Alberta Register of Historic Places

Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove

Spruce Grove

Other Names:

AWP Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove
Spruce Grove AWP Grain Elevator

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place
The Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator is a wooden country grain elevator located at 120 Railway Avenue, south of and adjacent to an active rail line within the City of Spruce Grove. It is 96 feet tall and has a capacity of 83,000 bushels. The elevator has a drive shed and office on the south side and a dust extractor a slight distance to the southeast. The exterior is painted light green and has the words “ALBERTA WHEAT POOL / FARMER OWNED CO-OPERATIVE / SPRUCE GROVE” painted on the east and west sides, and the AWP logo painted on the north and south sides. The elevator is a landmark, visible from some distance away.

Heritage Value
The Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove, is provincially significant because it is an excellent representation of themes in Alberta’s history relating to agricultural production and the grain trade. It is an excellent, intact working example of a wooden grain elevator - an increasingly rare building type that played an important role in Alberta and which has long been recognized as an iconic landmark within the province and across Canada.

The heritage value of the Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove, lies in its embodiment of the significance of the building type during the twentieth century in Alberta. The structure of the elevator and its internal mechanisms were developed in the early part of the century to function within the context of relatively isolated communities and with a minimum of staff. Over the years, little changed about the outward appearance or inner workings of these elevators. The simple materials and technologies employed resulted in an iconic building form. Wooden grain elevators were so widespread and so numerous that they became recognized as symbols of the prairies across Canada. Within Alberta, grain elevators served as landmarks and represented the relative size and prosperity of communities across the province. Grain elevators like this one in Spruce Grove are significant as representations of their role in the history of agriculture in Alberta, as a nexus between farmers, grain marketing cooperatives and the grain shipment system.

There have been five grain elevators at Spruce Grove. The first was built in 1917 by United Grain Growers. The second and third were built by Federal Grain Ltd. in 1926 and 1927. In 1929, Alberta Wheat Pool acquired the 1917 elevator. An annex was added to it in 1940, and a new elevator was built in 1953. The 1917 elevator was converted to a twin of the 1953 elevator. The fifth and final grain elevator at Spruce Grove was erected in 1958 by Alberta Wheat Pool, after the 1953 elevator, 1917 twin elevator and 1940 annex burnt down.

In 1972, Alberta Wheat Pool acquired both of the Federal Grain Ltd. elevators, resulting in a row of three AWP elevators at Spruce Grove. This situation was short-lived as the 1926 elevator was sold to Spruce Alberta Farms Ltd. in 1974. In 1987 one of the 1920s elevators was demolished, and the second one was destroyed by fire in 1991. The sole remaining elevator at Spruce Grove, the Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, was closed in 1995.

The Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove, is an excellent example of an Alberta icon. It retains its characteristic physical form and internal mechanisms and is able to communicate its significance as a prominent landmark and as a historic part of Alberta’s agriculture industry and society.

Source: Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2222)

Character-Defining Elements
The heritage value of the Alberta Wheat Pool (1958) Grain Elevator, Spruce Grove is expressed through such character-defining elements as its:

Site:
- spatial relationship between grain elevator and railway track;
- railway ties and rails; and
- ramps to drive shed doors.

Grain elevator:
- mass, form, and scale;
- gable-roofed cupola;
- corrugated metal roof;
- wood siding;
- standard Alberta Wheat Pool paint colour and painted signage, including “Alberta Wheat Pool, Farmer Owned Co-operative, Spruce Grove” on east and west sides, and Alberta Pool logo on north and south sides of the elevator;
- wood crib construction;
- weigh scales and hoppers;
- drive shed and doors;
- fenestration pattern and style;
- wooden window frames, mullions and transoms;
- spout, platform and ladder on north (trackside) elevation;
- leg and gerber for elevating and distributing grain to bins;
- grate in drive shed floor and pit into which arriving grain is dumped;
- overhead truck lift crane and associated track and lifting mechanism in drive shed; and
- man lift.

Office:
- mass, form and scale;
- floor plan;
- wood siding;
- gable roof;
- corrugated metal roof;
- fenestration pattern;
- wooden window frames, mullions; and
- standard Alberta Wheat Pool paint colour.

Other:
- dust extractor
- various tools and equipment used during grain elevator operations;
- railway remnant to the immediate north of the building; and
- motor on north side of elevator employed in moving rail cars during loading process.

Location

Street Address:	120 Railway Avenue
Community:	Spruce Grove
Boundaries:	Area A, Plan 9722043
Contributing Resources:	Collection Landscape(s) or Landscape Feature(s)

ATS Legal Description:

Mer	Rge	Twp	Sec	LSD

PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):

Plan	Block	Lot	Parcel
9722043	A	N/A

Latitude/Longitude:

Latitude	Longitude	CDT	Datum Type
53.540347	-113.903461		NAD 83

UTM Reference:

Northing	Easting	Zone	CDT	Datum Type

Recognition

Recognition Authority:	Province of Alberta
Designation Status:	Provincial Historic Resource
Date of Designation:	2020/10/07

Historical Information

Built:	1958 to 1958
Period of Significance:	1958 to 1995
Theme(s):	Developing Economies : Extraction and Production Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce
Historic Function(s):
Current Function(s):
Architect:
Builder:
Context:

Additional Information

Object Number:	4665-1398
Designation File:	DES 2222
Related Listing(s):
Heritage Survey File:	HS 70082
Website Link:
Data Source:	Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen’s College, 8820 – 112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P8 (File: Des 2222)