Survey, Inventory, and Registry

There are three levels of lists that document Lacombe’s historic places.

2010 Municipal Heritage Survey

The 2010 Municipal Heritage Survey provided a baseline of the investigation of historic places within the City of Lacombe and presents the collected information in several levels of significance.

At the base level is a spreadsheet of all buildings 50+ years old in 2010 which lists name, site type, address, and supplemental location information. Two further lists, one of 40-49 year old buildings and the other outlining demolished sites, were collated as basic lists of addresses. 255 sites were included in the survey while an additional 152 sites previously noted on a 1980 survey were found to be demolished.

From this lowest level survey a Places of Interest List (POIL) was created. This comprehensive list of 109 places was created through community feedback and research of the most significant heritage resources in the community. Lacombe is fortunate to have a robustly researched and published POIL as often this level of work is not available in a public document.

2012 Municipal Heritage Inventory

The Inventory further explores the history and heritage value of 55 sites from the POIL. This was done in cooperation with each site’s owner as participation was voluntary. 

The Inventory represents some of the most significant historic sites in Lacombe, and each was documented through a Statement of Significance (SoS). The SOS is an official document for recording the heritage value of a site for inclusion on the Canadian Register of Historic Places and Alberta Register of Historic Places in addition to Lacombe’s Inventory. Each SOS contains:

  • A Statement of Integrity
  • A brief description of the historic place
  • An identification of the key heritage values assigned to the historic place based on the Thematic Framework for the City of Lacombe, and
  • A list of associated Character Defining Elements – the principal materials or elements that can be attributed to the value(s) of the resource.

Updates to the Survey and Inventory

While the Heritage Management Plan recommends that the survey and inventory be updated annually, it was found this was practically inefficient. Updates to the Survey and Inventory are currently underway in 2022 for the first time since 2012.

Currently there is no formal process in place for individual site owners to add a property or other type of site to the Inventory. Sites on the POIL, however, can have a SoS developed on a case by case basis if none currently exists. Interested owners should contact the HRC directly.

Heritage Registry

The Registry is a list of sites that have been designated as Municipal Historic Resources. This is the highest level of recognition and protection granted by the City of Lacombe and enables sites to be eligible for restoration and rehabilitation grants. The designation process is outlined in Designating and Restoring a Historic Resource, and currently designated buildings can be explored in the Map of Sites.