An historic building in Cranbrook will soon be just a memory — though a very long memory for Cranbrook and an equally historic Cranbrook family.

Reekie’s Machine Shop, located at Van Horne and Second Street North, is being shut down, cleaned out, and the building will soon be torn down. The building originally housed the Cranbrook foundry, which started operations in 1904.

Current owner Alan Reekie said he’d been told at one point, in the building’s beginning, hay had been kept in it and horses were kept in the building next to it.

The building has remained unchanged for the most part since the 1950s. The wood floor is the building’s original floor and quite possibly the newest addition is a metal pole Alan added to ensure the building remained upright.

Alan started as an apprentice in the machine shop in 1970 and bought his father, Dave Reekie, out in 1980. When he was 14 he was given a broom to clean the shop, so really Alan worked at Reekie’s Machine Shop for 46 years.

“My dad taught me to treat people well, charge them a fair price and to back my work and it worked well for all my years here,” Alan said.

Alan said the machine shop did lots of work for portable sawmills, with some work with the mines. They did basic machining work, mostly general, small repairs. Alan said he especially liked going to the local bakeries to work on their machines.

The building and business have a long history in the community.

The Reekie connection to the business can be dated back to at least 1915 — when James Reekie joined what was then the Cranbrook Foundry as an apprentice. James took over operations of the foundry in 1932 and in 1936, the firm was incorporated as the Cranbrook Foundry Company Limited — serving as a foundry and machine shop — with the management and operation handled by C. Eric MacKinnon and James.

Subsequent history of the business can be found in Cranbrook and District Key City Chronicles, which says:

“James Reekie passed away at the age of 51 years October 24, 1950. Eric MacKinnon continued to run the foundry with Dave Reekie as foreman of the machine shop, and Archie Reekie was foreman of the foundry.

Dave Reekie left the Cranbrook foundry in 1952 and went to work for Shaw’s Blacksmith and Welding. Mr. Alfred Clark was leading hand in the machine shop and Tony Ammaturo was in charge of the foundry section in 1956-57.”

An article in the Cranbrook Courier, December 1964, reports the business became Reekie’s Machine Shop in 1954.

“Tony worked in the foundry for 19 years. His job involved the melting of cast iron, aluminium or brass and pouring it into a mould. The furnace that melts the metal reaches 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes four or five men to pour a mould, and it’s hard work. On a hot day, the temperature reached 125 degrees.

The principals in the company were: Eric MacKinnon, President; Mrs. Agnes Reekie, Secretary Treasurer; Archie Reekie, Assistant Manager. Other members of the board were Mrs. Ivy MacKinnon and sons Archie and Paul.

The Cranbrook Foundry was closed on August 5, 1976, after 71 years of operation.”

And now, the machine shop section of the business will be no more, 34 years later.

Although Alan is retiring, he said he plans on being very busy.

“I’m going to do lots of fishing, hunting and golfing,” he said. “This shop owes me lots of time off.”