April 14, 1967: Construction group cools to prospect of saving Rutherford House

Historic Rutherford House, near the University of Alberta campus, was threatened with the wrecking ball after the first step toward saving the home of Alexander Cameron Rutherford, Alberta’s first premier, appeared to be faltering.

The Edmonton Construction Association, considering the restoration of Rutherford House as its Canada centennial project, was apparently having second thoughts.

Lila Fahlman, the president of a group formed to save the house at 11153 Saskatchewan Dr. from demolition, had said the restoration would cost $30,000 — about $214,000 in today’s dollars.

The construction association’s centennial projects committee chairman said the figure was too high for many association members. “I don’t think they’d be prepared to go for a $30,000 shot,” said V.H. Belland.

Planned expansion by the U of A dictated that the house be vacated by May 1 so that demolition could begin.

“The whole thing seems to be a real shemozzle; a lot of guys don’t think it’s worth saving,” he added.

Belland was in favour of the restoration, but doubted the association’s executive would approve the proposal.

J.A. Norton, the association’s manager, said he also favoured restoring Rutherford House. “But I couldn’t say that we, as an association, are interested.”

Both men agreed there was a noticeable coolness at the executive level of the construction association.

The U of A claimed restoration would cost $250,000 — $1.8 million in today’s dollars — and then premier Ernest Manning had termed the figure “prohibitive.”

Belland suggested the true cost fell between the two estimates.

The house was occupied by the Delta Upsilon fraternity, one of several groups interested in saving the building. The fraternity had bought the house from Rutherford in 1941 for $9,500 — the same amount it cost Rutherford to build it in 1911. The house was originally called Achnacarry, after the family’s ancestral castle in Scotland.

Saving the structure became a public concern.

The University Women’s Club played a key role in continuing the push for restoration. Finally in 1970, the Alberta government announced its decision to designate as a historic site the house that Rutherford and his family lived in from 1911 to 1940.

Rutherford House Provincial Historic Site opened to the public in mid-1973, after three years of restoration.

Today, Rutherford House is operated by Alberta Culture, assisted by the Friends of Rutherford House, a nonprofit, charitable society formed in 1985 to help with the preservation and presentation of the historic site. czdeb@edmontonjournal.com