The Ripple Effect: Where Are These Next Great Save Participants Now?
The Next Great Save voting competition, spanning seventeen days, gives finalists a chance to share and promote stories about their historic sites to win a grand prize of $50,000. Organized by the National Trust for Canada and sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance, the competition is set to end on April 24, 2026.
Marking the competition’s fourth year, we’re revisiting three past participants to see how far they’ve come. It’s a chance to show how the national spotlight of the competition draws meaningful attention to historic sites, benefiting them in varied ways, whether they take home a prize or not.
St. Andrews Lodge, Qualicum Beach, BC
November 2020 – the aftermath of the protests | Courtesy of St. Andrews Lodge
Everything old is new again!
In November 2020, hundreds of Qualicum Beach residents rallied to save historic St. Andrews Lodge from demolition. The beloved waterfront Lodge and cottages were a cornerstone of the local tourism industry and had been a vacation destination for people from all over the world since 1938. Many families visited year after year, some of them for up to five generations. Additionally, owner Sam Little and his family were widely recognized for their many significant community contributions over the 80-plus years that the Lodge operated. For many residents, turning the Lodge site into a parking lot was not an option, and the protests halted the demolition after five very cold, wet days of demonstrations in November 2020.
Living room prior to restoration | Courtesy of St. Andrews Lodge
After obtaining a five-year lease from the Town of Qualicum Beach on July 1, 2021, the St. Andrews Lodge Historical and Cultural Society (SALHACS) went to work to raise funds for the required major seismic upgrade, restoration of the badly-damaged interior, and provision of wheelchair accessibility. In less than five years the job is complete thanks to thousands of volunteer hours dedicated to fund raising, events and various restoration efforts. On Saturday, July 4 SALHACS will celebrate the grand re-opening of the Lodge – please plan to join us if you are in the area.
Living room after: restored wainscoting and plate rails, refinished floors | Courtesy of St. Andrews Lodge
Although SALHACS was not successful in its bid for a Next Great Save prize in 2024 the inclusion in the competition and help from Launch Pad had huge impact on our visibility and our success overall.
Tam Kung Temple, Victoria, BC
The interior of the Tam Kung Temple | Courtesy of Parks Canada / Christian Lieb
This is a rare example of a Chinese temple in Canada originating in the 1860s and is now the last remaining active temple in Victoria’s historic Chinatown. The Yen Wo Society, run by dedicated volunteers and a membership of 60 people, sought to gain funds for building a new welcome and visitor centre, making it easier to share the temple’s story. In the 2025 Next Great Save competition, they won $10,000 as second-place finishers, using those funds to open a reception centre and to make repairs to the 150-year-old building. The impact, however, goes beyond that alone. The win has also helped the Society grow its volunteer base and expand its tour offerings.
“The momentum from Next Great Save 2025 helped us officially open our new Interpretation Centre. With a generous and expanding team of multi-lingual volunteers, we’re now able to share our heritage with school and visiting groups all year long,” says Gayle Nye, Tam Kung Temple Volunteer Coordinator.
The competition win, though modest, helped make that growth possible, showing the ripple effects the Next Great Save creates.
Hope Station, Hope, BC
The relocation of Hope Station on February 16, 2024. | Photograph by Barry Stewart.
A competitor in the very first Next Great Save competition back in 2023, the 1916 relic Hope Station was a train station on the brink of demolition. Then, in 2020, as part of a grassroot community campaign to relocate it, a lesser-known historical fact was revealed—that 8000 Japanese Canadians crossed the station to get to the internment camps in BC, including the Tashme Internment Camp. In response, the Tashme Historical Society, alongside the District of Hope, set out to transform the station into a storytelling hub.
In 2024, they succeeded, moving the station into 919 Water Ave. in Hope, where it will act as a visitor centre and community hub in Hope.
The society hasn’t slowed down since. The Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum continues to grow, now including a Research & Archive Centre, a multipurpose building and garden area, with ongoing improvements and renovations for the future.
