Ecclesiastical Insurance has announced the winners of a contest to decide which of Canada’s heritage sites wins a cash prize to be used for restoration and maintenance.
The insurer partnered with National Trust for Canada to sponsor the latter’s “Next Great Save” (NGS) contest. The competition celebrates the many different ways adapting and reusing historic properties can improve the country and its communities.
Among the ten finalists selected in the contest, three winners were selected:
The first prize goes to The Duncan Train Station in Duncan, BC. With a cash prize of $50,000 from Ecclesiastical, the former station and home to the Cowichan Valley Museum will undergo a green retrofit to allow for energy use savings and a 74% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Second prize goes to La Vieille Maison in Meteghan, NS. Winning a $10,000 cash prize from National Trust, the post-exile Acadian home from the late 1700s will reopen as a diverse cultural hub after being closed for two decades.
And the third prize goes to The Hope Train Station in Hope, BC. Awarded a $5,000 cash prize from National Trust, the station will be rebuilt as a cultural and tourism hub that tells the unknown diverse stories of the region.
The remaining heritage sites that made it to the finals of the competition include:
“Congratulations to the Duncan Train Station and all the heritage organizations that participated in this competition,” said Ecclesiastical president David Huebel. “This truly was a great initiative launched by National Trust, raising awareness of a number of heritage properties across Canada that need preserving.”
Huebel also said that Ecclesiastical was “very impressed” that Canadians voted over 200,000 times to support their local communities.
“Being leaders in insuring heritage properties we understand just how important it is to ensure these special properties are protected - and we celebrate everyone who is helping to achieve this,” the president said.
Voting for the NGS contest opened in late January and closed on February 22, 2023.
