Lumber Stolen From Beaver River Trestle Rebuild Project

On July 21st, 2015 lumber was stolen from the Cold Lake Staging Area, which is located on Highway 28, behind McDonald’s in Cold Lake. The lumber was destined for the Beaver River trestle rebuild project.

The trestle, which was victim of arson in June of 2012, is in the initial stages of rebuilding. “Johnson Construction is on site now,” confirms Marianne Price, administrative coordinator for The Iron Horse Trail. The trestle, which is an important  piece to The Iron Horse Trail, connects the trail to Cold Lake, as well as the Trans-Canada Trail into Saskatchewan.

Price says she was made aware of the theft by some concerned citizens, “I received a phone call from someone living in Cold Lake, who told me they had driven by the staging area and it looked like one of the bands that holds the lumber together had been cut and lumber was stolen from it.” Price says since she does not live in the area she called the police, “the police went on site and confirmed there was missing lumber.”

“Johnson Construction is working every single day,” Price says in regards to the rebuild, “they have actually taken the lumber and moved it out to the site.” The site will have better security to insure there won’t be more thefts. Along with the construction crew on site everyday, there is only one road in with a locked gate on site.

Despite the setback the project, which is short funds will go ahead, “we are short funds,” says Price. “We’re still trying to figure out how we can raise the shortfall,” Price adds. There aren’t plans in the works for a fundraising event. The group received $220 000 in grant funding from The National Trail Foundation earlier in the year, however the project is estimated to cost $1.6 million.