INNISFAIL – Wayne Warkentin has been a rough and tough rodeo cowboy for the past two decades who knows all too well you can't get complacent or too cocky when faced with a challenging turn.
And the longtime calf roper also knows it's the same deal when he's out on his day job with his company Warkentin Building Movers, which has done many huge turns over the past 10 years in all regions across Alberta.
Last week, Warkentin and his crew had the extraordinarily challenging task of moving the historic two-storey log Sinclair House 13 kilometres from the Thomson acreage west of town to the Innisfail and District Historical Village.
“They are all so unique, but this one here you had to be extra careful because there was not a lot of support like you would see in a regular building,” said Warkentin, who rated the Sinclair House move on Dec. 5 as being in the top three or five challenging jobs he and his crew have done over the past decade.
“This one here is right up there due to the deterioration on the bottom log. You have to keep these type of buildings very, very level,” he added. “We adjust all the time on our dollies, going around a curve or any bump. We have to adjust to make sure the load stays level. You can have a little bit of variance, but not very much.”
The journey, which had to make two lengthy stops to allow FortisAlberta to bring in new trucks to lift remaining power lines (eight in total), took just over four hours to complete. When the 125-year-old Sinclair House, the pioneer house of Isabella (Bella) Sinclair, the first Caucasian female to settle in Central Alberta, arrived at its destination at around 2:30 p.m., officials with the Innisfail and District Historical Society were beaming.
“It's a very exciting day. I feel like a million bucks. It feels very special because at times maybe you felt it would never come, and finally we are here,” said Anna Lenters, president of the society.
Lawrence Gould, the society's treasurer, was equally thrilled to see the historic structure finally at the village, and like Lenters, acknowledged it was an event that appeared hopelessly doomed just over a year ago. In fact he introduced a motion a year ago at a society board meeting to cancel the project because there was a lack of funding.
“Through the newspaper and other means we had a lot of citizens in Innisfail and the district that stepped up to the plate and gave us money to proceed with the project,” said Gould of the community response to save the project, but also acknowledged the challenges the society came across this year when funding did arrive. “Our biggest downfall was that the house had asbestos and that cost us money we did not figure on.”
And while the society has many long-term plans for the structure, including tourism, community and educational opportunities, there are still challenges ahead.
“We are still running on a tight budget and it will be a year or more before we start the inside of it,” said Gould.
There is still some work left, however, from the move. The bottom logs of the house have to be removed from all sides. A contractor will be hired to remove the decaying old logs and replace them with modern ones. Warkentin will be back in a few weeks to lift the house once more.
In the meantime, Lenters can't help but ponder with pride the important contributions Sinclair House will ultimately bring to the historical village and the community.
“There are some people who probably question why dollars and efforts would be made towards this. What does it mean? It means it's a tool for us to tell the story of the history of this area,” said Lenters.
“It is not just about the Sinclairs and the Browns. It's about all families that settled in this area and faced the same challenges, so it is typical of all the people here. There are a lot of people who are only here today because of those individuals, their direct descendants,” she added.
“It is going to allow us to tell their story.”
Anna Lenters, president of the Innisfail and District Historical Society
"It's a very exciting day. I feel like a million bucks. It feels very special because at times maybe you felt it would never come, and finally we are here."
