Dwayne, left, and Jennifer Voth stand outside Meadow Lake's former City Hall, which the couple has purchased to renovate and repurpose. (Abundant Living and The Hippie Hub/Facebook)

By Kenneth Cheung

A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS

‘A dream come true’: Meadow Lake health food store set to bring new life to historic City Hall

Sep 12, 2025 | 3:54 PM

Jennifer Voth remembers the moment the idea first sparked.

Sitting outside the post office in February, she looked across the street at Meadow Lake’s former City Hall — a landmark that has stood since 1938 — and wondered what would become of it.

“My husband ran in to get the mail and I was looking at the building and admiring it,” she recalled.

“Of course, it’s been an important building in our city for as long as, you know, for forever, as long as anyone can remember.”

That quiet thought turned into a whirlwind of conversations, sketches and late-night planning sessions. Within weeks, Jennifer and her husband Dwayne — through his company, Voth’s Contracting Ltd. — had started dreaming about restoring the building.

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For Jennifer, it was easy to imagine her health food store, Abundant Living and The Hippie Hub, inside the old brick walls.

“I love old buildings. I love watching the shows where they renovate old buildings and make them beautiful again,” she said.

“I love antiques and restoring things and just seeing potential in something that somebody might have gotten rid of.”

City council approved the family’s proposal on Sept. 8, selling them the heritage-designated property.

The plan is to renovate in phases: the main floor will house the business, while the basement and upper floors will be converted into rental spaces.

“Our goal is to open the store next September,” Jennifer said. “Hopefully have those other spaces done in 18 months from now.”

Some of the products the store carries. (Abundant Living and The Hippie Hub/Facebook)

The timing feels right. She admits she had already felt her business on Main Street outgrowing its current space, rearranging shelves again and again just to make room for customers and products.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth over the last year or so,” she said. “There’s not a lot of options to choose from in Meadow Lake. So then when this hit me, it just seemed like the perfect fit for my store.”

For her, though, this move is about more than square footage; it’s about shaping a gathering place.

“I want it to be a place where everybody feels welcome and feels peace and joy and love when they walk in,” she said.

“To have this opportunity to take a historic building and make it beautiful again and make it a place where people can gather and have a sense of community … it’s just gonna be a dream come true.”

She’s begun documenting the journey online through a page called Heritage Redeemed, which already has close to 200 followers.

The outpouring of encouragement has only deepened her excitement.

“Everybody’s been so encouraging and everyone’s so excited that this building’s going to be saved and that somebody’s going to value it.”

For a building that once served as a post office, police detachment, library, and the seat of local government, Jennifer hopes its next life will feel just as vital — a place where health, history and community all meet under one roof.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com