Latest news with #ManitobaHistoricalSociety
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Dalnavert shines during Doors Open Winnipeg
West End I really enjoyed touring Dalnavert House during Doors Open Winnipeg. There were many interesting and historic locales welcoming visitors during Heritage Winnipeg's annual weekend event (held May 24 and 25) but Dalnavert House didn't disappoint. The museum, which includes an attached visitor centre, is nestled downtown at 61 Carlton St. The grounds are verdant and the garden is blooming. The gothic-looking Victorian mansion was built for Hugh John MacDonald, the son of Sir John A Macdonald, and his family in 1895. (At that time many well-to-do Winnipeggers lived just south of Broadway.) Volunteers in period costume imparted interesting facts and anecdotes about life in the house from the moment my group stepped onto the faithfully restored veranda. Photo by Anne Hawe The coal stove in the kitchen at Dalnavert is one reminder of how different life was more than a century ago. Hugh John was a notable Manitoban. A lawyer and politician, he was premier of the province for a very short time before becoming Winnipeg's magistrate. Although he took a hard line against strikers during the Winnipeg general strike in 1919, he was also known to let women and children sleep in the basement instead of being sent to Vaughan Street jail for stealing. History is complicated and the museum doesn't sugarcoat it. The jewel-toned carpet and wallpaper, the narrow hallways, and the beautifully appointed rooms on the first floor were atmospheric. The icebox and the cumbersome coal-burning stove in the kitchen illuminated how hard the cook and the maid would have worked to put food on the table — all with only half a day off, on Sundays. The white doorknobs in the kitchen? They were there to ensure the help washed their hands in case typhoid, influenza or Spanish flu lurked. After Hugh John died in 1929, his wife, Agnes, couldn't afford the upkeep. The house sat empty before being converted into a rooming house. The Manitoba Historical Society bought it from a developer then spent several years painstakingly renovating it before opening it as a museum in 1974. The doors closed in 2013 but the newly formed Friends of Dalnavert Museum non-profit re-opened it in 2015. The vibrant and community-minded organization brings history to life at the museum. lists Victorian themed workshops and events coming up this month. There is everything from a flower pressing workshop to watercolour painting in the garden while sipping mimosas to a foodie tour featuring Victorian snacks. Mondays A weekly look at news and events that matter in your communities. Perennially popular tours listed include Dalnavert on Drugs which explores Victorian drug culture, and Behind the Ropes which offers a closer look at Dalnavert's many rooms. Only the visitors centre and the first floor are accessible so there is a virtual tour of the house on the site. And admission is always free on the second Saturday of every month with family-friendly activities included. Anne HaweWest End community correspondent Anne Hawe is a community correspondent for the West End. She can be reached at annie_hawe@ Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Municipal board upholds City of Winnipeg decision rejecting Lemay Forest plan
A provincial board has upheld a City of Winnipeg decision rejecting plans to build an assisted-living facility on a piece of hotly disputed land known as the Lemay Forest. Tochal Development Group had proposed building a 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit facility on 18 hectares of forested land along the Red River in St. Norbert. People living nearby, along with Indigenous groups and environmentalists have opposed the project, leading protesters to temporarily block access to crews coming to clear trees, and charges against some of the demonstrators. In September, council rejected the plans, arguing the proposed facility was too big for the site. The owner appealed the decision to the Manitoba Municipal Board, a provincial body with the authority to overturn city land-use decisions. Hearings began in February, and the board released its decision on Wednesday, rejecting the appeal and allowing the city's decision to stand. "In the board's opinion, the proposed development, at nearly three times the total population of St. Norbert, is not contextually suitable or the area," the board wrote in its decision. It noted that a smaller development of no more than 800 units would have been acceptable, but it lacked the authority to order the reduction. "Not only did neither of the parties propose a pathway for the board to approve the development application at a reduced density, but the parties were also clear in their respective positions that the development application be considered by the board at full density," the decision stated. The board recommends the developer resubmit plans for a smaller project. On Monday, the same day work crews returned to the site to resume cutting down trees, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced the province would expropriate the land to turn it into a provincial park. Opponents of the project have argued it would destroy a sensitive natural area popular with nearby residents as a place to enjoy greenspace. The forest is also the site of a historical cemetery site belonging to a former orphanage. Research by the Manitoba Historical Society has found at least 3,383 children died at the facility.
CBC
27-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Winnipeg judge finds Lemay Forest protester in contempt of injunction
Social Sharing A member of a group fighting to preserve the Lemay Forest in Winnipeg has been found in civil contempt of court for breaching an injunction, after she impeded a developer's access to the property with her body last month. Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Sarah Inness on Wednesday found protester Louise May — part of the Coalition to Save the Lemay Forest, a group opposed to the development of a forested area in the St. Norbert area — in contempt of the injunction for her actions at the site on Jan. 8. Inness granted an injunction on Dec. 30 that was extended Jan. 6, forbidding the group from blocking access to the roughly 18 hectares of private forest land owned by Tochal Development Group south of the Perimeter Highway, where trees were being cleared. Court heard May stood in the path of travel on adjacent city land, blocking access to the property when the developer's professional planner, John Wintrup, arrived. Despite repeated requests, she refused to move to allow a large tandem truck towing a Bobcat on a flatbed trailer through. At the time, May was in a group of about a dozen people, including members of the media, a written decision Inness read in court said. The judge said May's actions displayed "a deliberate and intentional breach of the court order, notwithstanding her assertions otherwise." "She did so to gain public attention and support. The fact that her purpose to prevent tree cutting may be laudable, or ultimately vindicated, is irrelevant," Inness said in court in Winnipeg. "To grant leniency in the circumstances of this case would send the erroneous message to the public that the means justify the ends. Court orders must be taken seriously in a civilized society if the rule of law is to be maintained." Sentencing will be set at a later date. Controversy around proposed development In September, city council rejected a plan to build a 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit assisted living facility, which city planners said was too big for the site. The developer has appealed the city's decision with the Manitoba Municipal Board. Inness's decision said the controversy surrounding the proposed development of the property has garnered significant attention — including from those concerned about the loss of the site for public enjoyment, the environmental impact of tree cutting and the potential interference with human remains belonging to Métis children who may be buried on the property. Tracey Turner, the executive director of the Manitoba Historical Society, previously said the grounds house a cemetery site belonging to the Aisle Ritchot orphanage, which operated from 1904 to 1948. Records indicate the institution, which also operated as a home for unmarried mothers, had a mortality rate close to 60 per cent, and between 1,200 and 2,300 children died in the building, according to the Manitoba Historical Society. Turner said most of them were buried in common and unmarked graves in Lemay Forest. Wintrup previously said the developer has also completed four archaeological studies to survey the site and identified unmarked graves over more than a year and a half. A buffer zone of 100 metres was then established on the property, with the intent of not doing any tree clearing on the site of the cemetery. May previously filed a private prosecution against Tochal over alleged breaches to the Manitoba Cementeries Act, which says anyone who willfully "destroys, cuts, breaks, or injures any tree, shrub, or plant in a cemetery" can be fined. Inness dismissed an allegation by the developer that May began that court action to intimidate and threaten it into stopping cutting trees, saying she should have a right to pursue a private prosecution if there's a basis to do so.
