Heartland filming to resume at High River centrepiece
Maggie's Diner, which acts as meeting place for Heartland characters, was destroyed in June's flood
Filming is set to resume next week at Maggie's Diner, a centrepiece in CBC Television's Heartland, nearly five months after floodwaters destroyed the High River building.
While the show takes place in the fictitious town of Hudson, it's actually filmed in High River and when the flood hit, the show's production team had to scramble to stay on schedule — and on budget.
"Half the window was covered with water and cars were floating outside our location," said Lorenz Augustin, Heartland's line producer.
The crew and writers had to make quick changes, and ended up moving filming to Inglewood, an historic neighbourhood in downtown Calgary that the show's producers say made a suitable double for Hudson/High River.
After months of repairs, Maggie's Diner is now open again. Cast and crew will start shooting there on Tuesday.
Although flood recovery is nowhere near complete in High River, the small step towards normalcy is something the show's cast and crew say they are eager to take part in.
"We are really looking forward to being able to put the pieces back together for Maggie's and get back there as soon as we can," said Amber Marshall, who plays the show's lead character, Amy Fleming.
"That's where we belong."