Nordegg: A German
Entrepreneur's Bold Dream and Heartbreak-page 5
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The town where Martin Nordegg once boasted would be like no
other, was just another in a long line of closed Alberta coal
mining communities-a desolate playground for mountain hosts. By
the fall, only a caretaker and a handful of forestry workers
remained at Nordegg. The quaint four and five-room houses sat
empty and weather beaten. The flowers that Martin Nordegg had
imported from Europe 40 years earlier grew wild, or wilted in
abandoned gardens. Howling alpine winds eerily rattled loose metal
at the mine site.
Every once in a while from spring to autumn, tourists passed
the locked gates of Nordegg, unable to fathom that a vibrant coal
mining community of nearly 3,000 citizens once existed. But one
could still be held breathless from the raw beauty. And a few took
advantage of the recreational opportunities. A youth camp for
troubled teens opened in the area at Fish Lake in 1959. Summers
witnessed new campers and RV traffic. But it wasn't until 1963,
that resident fresh faces were brought to Nordegg. The provincial
government opened up a minimum security prison. It lasted until
1995.
By 1973, 175 out of the town's 270 structures left standing in
1955, had been
razed. As well, the province, concerned fires would
ignite the mushrooming vegetation around remaining homes, ordered
them bulldozed or removed. And in the early 1980s, Canada Cement
Lafarge, which had acquired the lease to the old mine site,
announced plans to level the vacant buildings. But Nordeggers past
and present rallied. And in 1993, the mine site finally received
limited protection with a historic site designation from the
province. Nine years later in 2002, the federal government also
joined the heritage preservation bandwagon and designated the mine
site a national historic site.
Anne Belliveau, historian for the
Nordegg Historical Society,
was born and
raised in Nordegg. The town is her passion. When the
mine closed, she continued on with her teaching career in Calgary.
She now lives part of the year in Calgary and comes to Nordegg
every summer to volunteer at the Nordegg Heritage Centre, inside
the former school where she taught. Belliveau, and former Nordegg
miner Dennis Morley, fought relentlessly over the past 20 years to
preserve the memories of Martin Nordegg's dream. Belliveau is
convinced the mine site will succeed as the focal point of a
carefully planned tourism strategy for Big West Country. In 1999, she published the highly acclaimed book, "Small
Moments in Time," a loving tribute to the town Martin
Nordegg created and embraced. In the book's final chapter,
Belliveau urges the reader to pause to remember the pioneers: the
natives, David Thompson and Martin Nordegg, for they were in tune
with the wonder of Big West Country. Treat it with the care and
respect it deserves, says Belliveau. Because, she adds,
"Here, you can touch eternity."
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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