More than a building was lost when The Salvation Army burned down on Christmas Day.
The legacy photos from The Salvation Army’s Plates of Hope were on the walls of the Central Avenue building.
The original event featured the work of local photographer Shannon Parenteau who captured portraits of about 50 individuals who use the bagged lunch program provided by the Prince Albert Salvation Army six days a week. Those photos were on the wall in the Salvation Army dining area when the building got fire.
Parenteau said she hoped for the best when first hearing about the fire, but quickly realized it was much worse than she feared.
“First thought was ‘maybe it’s a small fire that would be put out’ kind of thing. I didn’t think (it would be) a total loss. I didn’t think it was that type of fire until I started going on social media and saw heart-wrenching videos,” Parenteau said.
“So yeah, I guess devastation would have been my very first thought, the word that came to mind.”
In November, Major Ed Dean of the Salvation Army said he was inspired to create a tribute wall once Parenteau told him the pictures were his to keep.
She said that the opportunity to take the photos was still something special to her.
“It would have been two years ago now when I started going there for this project that we worked on so hard. I got to know some of the people, (and) got to meet them,” she said.
During the photo project, Parenteau came to the space once a week during mealtime to get to know the people. She didn’t start taking photos until her third visit.
She said that on Tuesday she was volunteering at the PAGC Urban Services to help feed people one man came up and asked to take her photo this time.
“He said, ‘can I take your photo this time?’ And I just laughed. I’m like, ‘oh my gosh,’ I remember who he was, but I didn’t realize I met him a year and a half ago and he remembered me. That kind of like touched my heart knowing, I guess I was remembered,” Parenteau said
“It did mean a lot to me that place, the people. It was more than just taking photos and planning a fundraiser for the place,” she said.
Plates of Hope raised $65,0000, which Dean said did not come in one large sum but came in several smaller disbursements. Parenteau said that she was hoping to raise $20,000.
The second Plates of Hope was supposed to happen in the Salvation Army on Feb. 27, plans for it to continue are currently not known for certain.
Parenteau said that because of technology the photos that were on the wall still exist.
“Obviously my last worry was the photos,” she explained. “We’re so lucky. We live in a world now where things can be backed up and I back up things a lot and so those images are somewhere in the universe, in a memory (card) that can be printed again.”
Before the fire, Parenteau said visitors would often take videos or photos of the wall and send them to her.
She said it made her happy to know the wall was appreciated. She’s still sad thinking about what was lost.
“When you walk in, it’s such a feature, it’s such a happy thing,” she said. “I literally just had this imagery of like each one, one by one, slowly catching a flame. I think it almost was just like each person one by one; it’s like washing away and I just had this awful image in my head of them.”
Parenteau said that the photos themselves represented the people who used the building for meals.
“That building was for most of these people who knew they could go there every single day, whether it was for a meal, a connection, and they, most of them had their picture up right there,” Parenteau said.
The photos on the Wall of Hope were like photos on the wall in people’s houses, Parenteau said.
She said that she still has not talked to Major Ed but did message him on Christmas Day when he was already getting many messages. When she volunteered on Tuesday she did get to talk to Major Charlotte Dean, Major Ed’s wife and has talked to her several times.
“He he’s obviously very overwhelmed by the generosity of people, but also about what happened. I haven’t spoken to him personally yet. Even thinking about it just kind of makes me sad,” Parenteau said.
Parenteau said that she had an eerie feeling with the fire happening on Christmas and remembered how just over a month before in November, 2025 she and Major Ed had done an interview about the Wall of Hope with the Daily Herald.
“We were talking about the Wall of Hope and how much has been done in a year since we did our fundraiser Plates of Hope almost a year ago to the day which almost is also so eerie like it all the timing of it all just really sits with me funny,” Parenteau said.
She said that she is not worried about the photos being lost overall.
“I know those photos will be replaced. I’ve already had someone reach out to me saying they can help me maybe apply for a grant to the Arts Board to maybe get some money to get them reprinted for whenever,” she explained.
“I want to make an even greater wall to replace the one that that we’ve lost and I have no doubt in my mind that whether community donations, grants, something is going to help me be able to create this wall again. We will get it back.”
Parenteau also said she was glad no one was hurt in the fire on Christmas Day.
“It’s sad. It’s heart wrenching, but there will be another (Wall of Hope),” she said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
