With Heritage Day coming up, the City of Lethbridge has shared the final entry in a series highlighting local Municipal Historic Resources.
Officials have been showcasing the sites since Heritage Day 2023. The final post shines a light on the Bentley Block, built in 1905.
For each of the 13 downtown Lethbridge locations, the City also produced Heritage Minute videos featuring Belinda Crowson, city councillor and president of the Lethbridge Historical Society. The videos are available at the City of Lethbridge YouTube channel.
“Sharing the history and stories of our amazing designated historic buildings in this video series has been a fun project,” Crowson says.
“Moving forward, we collectively need to work to get more buildings designated but also to get plaques up on even more of them so the community can learn and appreciate the stories of these incredible buildings and the people who built them and used them.”
In February 2024, the Whitney Block building in downtown became the 30th Municipal Historic Resource in the city.
READ MORE: Downtown building given historic designation
On top of these 30 sites, Lethbridge has 15 Provincial Historic Resources, with several sites having both municipal and provincial designations. The city is also home to four federally listed National Historic Events and one National Historic Person.
A list of the historic sites is available at the City of Lethbridge website. This webpage also includes a new interactive map showcasing the locations.
“We are aware of many more buildings in our community that could be worthy of Municipal Historic Resource designation,” says senior community planner Ross Kilgour.
“We are certainly looking to the public and those who may be interested in pursuing historic designation to please reach out to us.”
The Provincial Historical Resources Act is a way to help Alberta’s municipalities protect and conserve places that are historically significant.
Giving these sites a Municipal Historic Resource designation protects them and ensures they are not altered haphazardly or destroyed.
Once the designation is given, the site stays in the property of the registered owner. Designation does not change how a property can be used, with law prohibiting physically altering or demolishing a historic resource without the municipality’s written consent. The designation is registered against the title for the property, which helps ensure that future owners and interest holders understand that the place has the designation.
Owners of designated sites can apply to the provincial government for annual matching grants of up to $50,000 to help with the conservation of the property.
Property owners can also apply to the City of Lethbridge to have their site identified and protected as a Municipal Historic Resource. More information on that process is available via the City website.
