Fraser Block gets heritage grant

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This article was published 10/06/2020 (2206 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s heritage Fraser Block is being renovated, and the provincial government is kicking in some funds.

On Tuesday, Heritage Minister Cathy Cox was present at the building with several fellow MLAs and Sneath Group CEO Robyn Sneath to announce the province is contributing approximately $22,000 to the project.

Last year, the province and Winnipeg Foundation created a $15-million endowment fund that will provide $750,000 to heritage projects every year going forward.

The money going to the Fraser Block’s renewal is one of more than 80 grants the province is making from that fund this year.

“In Manitoba we live, work and play in these wonderful structures,” Cox said. “And preserving pieces of our past becomes even more important as we encourage Manitobans to stay home during COVID. This is really going to provide more Manitobans with the opportunity to get out and visit some of the many, many, many of the heritage sites here in Manitoba.”

Passersby of the building at 1031 Rosser Ave. that contains Skin Clinics dermatology might have noticed that a wooden awning has been placed over the front of the building and sidewalk below.

Built in 1890, the building has been the home of many businesses, including the A.C. Fraser Dry Goods Store run by an early mayor of Brandon, the Rapid City Academy (a forerunner of Brandon University) and a drycleaning business once operated by the family of Mayor Rick Chrest.

Thanking the government for donating funds to help preserve heritage buildings in uncertain times, Sneath said she and her husband purchased the building before they moved to Brandon while they were still living in Oxford, U.K.

“Our old buildings really are the most visible connection we have to our collective past,” Sneath said. “This is something I feel really strongly about … driving down Rosser in Brandon or Main Street in Winnipeg and seeing these old buildings that are still standing — they really do connect us to the past and remind us of the people that came before.”

Sneath said during the event that the second and third floors of the building are being renovated so that Skin Clinics can expand. The second floor will be used for cosmetics while the third floor will be turned into a day spa called The Hills. The space on the first floor will then be used just for the medical aspects of the dermatology business.

“It’s a dermatology practice, people would come anywhere, whether we’re in the Corral Centre or not,” Sneath said. “Whereas a lot of downtown businesses don’t have that privilege and struggle to attract people downtown. So for us to be able to achieve a certain kind of public good … our hope is to bring people down here and have a spillover effect where people rediscover downtown while they’re here.”

Fraser Sneath Coffee, which occupied a space on the first floor next to the clinic, was closed because of COVID-19 and will not be reopening, Sneath said.

According to Sneath, the rough cost of the interior renovations will be $1 million. The funds from the government will be used to repair the leaky roof, custom order windows that follow heritage guidelines and restore the original sandstone facade, which was covered by stucco in the 1970s. She’s not sure what the total cost of the exterior work will be.

More than just restoring the historic look of the building, after renovations are complete the bar from the Prince Edward Hotel will be restored and placed in the spa’s relaxation area.

Sneath said the bar has been owned by several people since the hotel was demolished 40 years ago and was sold to her company by someone who wanted to make sure it would go somewhere accessible to Brandonites.

She said this isn’t the first instance of them renovating the building. When they first bought the building six years ago, they didn’t realize there were some structural issues that necessitated the installation of steel beams to provide support.

The hope is for work on the building to be finished by the fall.

Cox said another Westman heritage building receiving a grant from the fund will be the Virden auditorium.

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