Power plant makes Top 10

Endangered historic sites

A group working to save the former Rossdale power plant hopes it has a better chance of survival after making the Top 10 list of Canada’s most threatened historic sites.

The non-profit Heritage Canada Foundation included the provincially protected structure on its annual endangered list this week out of about 60 nominations, spokeswoman Carolyn Quinn said Thursday.

“Rossdale has an important history in Edmonton and Alberta … Obviously, it’s a landmark, it’s a designated heritage property and it’s at risk,” she said.

“It’s no longer being used, it has a big dollar figure for its restoration … Can the city invest at the very least in stabilizing some of the building to put a plan in place?”

Other structures on the list include Vancouver’s old main post office, Saskatchewan’s former tuberculosis sanitorium in Fort Qu’Appelle, and Canada’s last Second World War prisoner camp in Clarington, Ont.

Edmonton officials have wondered what to do with the huge Rossdale facility, built in stages from 1931 to 1954, since a February report estimated the cost to stabilize and upgrade it for tenants at $70 million.

Mayor Stephen Mandel has said saving it will take “a miracle.”

But Lynn Parish, president of the Rossdale Community League, said she and former city councillor Michael Phair are informally co-chairing the Rossdale Regeneration Group aimed at finding options for the structure.

The city has requested ideas for the five-storey slice of Edmonton’s industrial past and is scheduled to release a new report next week, said Peter Ohm, manager of the urban planning and environment branch.

Options include doing nothing, or stabilizing the walls and either repairing or replacing the roof to keep the building standing safely for several years while long-term programming and preservation plans are developed, he said.

The initial work would cost about $4 million to $7 million estimated last winter.