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Backgrounder
Parks Canada’s National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program
Project Recipient: Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society
National Historic Site: Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site
Total Project Cost: minimum of $20,000
Parks Canada’s Contribution: up to $10,000
Project Description:
The Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society will prepare a condition assessment of the tipple, a large square-timbered structure used to clean and sort coal, which is showing critical signs of deterioration. This evaluation will help guide future physical interventions on the site in accordance with the highest conservation standards and ensure the commemorative integrity of this important national historic site is maintained for present and future generations. It will also support the site’s continued use so that it remains an integral part of the community.
Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site
Situated in the badlands of central Alberta, the Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site is an exceptionally well-preserved coal-mining landscape spread across the side of a bluff, on the south side of the Red Deer River and over the valley immediately below. The resources on the side of the hill are clustered around the vestigial mine entrance and include foundations of a rotary dump, traces of a rail line and trestle bridge leading east towards a second rotary dump, the remains of that dump, two nearby explosives sheds, a blacksmith shop, and a covered belt line leading down the hill. In the valley, the focal point is the mine tipple and the related conveyor system leading to it from the hill. A collection of wood frame service buildings is located west of the tipple, consisting of a machine shop, storage building, washhouse, and a loading ramp. East of the tipple, there are four former managers' houses and a storage shed. The site contains rail beds and some of the rails of the 1930 spur line that connected the Atlas mine to the main line across the Red Deer River. Another striking feature is the associated railway bridge, still extant. Official recognition refers to all coal-mining related resources within the defined boundaries of the national historic site of Canada.
The Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2001 because:
- it played a significant role in the history of the coal industry in the Drumheller Valley which was the most productive plains coalfield in Alberta and southeastern British Columbia from the First World War to the 1950s;
- the surviving buildings and equipment provide an exceptionally well-preserved example of a coal mine plant. The mine entrance, most of the surface structures and the associated railway bridge are still visible. The tipple, which is a large squared-timber structure used to clean and sort the coal into various sizes, represents the best surviving example of the coal preparation facility common in the plains branch of the industry in the first half of 20th century; and
- the site illustrates the parts played by capital and labour in the development of the coal industry.
The heritage value of the national historic site resides in the surviving physical resources, which illustrate the former coal mining operation at this location. Operational from 1936 to 1974, the site is now presented to the public by the Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society.
Cost-Sharing Program
The National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program is a contribution program whereby up to 50% of eligible costs incurred in the conservation of a national historic site can be reimbursed. This year, the Program aimed to assist non-federal owners of national historic sites that demonstrated a real and immediate threat to the commemorative integrity of their national historic site and for which an intervention was required in the short term to maintain the physical integrity of the threatened cultural resource(s). A national historic site possesses commemorative integrity when it is healthy and whole, and when the site’s heritage values are protected, communicated and respected. The Program supports Parks Canada’s mandate of protecting and presenting places of national historic significance, and fostering the public’s understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of these places in ways that ensure their commemorative integrity for present and future generations.
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National Historic Site: Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site
Total Project Cost: minimum of $20,000
Parks Canada’s Contribution: up to $10,000
Project Description:
The Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society will prepare a condition assessment of the tipple, a large square-timbered structure used to clean and sort coal, which is showing critical signs of deterioration. This evaluation will help guide future physical interventions on the site in accordance with the highest conservation standards and ensure the commemorative integrity of this important national historic site is maintained for present and future generations. It will also support the site’s continued use so that it remains an integral part of the community.
Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site
Situated in the badlands of central Alberta, the Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine National Historic Site is an exceptionally well-preserved coal-mining landscape spread across the side of a bluff, on the south side of the Red Deer River and over the valley immediately below. The resources on the side of the hill are clustered around the vestigial mine entrance and include foundations of a rotary dump, traces of a rail line and trestle bridge leading east towards a second rotary dump, the remains of that dump, two nearby explosives sheds, a blacksmith shop, and a covered belt line leading down the hill. In the valley, the focal point is the mine tipple and the related conveyor system leading to it from the hill. A collection of wood frame service buildings is located west of the tipple, consisting of a machine shop, storage building, washhouse, and a loading ramp. East of the tipple, there are four former managers' houses and a storage shed. The site contains rail beds and some of the rails of the 1930 spur line that connected the Atlas mine to the main line across the Red Deer River. Another striking feature is the associated railway bridge, still extant. Official recognition refers to all coal-mining related resources within the defined boundaries of the national historic site of Canada.
The Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2001 because:
- it played a significant role in the history of the coal industry in the Drumheller Valley which was the most productive plains coalfield in Alberta and southeastern British Columbia from the First World War to the 1950s;
- the surviving buildings and equipment provide an exceptionally well-preserved example of a coal mine plant. The mine entrance, most of the surface structures and the associated railway bridge are still visible. The tipple, which is a large squared-timber structure used to clean and sort the coal into various sizes, represents the best surviving example of the coal preparation facility common in the plains branch of the industry in the first half of 20th century; and
- the site illustrates the parts played by capital and labour in the development of the coal industry.
The heritage value of the national historic site resides in the surviving physical resources, which illustrate the former coal mining operation at this location. Operational from 1936 to 1974, the site is now presented to the public by the Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society.
Cost-Sharing Program
The National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program is a contribution program whereby up to 50% of eligible costs incurred in the conservation of a national historic site can be reimbursed. This year, the Program aimed to assist non-federal owners of national historic sites that demonstrated a real and immediate threat to the commemorative integrity of their national historic site and for which an intervention was required in the short term to maintain the physical integrity of the threatened cultural resource(s). A national historic site possesses commemorative integrity when it is healthy and whole, and when the site’s heritage values are protected, communicated and respected. The Program supports Parks Canada’s mandate of protecting and presenting places of national historic significance, and fostering the public’s understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of these places in ways that ensure their commemorative integrity for present and future generations.
News Release associated with this Backgrounder.
