Restoration of the the McKenzie Sharland Grocery Municipal Historic Resource building located at 1113 Dominion Ave. received an Award of Excellence in Conservation from the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals. The property will be outfitted with period furniture and rented as a two-bedroom residential unit as part of the larger 12-unit McKenzie Mews project.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
The McKenzie Sharland Grocery Municipal Historic Resource in the North Flats has won an award following an eight-year process to have the building designated a Municipal Heritage Resource and to restore it after it suffered damage in the 2013 flood.
Jeanie Gartly and Sam Boisvert received an Award of Excellence in the Conservation: Small and Lovely category at the 2022 Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals annual awards.
Originally constructed in 1912 for William McKenzie, it was named McKenzie Grocery until 1926 when Len Sharland bought it and renamed it Sharland Grocery.
The building remained a grocery store until 1935 when the business failed during the Depression. The Sharland family, who had lived above the store, continued to use the building as their primary residence.
After it was damaged in the 2013 flood, the City of Medicine Hat acquired the property as part of the provincial flood recovery program. In 2016 Cube Development Ltd., established by Malcolm and Jennifer Sissons, bought the property and began the restoration process.
Jeanie Gartly, a heritage consultation consultant who used to work for the City of Medicine Hat, submitted the McKenzie Sharland project to the CAHP awards.
“Sissons has been the one that has worked all these years to conserve it and I wanted to submit if for an award because of the great work he’s done from a professional perspective.”
Christienne Uchiyama, president of CAHP, said, “We hold our awards annually, it’s one of the most important programs we operate because it gives us a chance to celebrate the work of our members. This project was one of five that was nominated in the category of Small and Lovely.”
“The jury felt it was an exemplary project demonstrating research and planning,” added Uchiyama. “They also highlighted it was a judicious use of a limited budget. They were really impressed with how they were able to take a smaller budget and make it go further through careful planning.
“It’s a modest example but a really interesting one of survival and rehabilitation, particularly in the context of climate change and intense weather events.”
For more information about the Grocery and the McKenzie Mews project see mckenziemews.ca.
