“Crane Valley used to be a thriving place and then the people just went away,” Chuck Wohlers explained, as he briefly described the history of the small community of eight people along Highway 36. The hamlet had once been an important hub with shops and businesses. Crane Valley also had a K-12 school, but the hamlet’s educational facility closed in 2007.
Wohlers from Willow Bunch recently decided to buy Crane Valley’s school and use the building to help revive the hamlet situated along the picturesque Highway 36 running through rolling hills and rangelands stretching from the RM of Balidon near Moose Jaw and crawling south to the RM of Hart Butte. “I purchased it in the summer. We want to restore Crane Valley,” Wohlers said, as he talked about future possibilities for the hamlet’s derelict school.
The former civil engineer in Alberta and Saskatchewan had purchased two quarter sections in the Crane Valley area in 2006. He recently decided to acquire the school along with four acres of land from a non-profit organization. He has planned to use some of his hay land property in the Crane Valley area to help finance the school’s restoration. “We’re going to get some revenue from the hay land,” Wohlers said.
According to Wohlers, the school has remained structurally sound. “The steel beams are good; the wood is good.” However, he also said the school’s flat tar roof needed to be repaired, because of leaking water. Moreover, the property still has about $15,000 in back taxes that needed to be addressed.
Wohlers has searched for ideas from the community for the school’s reconversion. “We have about 10 different proposals,” he said. So far, Wohlers has received some interesting and varied suggestions, such as installing a government-regulated cannabis operation inside the unused facility. Another recommendation involved the transformation of the school into an indoor riding area. Or, the school could become a farmer’s market, where the Hutterites from the Rose Valley Colony and other local producers could retail their goods in the school at least one day a week. Still, another idea involved the conversion of the school into a wading pool complete with a lifeguard. If a reader has any other ideas about what could be done with Crane Valley’s school, Wohlers would like people to send their thoughts to him in writing to Chuck Wohlers, Box 22, Crane Valley, S0H 1B0.
