The view from the top
Long-time hoist operator remembers looking out from the headframe
| Before destruction of the Robertson Headframe, the paper is profiling Yellowknifers and their relationships to the structure. If you have a story e-mail newsdesk@nnsl.com or call 867-766-8295. |
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The view from the top of the Robertson Headframe is the one thing Norah Higden, a hoist operator for 23 years at Con Mine, says she'll never forget.
Norah Higden was a hoist operator who worked at the very top of the Robertson Headrame, for 23 years. With windows on three sides, she said the view is something everyone in
Yellowknife should see. - Elaine Anselmi/NNSL photo |
"You can see everything; all of
Yellowknife, Back Bay, Yellowknife
Bay, a good portion of Great Slave Lake,
you can see Dettah, the North Arm
and it's a different view as you're going
through the seasons Ð the beautiful fall
colours," she said.
"The sunrises in the morning when
I came on shift and the sunsets in the
evening were just phenomenal."
Having worked the graveyard shift
for a number of years, she said even the
Northern lights become more spectacular
from the unrivaled vantage point.
With the structure slated for demolition,
not only tourists but many Yellowknifers
could miss out on the chance
to see the view of the city that she was
privy to for more than two decades.
"The Robertson Headframe is a wellbuilt
steel building that should not be
brought down," said Higden, who has
been a vocal opponent of the demolition
along with fellow members of the NWT
Mining Heritage Society.
"It's just a crying shame to bring
down a really good building. It could
be used, if not now, then sometime in
the future so tourists could enjoy what
I saw for 23 years."
Higden, along with the rest of the
staff at Con Mine, was laid off in November
2003. For her, the issue of the
headframe coming down is a personal
one.
"I try not to be emotional about it
but it was part of my life. When I got
laid off I was 46, I was up there in that
headframe exactly half of my life at that
point," she said. "Half of my life I was up
there, so yeah, there were a lot of good
memories up there."
Although a contractor has been
tasked with taking the headframe down,
Higden remains hopeful that the structure
will be saved.
And if offered the
chance to climb those stairs, or preferably
take the elevator, to the top of
the headframe again, Higden says she'd
jump at the opportunity.
"Definitely, I'd go up there," she said.
"I'll go up and celebrate it being saved."
