Newell County steps in to save shuttered Crop Diversification Centre
CBC
When the Crop Diversification Centre closed in 2019, “it hit hard,” says Candace Woods.
She had spent four years examining how to better grow beans, chickpeas and lentils at the sprawling complex of labs and greenhouses near Brooks, Alta.
Then, she watched her colleagues pack up and move elsewhere for new opportunities.
But Woods stayed, found work locally, and is now co-ordinating the County of Newell’s plan to reinvigorate what was once a hub of horticulture, tree and crop research in the middle of prairie grassland.
“We’re pretty proud that we were able to bring this building back to life,” said Woods, while walking through one of the CDC’s 30 buildings located at the Brooks city limits.
“It feels like a full-circle moment.”
Four offices now rented to producer groups open up on an atrium featuring a huge fig tree centred among lush green coffee shrubs and varieties of cacti.
The Griffiths office building was slated for demolition, but saved after the County of Newell moved to take over the property. It signed a 10-year lease last spring in a deal with the province, secured grants, began renovating and looking for tenants.
The hope is to attract industry associations, academics, small producers with research needs and agrifood companies, creating a new campus for private and public sector researchers.
At its height, the CDC had 40 permanent full-time positions, with up to 100 in the summer — well-paying, white collar jobs in an area that relies heavily on primary agriculture, oilfield services and a major beef processing plant.
For decades, the facility housed research and developed hardy strains of fruit, vegetables, grain and pulse crops suited for Alberta’s climate or requiring less water in the parched regions of the province. A tree nursery produced the “Brooks poplar”; and the orchard, several new types of apples.
The CDC was too important to lose, says county Reeve Arno Doerksen.
The ranch owner says area ratepayers support agriculture development and, in general, hate to see waste or opportunity lost.
“It’s leased and serving its purpose,” said Doerksen. “It’s a fairly significant employment initiative. We think there’s potential for more.”
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