A hole in the heart of Hartney

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This article was published 01/03/2018 (2983 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hartney can flash a gap-toothed smile these days.

“It’s sad. It looks like a guy missing some teeth, like a hockey player,” said Brad Coe, Municipality of Grassland CAO.

He is describing the appearance of East Railway Street in Hartney, which once had 11 buildings lined side-by-side. It hearkened back to a century ago when the railway town bustled with commerce.

Felled by snow and age, five of those 11 buildings — built at the turn of the century after a devastating fire in 1899 — collapsed last year under the weight of the accumulated snow.

In January 2017, it was reported the buildings, each vacant except for one building used for storage, would be demolished.

A chunk of history would be lost. The buildings were knocked down and property landscaped last summer.

“I collect old photos, so I’ve seen all the old photos of that street and it’s kind of sad to see it missing,” Coe said.

Four of the since-razed buildings were positioned next to each other in the 200-block of East Railway Street, next to Hartney Machine and Motors. The fifth building was down the street.

In decades past, the buildings went through a variety of well-attended uses before vacancy, such as a café, barbershop, flower shop and a drug store.

“But that’s just the way it goes. If you don’t invest in them, they’re going to go,” Coe said. “There’s probably another one or two that will probably disappear in the next five to 10 years, then it will be really empty.”

Coe said the vacant properties are on the market, but finding commercial tenants will prove challenging.

Debra Turner, Municipality of Grassland’s economic development officer, is hopeful, despite the challenges rural communities face in attracting businesses to set up shop.

“If you talk to other people in the community, they might not be as optimistic,” she said. “We have lots of young people, lots of young families moving into our community, this is something that I’m very optimistic about.”

They’ve experienced some success.

The one vacancy apart from the four located side-by-side is off the market, after a neighbour purchased the land. Nothing has been built yet, Turner said.

Meanwhile, a woman who wanted a storefront to sell used furniture purchased one of the standing buildings on that block, she said.

The local community development corporation has launched an incentive program for the remaining three properties the municipality owns. People can buy a lot for $5,000 and receive a $4,500 rebate once a building is constructed. (The other lot is privately owned.)

The new program has not received a major advertising push yet, but Turner said it will. She expects the incentive to be promoted at the Brandon Home and Leisure Show in April.

Hartney has a population in the neighbourhood of 462 people and the municipality counts 1,561 people, according to the 2016 census. Each total is an uptick from the last census.

“We have something here that everybody’s coming home for, so let’s continue to build on that,” Turner said. “We don’t want to just sit and stay idle and risk losing these people.”

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