Old Strathcona Foundation

After the Edmonton Historical Board identified the unique historical character of the former city of Strathcona in 1966, a business and community group named the Strathcona Village Committee was formed to promote the redevelopment of the area as a historical village. The committee, which was briefly known as the Strathcona Historical Group in 1972, was eventually named the Old Strathcona Foundation on November 6, 1974.

The Old Strathcona Foundation’s mandate was to preserve and coordinate the restoration of the historical assets of the community. An agreement between the Foundation, Heritage Canada, and the City of Edmonton in 1976 established a program of heritage preservation and renewal in the area that included the restoration and repurposing of a number of area buildings, most notably the Dominion Hotel, Ritchie Mill, and Princess Theatre, as well as streetscape improvements. Cooperation with other groups operating in the area, such as the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival and CKUA Radio, led to successful fundraising activities such as the Canada Day Silly Summer and Christmas Parades.

The Old Strathcona Foundation also published its own newsletter and a periodical focused on longer articles in the form of the Strathcona Plaindealer. Articles that appeared in the Strathcona Plaindealer were written by members of the Foundation staff and were also submitted by members of the wider community, including local historians and long-time residents of Strathcona that had memories from before the community’s amalgamation with Edmonton in 1912.

Dwindling membership led to the Foundation eventually becoming inactive. Before the Foundation became completely inactive, two members gathered together the remaining records left in the offices and then donated them to the City of Edmonton Archives. Although the Foundation never formally dissolved, they ceased operation in 2016 after their records were donated to the Archives.