Looking Back — March 9, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2024 (961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

The total value of construction for which building permits were issued in 1963 was $3,762,366. Although the figure did not represent a bad year for Brandon builders, it was down $984,052 from the record-breaking year of 1962.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Rand Enterprises Ltd. of Winnipeg announced this morning it will remodel the old Oak Theatre on Eighth Street at a cost of $150,000 and will have a 400-seat theatre ready by July or August. The theatre will be completely new in every way, including the finest in projection equipment and sound, and it will be completely air-conditioned.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Brandon University’s athletic department will be the new home of what used to be called the President’s Fitness Club, acting university president Earl Tyler said today.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

The province has said no to opening local bars on Good Friday. Despite Brandon City Council’s vote to allow suds on the religious holiday, which falls during Royal Manitoba Winter Fair week, the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission capped the keg.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Staff at a Brandon personal care home were shaken up in the early hours this morning after a bomb threat was called in to the facility. Most of the 60 residents of the Dinsdale home were sleeping when staff answered the threatening phone call at around 4 a.m.

TEN YEARS AGO

Keystone Centre general manager Neil Thomson hopes the city will adjust its accommodation tax bylaw to allow funding for capital projects and facility upgrades. “The facility hasn’t been properly funded, capital-wise, for a long period of time,” he said. “So I think us having access to monies out of this fund would be great.” The city will soon launch a new committee to review the current bylaw, as recommended by Coun. Stephen Montague (Richmond).

Dikes along Highway 110 were quietly deleted from the city’s $22-million flood mitigation plans because there wasn’t enough money budgeted. At one point, the plan — which is funded by the province and the city in a 90/10 split — included the now-completed dike along 18th Street, a dike along Highway 110, and improvements to the hastily erected existing dikes along the north and south banks of the Assiniboine River. However, sometime after a plan update in July, the Highway 110 dike was scrapped from the project.

A Western Hockey League playoff race that has been uncomfortably tightening for the Brandon Wheat Kings has reached a vice-like level. With a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night at Westman Place, Brandon has fallen into a tie with the Red Deer Rebels for the final two post-season spots in the Eastern Conference. The Prince Albert Raiders are lurking only two points behind with a chance to catch Brandon when they host the Wheat Kings tonight.