The idea of a replica station came about once CP made it clear that they had no intention of allowing any development in their existing station. I had discussed the possibility of building a replica building with Daryl Holyk who then suggested I appear at a meeting of the Heritage Village board. At that time the board felt that any building should either be an actual station or a replica built with period correct materials. Originally we had considered using the original MNW station as a guide, however it subsequently proved that that building had be damaged by fire on a couple of occasions and was heavily modified before being completely destroyed by fire in 1910. During this process I had tried to look up a shingle mill in Kaslo B.C. to see if they were still in business as they had provided the cedar shingles for the CP station back in the area of 2006. I checked around Kaslo only to discover the shingle mill was shut down however, I noticed on their website that Kaslo had a caboose and a station like structure used as their tourist centre. Their replica was based on the long gone CP station in that town, fortunately the Town Office still had the plans for the 1990 built replica which they were kind enough to sent a copy along to me.
In March of 2020 l was informed by members of the Village Board and Town Council that I should abandon all efforts to procure an existing station and produce a conceptual drawing of what I wanted to see placed in the Heritage Village. Using the Kaslo building as an inspiration I came up with a building proposal based on a footprint of 1800 square feet, basically a stretched out version of the Kaslo building. The concept drawing was a met with approval and a caveat was attached to project that space had to be reserved for the Men’s Shed group and accordingly engineered plans were drawn. Notwithstanding the approach of the covid epidemic tenders were let and Birch Construction was engaged to build the structure. In October of 2020 the concrete was poured and by the new year the shell of the building was finished. During this process the decision was taken to modify the roof treatment to more closely resemble the existing Minnedosa station otherwise the engineered plan was unchanged.
The interior of the building was finished over the course of 2021 and by December of that year we had started moving things in such as the big clock. The summer of 2022 saw the addition of the wooden platform and 2023 saw the completion of the project when landscaping blocks were placed around the short piece of railway track.
With the end of the covid restrictions and the resumption of normal life the building was formally opened on 20 August 2023.
Brion Pollon/ January 2024
