Artifacts salvaged from fire-ravaged grain elevator

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2022 (1434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A project to dismantle the oldest grain elevator in Canada took a tragic turn on Tuesday afternoon, but not all was lost.

Owner Troy Angus said he and his company, The Den Authentic Barnwood, were in the process of stripping down and salvaging the Lake of the Woods Milling Company elevator in Elva when the fire occurred.

Elva is 145 km southwest of Brandon.

They were disposing of some rotten wood in a controlled burn in a low-lying, water-logged slough on the property.

The wind changed direction, blowing an ember toward the elevator, where it was sucked into a football-sized hole and ignited the blaze nearly on contact. Once the fire started, the team knocked the elevator over to stop the fire from igniting nearby power lines. Emergency crews arrived shortly after to take over.

Even with the devastation, the company managed to save a number of historical pieces, including about 90 per cent of the tin that skirted the outside of the building, legwood/cups, posters, the complete drive shed, all the hardware (hinges, doorknobs), the lumber for the driveway and parts of the original office.

The most intriguing piece they saved, he said, was a pencil-drawn floorplan sketch they found laminated to a piece of wood panelling with dates, the earliest of which is labelled 1899.

But the most important thing they saved was the building’s history by sharing it with the world online through their social media. Angus said they had been documenting the deconstruction of the elevator on YouTube and were wrapping up Phase 3 of a five-part plan to dismantle and salvage the building.

They were preparing to manoeuver the structure’s crib — or shell — on its side to disassemble the large two-by-six panels inside.

“We take full responsibility for what happened,” said Angus in an interview on Friday. “I’ll say lessons were learned. We are moving on to plan B now and salvaging what we can from the nearby United Grain Growers elevator.”

Angus explained he bought both elevators last December to save the buildings from being unceremoniously torn down. With his company, they try to preserve as much as they can for sale or donation.

“We are trying to prove a point that these buildings are rural wood waste, but they don’t have to be.”

Some of the wood and machinery salvaged has already been sold and sent across North America. There is also a fair amount of interest from historical societies and museums for artifacts they found in the structure.

The Lake of the Woods Railroaders Museum in Kenora, Ont., is among them due to the elevator’s connection to the city’s history.

“We were going to get some of those items and make them part of our display,” said Richard Roy, the museum’s superintendent of operations. “We are certainly interested in acquiring documents and preserving them.”

He added between the railroad museum and The Muse, a museum and art gallery in Kenora, they are hoping to share whatever artifacts and documents they can get to show at their locations. The important part is they are preserved for future generations to view and appreciate their importance.

Built in 1897, The Lake of the Woods Milling Company grain elevator was the oldest crib-style elevator in Canada still in existence. The neighbouring United Grain Growers Elevator was built in 1916.

Wood and items that were successfully salvaged are still for sale. If interested, contact The Den at 204-441-2555 or visit their website: https://www.thedenbarnwood.com/.

» kmckinley@brandonsun.com