Dome Building granted national historical significance

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This article was published 19/10/2018 (2736 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the unveiling of an official plaque on Thursday morning, the Canadian government recognized Brandon’s recently restored Display Building No. 2 yesterday as a structure with national historical significance.

Merely 10 years after it was very nearly lost to negligence, Dr. Richard Wishart, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada representative for Manitoba, lauded the beauty of the restored structure, best known as the “Dome Building,” and the community’s willingness to save an important piece of local and national history.

“The Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. 2 has stood here for more than a century, and it speaks to the city of Brandon’s lasting prominence as one of Canada’s most important agricultural centres,” Wishart said in his speech on Thursday morning. “Thanks to an incredible restoration campaign supported by private citizens, businesses, corporations and multiple levels of government, those of us here today can fully appreciate just how awe-inspiring it would have been to see this extravagant building added to Brandon’s fairgrounds back in 1913.”

Wishart made the announcement on behalf of the minister of Environment and Climate Change and minister responsible for Parks Canada, Catherine McKenna.

Built in 1913, the Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. 2 is a rare surviving structure associated with the Dominion Exhibition, an agricultural fair held annually in various Canadian towns and cities from 1879 to 1913 to promote progressive farming methods.

Brandon was the last community to host the agricultural event and the building is now the only known structure left from the Dominion Exhibition anywhere in the world.

The Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. 2 is an imposing exhibition hall inspired by the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as Chicago’s World Fair. Its classically detailed entrance facades and domed corner pavilions reflecting Beaux-Arts principles of design evoke both the festive character of agricultural fairs and Brandon’s vital role in the agricultural history of the Canadian West.

However, long after its initial glory days had passed, the structure had begun to badly deteriorate, and was in such a sorry state that there were concerns within the community it would fall down of its own accord.

In 2008, former Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba general manager Karen Oliver told The Sun she was concerned the structure would not last the winter, based on its deteriorating condition.

“If it waits too much longer, I don’t believe the building will survive,” Oliver said at the time, pointing to a leaky roof and rotting walls. “I think it’s almost ready to cave in. It’s really a historical crisis.”

At that time, the structure was listed as a provincial heritage site. It was designated a National historic Site of Canada in 1998.

The approximately $7-million restoration project started in 2008, when discussions began on how the Dome Building could be restored. The committee received funding from a great number of donors — a list that is more than 100 names long, both from businesses and individuals. They also received numerous grants to help see the project through to completion.

In 2010, construction began. The most recent work to the building was done during the past two years, when energy-efficient windows were installed. The windows were only the icing on the cake, with a great deal of additional work filling out the past few years, including the interior renovation which is up to modern building and electrical codes.

Ten years, three general managers, six Provincial Exhibition presidents and several board members later, the Dome Building now houses the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba offices alongside tenants upstairs.

In his remarks Thursday morning, Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest alluded to the fact that the building was nearly lost to history, and praised the community for not giving in to naysayers.

“Let’s make no mistake. This building, this restoration would not be possible — in fact I’m sure that the building would have been razed —were it not for the dedication and the blood, sweat and tears put in by a large group of people that just refused to take no for an answer, refused to let it slide, and had a vision and a dream to bring this back to life,” Chrest said.

“And they just put their shoulder to the wheel and just hustled this all the way along to this absolutely phenomenal outcome that we see today.”

In his remarks to the audience gathered at the Dome Building on Thursday, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba president Brent Miller noted that the renovations have given the structure new life in the community.

“The Dome Building will stand proud for another 100 years,” he said.

The day’s significance was not lost on Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba general manager Ron Kristjansson, who said the renovated structure now has one foot in the past and one into the future.

“I am someone who believes in our heritage, and is proud of our roots. My grandfather immigrated to Canada around the time this building was built. He came from Iceland, so that makes it somehow a personal link, to me, and the agriculture link,” Kristjansson said.

“I think the building as a monument to our national history, to the fairs, to agriculture, to still doing a lot of the things we did 100 years ago, just doing them a little different. It’s a pretty interesting fit for me personally, how that whole process is recognized.”

Kristjansson said the plaque, which notes the Dome Building’s national historical significance, will likely find a permanent home on the outside of the building.

For a pictorial history of Brandon’s Display Building No. 2, please see The Brandon Sun’s multimedia link at brandonsun.com/multimedia/pov/210593411.html, which was posted to mark the structure’s centennial celebration.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com, with files from Melissa Verge

» Twitter: @MattGoerzen