the land it sits on during the estate settling.
Campsall indicated that anyone who has shown any interest in the land has immediately wanted to tear the building down and subdivide
the property. He added that the Weir family would like to see this building recognized as a historical building and are prepared to
assist financially to a degree.
"Sometimes a historical building is just a building that is ready to fall down but some have so much history connected to them
that they are worth maintaining and can be used," said Campsall. "If we put our minds to it, we could find funding, we could
find a location for it. We've lost other opportunities. Let's not lose this one."
The other councillors and mayor agreed with Campsall that the staff be directed to look into the possibilities of saving the building.
Councillor Gerry Taft pointed out that Invermere doesn't have a lot of old buildings because they were all built with wood, whereas
other communities in the Kootenays have stone buildings that are still standing.
"There is a great deal of our history as far as the railroads that... isn't reflected in our community," said Taft. "I'm
very supportive at looking at the options."
Campsall, Chris Prosser and mayor Mark Shmigelsky toured the building and found it to be quite intact. There have already been
discussions with the Windermere Valley Historical Society and one of the options is to move the lodge onto the land where the museum
sits.
"I think it's a great opportunity, not only for the district, but for the whole community to get behind," said Shmigelsky.
"This is a remarkable opportunity for us to ensure a great piece of our history is intact."
Campsall admitted, "It may turn out that it's not feasible. But we don't want to be sitting here three months from now saying we
should have."
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