'Culture is not for sale': Residents at forum implore Winnipeg to retain St. Boniface landmarks

About 50 people attended a community forum in St. Boniface on Wednesday night held by the City of Winnipeg to gauge levels of support for different possible outcomes for the neighbourhood's historic city hall building.

Groups of residents gathered at Notre Dame Recreational Campus where they workshopped different scenarios set out in a city survey — from selling the domed Provencher Boulevard building and fire hall behind it, to having the city retain ownership and striking long-term lease agreements with community groups rooted in St. Boniface.

The latter option, popular among key stakeholders the city began engaging with in the summer, had traction in the room. Selling the buildings to the highest bidder, not so much.

"My grandfather was the first policeman in that building.... It's the heart of St. Boniface," said Claudette Toupin, who attended with her husband Greg Selinger, a former Manitoba premier and NDP MLA for St. Boniface. 

"I am here to sort of help the community to preserve them."

The city hall building is located at 219 Provencher Blvd. and the fire hall is at 212 Dumoulin St. They were built in 1906 and 1907 respectively, and the city hall was designated as a heritage building four decades ago.

The building served as city hall until St. Boniface amalgamated with Winnipeg and 11 other municipalities in 1972.

The buildings were declared surplus in 2007. The city put both buildings up for sale in 2019 when they were valued at $2.4 million.

At the time the city was renting them out to non-profits such as World Trade Centre Winnipeg, Tourisme Riel, and La Maison des Artistes Visuels Francophones. Tenants were paying $1 per year in rent.

Manitoba Possible, formerly the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities, originally agreed to buy the landmark in 2021. The deal was met with pushback from Société de la francophonie manitobaine, which tried to block the transaction.

Both groups then signed a letter of understanding, with Manitoba Possible agreeing to sell the building to Société de la francophonie manitobaine when the deal went through.

But last March, Manitoba Possible pulled out of the sale.

The city began engaging key stakeholders in St. Boniface again in August. One of the most common perspectives they encountered was the desire for the city to retain ownership while leasing out the two buildings long-term to community groups, which would be in charge of managing them.

Other options included renting or selling the space to the highest bidder.