Canada's oldest remaining wooden grain elevator in Elva, Man. being dismantled and disseminated

The Lake of the Woods Milling Company grain elevator was built back in September 1897. It is being dismantled after standing for nearly 125 years in the southwest Manitoba community of Elva. It is believed to be the oldest remaining wooden grain elevator in Canada. March 4, 2022 (Source: Josh Crabb/CTV News)

A piece of the past can become yours as a prairie landmark is set to be taken down.

A wooden grain elevator in the southwest Manitoba community of Elva is believed to be the oldest remaining structure of its kind in Canada but not for much longer.

A project is underway to salvage and reclaim the wood and hardware from the iconic building before it’s too late.

“It’s at the point now where it’s either going to be demolished or dismantled,” said Troy Angus, owner of The Den Authentic Barnwood, who bought the elevator and another newer one that sits right next to it.

Built in September 1897, the nearly 125-year-old former Lake of the Woods Milling Company grain elevator is about to come down.

“The water, moisture, has got in and got down into the foundation and this building just isn’t saveable,” Angus said.

Instead of demolition, Angus is opting to carefully dismantle and preserve as much of the building as possible.

It’s a task his company specializes in. Angus plans to salvage and reclaim the antique wood, tin and hardware in order to sell it off to people who want to take home a piece of the past and reuse it in their own projects.

“Which is exactly what we’re looking for,” Angus said. “To spread this stuff as far as possible so the story can live on.”

He’s even documenting the process in a series of YouTube videos.

Angus and some helpers have already pried off some of the vintage tin panels. He said people have driven from as far as Alberta to get a last look and take a piece of the elevator home.

“It’s almost expected because there is an emotional tie, an historical tie to these elevators,” he said.

Wooden elevators, where farmers traditionally hauled their grain to get it to market, have largely been replaced by concrete structures. While some old elevators are being saved and preserved not all of them can be, making projects like the one in Elva important in the eyes of historian Gordon Goldsborough.

“There could have been creative ways found to preserve the elevator,” said Goldsborough, president of the Manitoba Historical Society. “On the other hand, I realize it was in really rough shape and unless there was a major investment of resources I just couldn’t see it being saved.”

“If there has to be something done, what’s being done is the best possible outcome, it seems to me. Because rather than just knocking it down, trucking it to the landfill and forgetting it, at least it’s going to be saved in some form.”

Goldsborough said there are only around 128 wooden grain elevators left in the province. Even some older concrete ones are being replaced by larger structures that can handle more grain.

“We lost nine wooden elevators in 2021. There’s a whole host of ones that I suspect could be on the block this year and it isn’t just the wooden elevators, either,” Goldsborough said. “This ongoing increase in the size of elevators that is dooming the small ones is continuing.”

Getting the wood off the Elva elevator won’t be easy. The final phase will require crews to delicately tip over the building so the wood can be removed at ground level.

“It’s our Manitoba, prairie heritage and it draws people and so I think just that in itself makes it worthwhile,” Angus said.

Not all of the elevator will end up in the hands of private owners. Angus said the Lake of the Woods Milling Company signage that remained intact on one side of the building has been packaged up and set aside with the hope it can go somewhere to be displayed for the wider public.

Angus hopes to have the final phase of the project completed before the ground thaws.

Some of the remnants of the Elva elevator have already been put up for sale.