MOOSE JAW — Moose Jaw is known for its historic buildings and landmarks, which are over a century old, but there is only one functioning vintage light post that has remained from those early days.
The decorative light pole sits in front of the Moose Jaw Police Service headquarters on Fairford Street West but needs some repair and painting.
According to a report presented during the Nov. 25 regular city council meeting, SaskPower owns the pole and is responsible for maintaining it.
The report noted that while the Crown corporation has no immediate plans to replace or repair this piece of infrastructure, city hall has asked it to inspect the streetlight to determine whether it’s necessary to take action to fix it. Furthermore, the city asked SaskPower whether the light post could be painted by someone either from the city or a third party.
After the report was presented, Coun. Heather Eby — who initially inquired about the streetlight — said this historic light post is the last original one in the City of Moose Jaw. Moreover, it has the city’s logo on the bottom and “could be quite lovely” for a light pole but is in rough shape.
“It’s been on my radar for a long time,” she said.
Eby sits on the public art committee and recalled a conversation that happened where one member discussed camping in northern Saskatchewan and coming across an original City of Moose Jaw light post in the campground.
“So I’m really hoping that through conversations with SaskPower and how that shakes out that, we can keep that light standard in downtown Moose Jaw and restore it … ,” she added. “It’s a great piece of history and it looks really good — it would look really great if it was restored.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Dec. 2.
