Once upon a time, there was a settlement on the banks of a river. A fort had been established to help police the region. Thus Red Deer was born.

To that small community, farmers and ranchers came. Businesses started to supply the growing population. Early business leaders became civic leaders. A strong religious centre was established.

The Arlington Hotel was built in 1899, and was both starting point and destination for weary travellers. In that timber-framed building, early Red Deer citizens discussed politics, weather, and when visiting dignitaries chanced by, even more significant conversations took place.

Wilfred Laurier may have stepped into the pub during his visit to Red Deer. It has been said that discussions for the location of Alberta’s capital took place at that polished bar. If only the walls could speak.

War came and went. The 1920s saw Red Deer grow and develop into a thriving community and main street expand.

The 1930s saw the depression hit the world, and folks who stopped into the Arlington and businesses long since gone, shared their struggles with each other.

The second World War came, and went. The men came home. Now, stories from two “Great” wars could be told in the same location. Toasts to young men and women, lost during their service mingled with talk of the post war era in Alberta.

Whisperings of an oil find in Leduc drifted through the smoke and laughter as another conflict, and talk of those Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Calgary Stampeders resonated strong.

The strains of Elvis Presley played on the jukebox in the corner in the 1950s with Rock Around the Clock competing for air space. Over the years, if these walls could talk, what stories could be told.

The gabled roof that drew travellers in 1899, hospitality that drew patrons in 1920, a location that attracted workers of all nationalities, vocations, and ages, is still recognizable.

Over the years, those who saw the Arlington, with all its charms, have passed on, and have been passed over. The “new” culture of Red Deer values no more the meeting place where our early families met, and planned the settlement we have become. Even the tall mural that until recently greeted commuters of our history that once travelled on horseback and by wagon has been removed. The pathway to our history has been lost to “progress.”

It is very clear that historical places, whether recognized or not, have no value in the “New” Red Deer. Culture, while recognized by European countries, in Canada is of value only when we can profit by the exhibition and marketing of it.

Echoes of history, as seen in the Livery Stable, have little value when our citizens do not recognize nor appreciate what is being echoed. When a new building takes the place of the Arlington, echoes will not suffice, yet to those who will listen, they will be powerful.

There is no doubt after the rapid transaction to purchase the building and evict the tenants illegally, that there is a not so hidden agenda here. An out of town developer is ready to step in and build as quickly as possible. I would expect that no excavations on the site will be done to determine what has been left behind, or what was there before.

This is a slash and burn transaction, that highlights the real value of our early history to the present administration of Red Deer.

Tim Lasiuta

Red Deer