Duncan Train Station receives most votes for national restoration fund contest

Troops depart from the Duncan train station during the First World War. (Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives)

A more than a century-old train station on Vancouver Island has won a national contest to receive funding to restore the heritage site.

The Duncan Train Station in Duncan, B.C., was a top 10 finalist in the "Next Great Save" contest, where the winner with the most votes receives $50,000 to carry out restoration work.

When polls closed Wednesday at 11 a.m. for the National Trust of Canada contest, Vancouver Island’s only entry had collected 76,322 votes of support.

The Cowichan Valley Historical Society that manages and entered the site in the competition says it expects the winner to be announced by the national trust on Thursday.

"Everything’s lined up," said Shelia Kitson, vice president of the Cowichan Historical Society.

Kitson says while the project received the most votes, the official winner was not announced when the voting period closed Wednesday.

"All we need is… to know that we are the winners, but I don’t want to jinx it," she said.

HISTORICAL SITE

Built in 1912, the train station was originally proposed to be farther north on the island but the community at the time rallied to keep it in Duncan. Some 111 years later, it still stands in the same location.

"It’s very unique," said Keith Price, a director with the Cowichan Historical Society.

"There are some others in Canada that are being saved or [are] in the process, but they have been moved from their original location," he said.

The Duncan train station is pictured in the 1950s. (Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives)The Duncan train station is shown. (CTV News)The "Next Great Save" contest was created to support heritage buildings in Canada by reducing their carbon footprint.

 

The Cowichan Valley Historical Society says if it wins, it’ll use the funds to make the building more energy efficient. The station also houses the Cowichan Valley Museum and Archives.

The building's heating system desperately needs to be replaced with energy efficient electric heat pumps. By doing so, the society says it would reduce its carbon credits by 24 per cent and heating costs by 70 per cent. In the winter months, its hydro bill is more than $900 per month.

The society would also like to increase the building’s insulation and replace the windows with custom ones that are more energy efficient and also meet historical standards.

Other renovations like replacing shingles, gutters and fascia boards as well as repainting the original chimneys, repainting the exterior and fixing drainage issues all need to be addressed as well.

The society has plans to restore the whole building over the next 10 to 15 years at an estimated cost of $300,000. That price estimate was done prior to the pandemic, however, and the society figures that cost has increased.

The society hopes that those who voted for the station to win will donate to the restoration project as well. 

With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Andrew Garland