Castle-like museum needs repairs

The board of the Hillcrest Museum in Souris is attempting to fundraise $100,000 from community members to restore several features of the historic fortress-looking heritage building.

A host of repairs for the 2027 season are focused on remaining windows that have not yet been repaired, with work including building new window sashes, replacing rotting sills and removing improperly installed storm windows, board president Debora Kain told the Sun in a recent interview. The board aims to fundraise the total before the end of next year.

“I think it’s important to keep up,” Kain said. “There is a lot of people’s time and effort caught up in keeping this going since 1967.”

The heritage home, formerly owned by Fred and Maud Sowden, was purchased that year by a group of Souris citizens to establish the museum. It still operates as a museum and attracts roughly 3,000 visitors per year.

The building was built in 1910 and features massive brick facades and crenellated towers, resembling a castle on a hillside overlooking the Souris river beside the swinging bridge.

Kain said ongoing repairs are needed to protect the artifacts and items kept at the museum, including a display of 5,000 butterflies donated by a late resident of Souris.

The museum features various displays of antiques, including furniture, clothing, tools, tableware, and photographs. Many items in the museum have been donated by community members.

The board chose to restore the building — specialist work aiming at bringing back the original character — rather than renovations, Kain said.

“It’s so the children of today don’t forget what it was like from the 1850s to 1950s,” she said.

The upcoming work can only be completed if fundraising is successful, Kain said.

“It depends on the support of the community. If the community doesn’t feel this is as important as we do, then we can’t continue.”

The board is applying for up to $25,000 through a heritage resources conservation grant from Manitoba Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism to support the fundraising goal.

Restoration work was completed this year on the main floor of the museum, and has already been paid for, Kain said. The work included several stained glass windows — discovered in the basement of the building — being manually cleaned and soaked, installed to replace plain windows, and supported by newly built mahogany window sills.

The restoration specialist leading the work, Matthew Jacobi of Restoration Matters in Winnipeg, built new fixtures that allowed the stained glass windows to be added on the main floor. For the sills, he said he chose a type of wood that carries a long lifespan.

“You could say I overbuilt these using mahogany,” he said. “There’s excellent rot resistance. These are going to last… I mean they would outlast the building.”

Describing the nature of the work, he said that it is extremely detail oriented.

“It’s almost like an artist. It’s like traditional craftsmen or artisan work,” he said. “It’s actually like an art form.”

“Its how these buildings were meant to be viewed. You’re bringing things back that people don’t normally think of.”

He has been sanding, scraping, staining, painting, crafting and planning work at the museum to restore the original character of the building.

Municipality of Souris-Glenwood Mayor Duane Davison has supported the fundraising effort, as his family has sponsored a stained glass window on the main floor. A commemorative plaque will be added in the future denoting that sponsorship, alongside roughly 23 other items that the board of directors have opened up to sponsorship.

Davison said that the renovations are significant to Souris for its continuity and knowledge of its history.

“I think it’s important we remember our past and commemorate our past,” Davison said. “It’s a pretty important thing for our community to maintain that piece of our history.”

“We don’t have a ton of history in Canada and we end up knocking down old buildings, so it’s nice to have some of this stuff.”

The municipality will help promote any events that the museum is hosting, and will also help raise awareness about the fundraiser, he said. The municipality also provides an annual grant of roughly $5,400 to the museum for its operations, he said.

The museum renovations serve doubly because the museum fits the brand of modern Souris, he added.

“We’re a town that sells ourselves as a tourist destination. We got a swinging bridge, which is fantastic, we’ve got peacocks wandering around … it’s just part of the deal. It’s just another sight to bring people into town,” Davison said. “Quite frankly, if it draws some people into town, we’re pretty happy about that.”

Davison said he was surprised to see how high the numbers are on traffic through the museum in recent years.

The stained-glass windows add to that appeal as they look “spectacular,” he said.

The board has decided to approach local families, and businesses, and pitch the possibility that they sponsor features of the museum. Some board members told the Sun last week they are confident that many community members — including those who have moved away — will contribute. The board’s goal is to fundraise the money before the end of 2027.

In September, the Royal Canadian Legion No. 60 donated $6,000 to the museum.

The museum completed a roof resurfacing project in 2021 through fundraising as well.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com