Almost a year after becoming it’s new owners, Tashme Historical Society (THS) said they are thrilled that digging has finally begun at the new location for the Hope Station House.
“Personally, I am very excited, and I must admit, it has also been quite an emotional day,” said Ryan Ellan, the president of THS. “The Tashme Historical team along with our project partners have been looking forward to this important day for a long time. To finally have our geotechnical team onsite, conducting the ground and soil analysis tests is very exciting.”
The momentous moment took place last Thursday (Oct. 12) with Sarah Brown, Hope, Cascades & Canyons Visitor Centre’s operations manager, and Coun. Zachary Wells, making an appearance to witness the event. The Station House is being moved to the property at 919 Water Ave, with hopes to relocate the building by Spring 2024.
According to Ellan, the geotechnical team is currently conducting a number of surveys to “determine the engineering parameters of the new foundation and basement planned for the Hope Station.” To help with the project’s success, Ellan also said that Tashme will be spending the winter working on and promoting the project through fundraising. Additionally, the group will continue to work with their heritage architect.
THS officially became the owners of the Station House on Nov.4, 2022. Formerly the property of the District of Hope, the issue of preserving the Station House has been an ongoing battle for many years that reached a head in 2020 when the District indicated their plans to demolish it.
Following their announcement, a dedicated group of Hope’s citizens protested the decision and began to spearhead the movement to “save” the Station House.
At this time, the THS saw the significance of the Station House, due to the history that the Japanese-Canadian community has with it, and offered to work with the District to buy and relocate it.
Now in charge of the Station House’s new future, THS intends to repurpose the building into a “vibrant heritage tourism and community hub,” one that will be shared with all of Hope’s communities and history. This includes the Chinese-Canadian, Japanese-Canadian, Indo-Canadian, and First Nation communities.
“Over the last year, our team has worked extremely hard and has accomplished a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes,” Ellan said. “There is still a lot of work to do, but with the continuing support we are receiving from our project partners and the community, this wonderful project will be successful.”
READ MORE: Tashme Historical Society officially the new owners of the Hope Station House as of Nov.4
@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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