Dome Building restoration hits final phase

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This article was published 19/01/2022 (1522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a decade’s worth of work, time and money spent, the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba has announced its final phase of restoring the historic Display Building II, which they are calling Maintaining the Glory.

“Our original capital campaign, Restoring the Glory, was able to get us to where we are today,” said Greg Crisanti, president of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba board.

The former capital campaign, which started in 2008, took 10 years to complete before the board moved into the building in 2018.

“It was our building, it’s kind of the face of us,” said Kathy Cleaver, vice-president of the board.

Cleaver explained how the building, which was constructed in 1913, became one of the last of its kind from the Dominion Era, serving as a facility to host people to teach the community how to survive on the Prairies as further settlements and homesteads were founded in the west. A series of fairs between Alberta and Ontario were held, and the City of Brandon was awarded one for that year.

“In those days with no internet, it was important to have that networking opportunity so you could find a bull or a stallion or a seed source or machinery. That was the purpose of them — they called them the Dominion Fairs,” Cleaver said.

“There were two or three buildings built for displays, and this was one of them. I can’t imagine the work that went in over that winter to build the grandstand.”

Restoring the building was a massive undertaking, to say the least, as the board discovered the foundation was rotting from underneath, but the roof remained in remarkable shape.

“When we tore it up, the workmen were in awe of the craftsmanship,” Cleaver explained.

“It was a barn, basically, with no insulation and concrete floors,” Crisanti said.

The Dome Building, as it is commonly known, now has an insulated roof with geothermal heating and a new foundation. The Provincial Ex made the decision from the start of the previous campaign to not borrow money, and instead raise the cash needed based on receiving government matching grants.

The building’s heritage status earned the organization additional money to work with. However, after completing the work on the exterior portion of the Dome, the organization exhausted the heritage funding, leaving money and work needed to make the interior a habitable space.

“We went ahead and borrowed the money to finish the inside, to get the lights on, otherwise we would’ve ended up with a $4-million shed,” Cleaver said. “I don’t think any of us anticipated a 10-year fundraising campaign, but we did it in stages and phases to try to get it that we weren’t owing a bunch of money. We ended up having to borrow a million dollars. Here we are now at Maintaining the Glory.”

“The campaign finished under budget and here we are today almost at the finish line of that long project,” Crisanti said.

The final phase of financial support has two parts to the campaign in paying off the remaining mortgage on the building. People can either contribute to the mortgage payments, which currently sits at $980,000 remaining, or donate to the organization’s endowment fund.

“The endowment fund is, basically, we don’t get those funds right away, so it’s more for the longevity of our organization,” Crisanti said.

“My kids’ kids will have comfort knowing that the money will be used to secure the longevity of this building so it lasts for another 100 years.”

The current capital campaign started with a large donation from the provincial government in March 2021.

“[The province said] we’re going to donate $500,000 to you, but there is going to be a little bit of work,” Crisanti said.

“It’s not going to be here is your $500,000 cheque, it’s a two-for-one match in grant.”

The province will match $400,000 of their money toward the remaining mortgage with the other $100,000 going toward the organization’s endowment fund, Crisanti said.

“To get their $500,000, basically we need to raise $1 million, and we’ve been working hard in putting money into the building since last March. The province has come to the table with a four-year maximum two-for-one matching deal. We have four years left to raise that amount by March 2026.”

Since then, the board was encouraged to bring the mortgage total down to $980,000 after the success of its Manitoba Ag Ex event held last October. The Provincial Ex told the Sun it has reduced its loan in principal by $225,000, with $150,000 coming from its pockets and $75,000 received from the province since March 2021.

“We can see the finish line, thanks to the province for the donation, but we are going to have to get our feet wet to make sure we get to that million in the next four years,” Crisanti said.

After completing the final phase, the board would like to see the building become an agricultural hub and museum to showcase the history of agriculture past and present.

“I’m an ag girl right through. All of my social time was at the fairs. I was on the horse show committee. That’s where I worked out of this building. I could see the beauty of it,” Cleaver said.

“What I’m looking forward to with this campaign is to put this debt to rest so that we can go ahead and the next generation can go forward and put fairs on and have a good place to do it from. It reminds people where we came from and how hard we worked to be where we are.”

Crisanti said he is optimistic the Provincial Ex will be able to host all three of its major events in 2022, including the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in March and the president’s dinner in February. The organization is working with Manitoba public health and is awaiting further news to come from potential restrictions changing in the coming month for capacity limits in the Keystone Centre.

The event hall in the Dome could continue to host weddings and other ceremonies depending on those changes. To donate toward the preservation of the building, visit provincialexhibition.com/maintain-the-glory.

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