Looking Back — March 27, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2023 (1286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Sigurdson Construction of Brandon has been awarded the contract for construction of a 19-room extension to Brandon Collegiate.

In London, England, an uneasy calm settled over Parliament Square where earlier in the day thousands of enraged unemployed workers fought a battle with 500 police outside the doors of the House of Commons.

 

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Wage parity between male orderlies and female nurses aides at Fairview Home Inc. could increase the yearly wage bill of the two homes by about $75,000.

Two-bedroom apartments at Richmond Oaks are now available to rent for $160 per month.

 

FORTY YEARS AGO

Ice rubble and bricks were all that remained today after fire destroyed the three-storey brick and wood structure housing the Stylerite hardware store and 21 apartments at the corner of Seventh Street and Rosser Avenue. The fire started in a third-floor suite just after midnight. Norman William Lea, 61, the only fatality, died of smoke inhalation after being rescued. Damage is estimated at $660,000.

The 75th edition of Western Canada’s largest agricultural show, the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, got underway at the Keystone Centre this morning.

 

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Brandon has been voted one of the 10 best cities to live in Canada by Chatelaine magazine for the second time.

Waskada residents will no longer have to drive 32 kilometres to neighbouring Deloraine or Melita to do banking business. Beginning on June 1, the Virden Credit Union will be opening a Waskada branch.

 

TWENTY YEARS AGO

After spending 101 years nestled in the countryside about 11 kilometres north of Oak Lake, St. David’s United Church is moving to town, where it will be part of a museum project that is just starting up. The Warkentin Building Movers of Virden hauled the church to Oak Lake on a flatbed truck.

Gas prices are typically the same at every gas station within Brandon city limits at any given time; virtually all of the city’s stations reduced their prices three cents yesterday morning to 79.9 cents a litre.

Thousands of people have been told to “quarantine themselves,” wear masks and in some cases stay home in an effort to stop the spread of a deadly SARS outbreak in Toronto that health officials are calling “an incident of unprecedented scope and magnitude.”

 

TEN YEARS AGO

Super sandbags will likely be deployed for flood protection on First and 18th streets, as the spring flood threat has been upgraded on the Assiniboine River.

Millions of dollars in government funding being used to repair the aging Keystone Centre are being put to good use, says its general manager. The money is being used to maintain a facility that hosts events that generate millions of dollars in spinoff revenue for the city and surrounding area, says Neil Thomson.

The cause of the fire that destroyed the Alonsa Hotel early yesterday morning is under investigation. RCMP say there were no guests at the hotel in Alonsa at the time, and no injuries were reported.