Funding will enable completion of Little White School

There was a full room and a lot of good news to discuss on Thursday night when Arts and Heritage St. Albert held its annual general meeting at the Little White School. Among the first orders of business were the announcements regarding accolades and new funding.

It was previously announced that the organization would be receiving the Heritage Preservation Award from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation for its work on restoring and conserving the grain elevators.

Edmonton/St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber also presented new funding from the federal government to wrap up the restoration and accessibility work at the school itself.

Rathgeber, on behalf of Honourable Lynne Yelich, minister of state for Western Economic Diversification, announced $60,415 in federal support for the rehabilitation project under the Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund.

“This project will create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in our community,” Rathgeber stated.

Outgoing chair Alan Murdock added that the historic landmark is a major symbol of culture and community and the completion of the multi-tier project will enhance local education for many years to come.

“The Little White School recognizes the remarkable sacrifice of St. Albert families both at home and abroad during the Second World War,” he said in a prepared press release. “Freedom for education of our children has been a hallmark of being a Canadian citizen. That freedom was preserved and celebrated with the building of this school.”

The money will be used for the finishing touches on the school, including patching and new paint and flooring, plus work to restore the original washrooms. It is expected to be complete by spring.

Executive director Paul Moulton called it a major coup not only for the city but for his organization as well, since it marked the first time that Arts and Heritage St. Albert was given the responsibility for a restoration project.

“The evolution of the ideas up there have led us to the absolute best way to make an historic structure barrier free. Without making people in wheelchairs go through the back door or whacking a horrible ugly ramp on the building somewhere is to do what we did up there.”

“As a test case of our ability to manage a construction project … it was great.”

The only sombre part of the evening was that it was the last for Murdock, who will be stepping down as per the organization’s bylaws after acting as chair for six consecutive years, leading the board through sometimes tumultuous waters including the recent debate over the stewardship agreement.

The organization is still hashing out details on a new agreement with the city but that is expected to be resolved in the next few months as well.

Moulton said that he would miss Murdock’s enormous wealth of knowledge and endless supply of creative solutions.

“He’s very passionate about what he’s trying to achieve. When you see how big the heart is and how genuine the passion is, people always think wow … how great to have had him on the board. He’s a fountain of ideas.”