Uptowne Olds received good news at its Top Hat ceremony last Thursday.
Alberta Culture and Community Services announced that Olds had met all standards to become the third Main Street community in the province, being preceded by Wainwright and Lethbridge.
"There are 10 standards of performance. They involve commitment to historic conservation, community participation and a number of other standards,î said Matthew Francis, manager of municipal heritage services with Alberta Culture and Community Services.
"Uptowne Olds has also done a heritage inventory. All those things combined to achieve the accreditation.î
For the Uptowne Olds committee, the accreditation marks the end of a process that lasted six years.
"There was a lot of work that went into the application. First, we had to do the heritage survey. Then, the heritage inventory. Then, a heritage plan,î explained Rita Campbell, secretary-treasure of Uptowne Olds.
"Each one of those was 50 per cent funded by the municipal heritage partnership program and 50 per cent funded by the town.î
The Main Street community accreditation means that Uptowne Olds will have access to more funding for its heritage program. The committee is already thinking of earmarking some of the projected funding for streetscaping.
"We are working together with the town on the area development plan,' said Campbell.
"Before we can begin to get a theme for the Uptowne core and do streetscaping and design, we need to deal with the infrastructure.î
Francis also announced that Uptowne Olds had received a $24,000 subsidy to help offset the salary of the Uptowne Olds coordinator.
"We hired someone to help us mostly with our marketing and to support our members that own properties or businesses in the Uptowne core to stay vibrant,î said Campbell.
Uptowne Olds used the evening to launch its "A penny saved is a penny earned because it makes good centsî campaign. It is a joint venture between Uptowne Olds and the Olds Historical Society. The money raised will be used for heritage restoration.
"It was hard to find something that would not be competing with what is already happening in the community,î said Campbell.
"I hope Olds residents will share their pennies with us.î
Last but not least, The Olds Historical Society gave plaques to the owners of nine historical buildings in Olds.
"The plaques consisted of a letter from Mayor Judy Dahl and a picture of their property,î said Donna Erdman, director of the Olds Historical Society.
"I gave a little description of the property, both historically of its architectural significance.î
The buildings are:
ï The former Maybank Drugstore, owned by Leon Durand.
ï The Kemp Block, owned by Leon Fix.
ï The Bank of Montreal building, owned by Phil and Marg Stevens.
ï The Lamont House, owned by Levi and Alicia Broknov.
ï The Former Bank of Commerce, owned by Joe and Maureen Gustafson.
ï The Pokotilo block, owned by Darwin and Mary Schatz, Russ and Lori Clarke.
ï The W.M. Craig Residence, owned by Henning and Inge Norre.
ï The Dr. Hartman Residence, owned by John Vanderkooi.
ï The Brown Residence, owned by Peter and Linda Pape.
