Campaign begins to pay for Dome Building restoration

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This article was published 30/03/2011 (5670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As construction crews continue to repair and restore Brandon’s historic Display Building No. 2, the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba kicked off its $2-million capital Restoring the Glory campaign on Tuesday afternoon to finish the job.

Cando Contracting president Gord Peters and his wife Diane Peters, both Westman residents with strong agricultural backgrounds, have agreed to co-chair the campaign to help save the structure, also known as the city’s Dome Building.

"This building, and the job the Provincial Ex has done over many many years in profiling agriculture in our community, and the value of it — we think that’s very important," Gord Peters said. "That’s why we’re proud to step up and co-chair this fundraising effort."

"We have to maintain some history for future generations," Diane Peters added. "In Brandon, we have to be careful or there won’t be anything of our history left. That’s what’s important. And the building is beautiful. It’s not like we’re saving some square box. It’s a beautiful building, and architecturally interesting. All the more reason to be supporting it."

Phase One of the $7.1-million project — including drainage work, engineering and architectural studies, roof repair and replacement, and the construction of sewer and water in the building — is nearing completion.

The Peters plan to raise $2 million from private-sector funding, with the balance coming from various heritage grants and sources from the provincial and federal governments.

The husband-and-wife team said $1 million has already been raised through federal and provincial grant money for Phase One, and work began on the building in 2010.

Roof work will be completed by the end of March, and the interior sprinkler system will soon follow. Exterior windows have been removed and transported to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum for restoration and refurbishment.

"From what we initially hoped to do in Phase One, we’ve accomplished a whole lot more," Provincial Exhibition general manager Karen Oliver said.

Phase Two of the project — foundation repair — is dependent upon having more funding in place, Oliver said, though the job won’t be as difficult as first expected.

"We found through digging around that the whole foundation does not need to be replaced. Instead we can reinforce it and cap it, so it’s going to be a smaller project than we first thought."

The foundation and exterior restoration is a "big, slow, expensive project," Oliver said, which could take two years to complete, depending on the availability of funding and how quickly construction and renovations can move along.

The last phase of the project will involve the construction of a building within a building, complete with office spaces, an interactive museum, and storage.

Oliver says the hope is to have the renovations and construction completed by the summer of 2013, which will mark the Display Building No. 2’s 100th anniversary.

Two organizations, the Manitoba 4-H Council and the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, have also agreed to move into the structure, once renovations are completed.

4-H Council president Trevor Carlson said the Provincial Exhibition has been looking for ways to partner with his organization for years, and he jumped at the chance to move into the renovated Dome Building.

Like the Dome Building, the Manitoba 4-H Council also celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2013, and Carlson says he’s eager to be in the space for that anniversary date.

"We need space, and the Dome Building is a fantastic building. We’re looking forward to being a part of it," Carlson said. "It’s a real landmark in the city here and in the province."

The Display Building No. 2 was recently listed by The Heritage Canada Foundation as one of the top 10 most endangered places in Canada.