DIGITAL PRESERVATION OF THE QUON SANG LUNG LAUNDRY BUILDING, FORT MACLEOD, ALBERTA

• Main Authors: P. Dawson, F. Baradaran, A. Jahraus, E. Rubalcava, A. Farrokhi, C. Robinson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2017-08-01
• Series: ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
• Online Access: https://www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/IV-2-W2/53/2017/isprs-annals-IV-2-W2-53-2017.pdf

This paper describes the results of an emergency recording and archiving of a historic structure in Southern Alberta and explores the lessons learned. Digital recording of the Quon Sang Lung Laundry building in Fort Macleod, Alberta, was a joint initiative between Alberta Culture and Tourism and the University of Calgary. The Quon Sang Lung Laundry was a boomtown-style wood structure situated in the Fort Macleod Provincial Historic Area, Alberta. Built in the mid-1800s, the structure was one of the four buildings comprising Fort Macleod’s Chinatown. Its association with Chinese immigration, settlement, and emergence of Chinese-owned businesses in early twentieth-century Alberta, made the Quon Sang Lung Laundry a unique and very significant historic resource. In recent years, a condition assessment of the structure indicated that the building was not safe and that the extent of the instability could lead to a sudden collapse. In response, Alberta Culture and Tourism engaged the Departments of Anthropology and Archaeology and Geomatics Engineering from the University of Calgary, to digitally preserve the laundry building. A complete survey including the laser scanning of all the remaining elements of the original structure, was undertaken. Through digital modeling, the work guarantees that a three-dimensional representation of the building is available for future use. This includes accurate 3D renders of the exterior and interior spaces and a collection of architectural drawings comprising floor plans, sections, and elevations.