Our Camrose, Our History: Heritage Survey and Inventory

In July 1908, the Camrose Agricultural Society was founded and hosted the Town’s first fair at the site of the current Rudy Swanson Recreation Park. For the next thirty years, the site was home to a yearly agricultural fair which showcased livestock, new technology, equipment, and production. However, when the Second World War began, the fairgrounds were adapted for a different use – an army, naval, and air force training base!

In 1940, the Camrose fairgrounds and the adjacent Normal School building were selected to become an army base. Approximately 10 H-shaped huts were built to accommodate trainees along with buildings for a mess quarters, medical services, and storage. Thousands of Canadian boys and men received their basic training at Canadian Army Training Centre No. 131 in Camrose with the community providing warm welcomes and entertainment for the trainees. After the war, the Camrose Agricultural Society was reinstated and began using the site again. In 1967, a recreational complex was added to the site.

This site is significant to the history of Camrose for both its connections to the tradition of farming and the Camrose Agricultural Society and its connection to Camrose’s contribution to the war effort during the Second World War.

Alberta’s Historical Resources Act allows the council of a municipality to designate properties as Historic Resources within the municipality, after notifying the property owner, when preservation is considered to be in the public interest. Similarly, if preservation of the historical character of any part of the municipality is in the public interest, the council may designate part of the municipality as a Municipal Historic Area.

A Municipal Historic Area has a distinct sense of time and place created by a collection heritage resources and/or landscape or streetscape elements. The heritage value of these areas is connected in part to their concentration of multiple resources that share a physical, contextual, or historical link. Municipal Historic Areas may include historic downtowns or residential neighbourhoods, collections of buildings or structures associated with a particular industry, institution or group of people, and landscapes spanning multiple properties that may include elements like parks, gardens, and trails.

Designating a Municipal Historic Area allows the municipality to preserve the unique historic character of an area for future generations by guiding the use and development of land and the demolition, removal, construction, or reconstruction of buildings within the designated area.

Thanks for your feedback! This survey is now closed.

The City of Camrose and Stantec are inviting residents of Camrose to take part in an important Heritage Survey to help update the 2011 Heritage Survey and Inventory. The information gathered will help guide how we identify, celebrate, and protect our community’s unique history.

Camrose’s heritage buildings, stories, and landmarks play a key role in defining the character of our city — and your input will shape how we preserve and promote these important assets for future generations.

Your feedback will help the City better understand what places and stories matter most to residents. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and will be open until November 27.