27 October 2010

Forth Junction Rail Project Seeking Charitable Status

Canadian Pacific Railway's Chinook.

Red Deer Alberta - A Central Alberta group eager to make Red Deer's railroad history into a tourist attraction is in the final stages of applying for charitable status.
 
Forth Junction Heritage Society president Paul Pettypiece said he hopes to have the application filed this week with Revenue Canada.
 
The society wants to become a registered charity so it can begin fundraising for the project that's expected to take millions of dollars in donations and government grants.
 
Pettypiece said the society has been increasing its public awareness this fall so that more Central Albertans know about the project. Last weekend, Pettypiece and several others were kept busy chatting with visitors at the Red Deer Model Train and Model Show at Westerner Park.
 
The society has several projects in mind.
 
One attraction would include shops, a children's theme park, observation tower restaurant, and ground transportation museum in the heart of Riverlands, west of Taylor Drive.
 
Pettypiece said the society will apply for $40,000 through Alberta Tourism so it can conduct a destination study on whether this Riverlands attraction could work.
 
The society has also met with top brass at Tourism Red Deer to gauge its interest.
 
A second main attraction will occur in an unidentified location within Red Deer County. It would include replicas of several regional railway stations for overnight lodging, a railway park, and a lookout tower.
 
Originally, the society was looking to build a real-life size replica of The Chinook, a passenger train that ran from the 1930s to the 1950s between Calgary and Edmonton. It may go on the county parcel or next to the old Canadian Pacific Railway station near 51st Avenue.
 
Pettypiece said the version has been scaled back to one-eighth the size of the original due to cost. Now estimated at $275,000 versus around $1 million or more, it will be able to function like a real one where people will be able to ride in railway cars hitched behind.
 
Forth Junction held its annual general meeting on Tuesday, featuring Red Deer historian Michael Dawe as a guest speaker.
 
Red Deer's rail history is very important to the city, he said.
 
In the early 20th century, Canadian Pacific Railway made Red Deer a divisional centre, helping to make Red Deer a much larger community than others around it, including Blackfalds and Innisfail. The railway was the biggest employer for years, Dawe said.
 
Laura Tester.