Manitoba's Medicine Rock Café hits the road to new home

A historic log building in St. Francois Xavier, Man., with nineteenth century ties to Metis leader Cuthbert Grant has been uprooted.

On Saturday, the building, more recently known as the Medicine Rock Café, began its journey by semi a short 40 kilometers away from its previous foundation, destined to be reborn as a six-bedroom home for its new owners.

“For me it brings back a lot of memories, some pretty fun times I had with friends and family at that place,” said John Friesen, who bought the building with his partner Christina Labossiere.

The Medicine Rock Café was once an upscale restaurant that has been left closed since the early 2000s.

When it first opened in 1991, it was known for its cozy cluttered décor.

Its name was in part reference to Cuthbert, who was trained as a physician, and whose administrative building is believed to have once stood on the same location, and a boulder found in a nearby field.

Built from old growth BC cedar logs, the Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) said construction of the 3,000 square foot building was delayed when the foundation excavation turned up pottery and other artifacts.

According to the MHS, the building was sold by its original owner within a year and operated by another for about a dozen more. It closed around 2005 but reopened briefly in 2007. Development plans to turn the property into condominiums stalled in 2011 after community opposition and a potential building move failed to materialize from a third owner.

Former Medicine Rock Cafe (Zachary Kitchen, CTV News)

“For me I didn’t even know it existed,” said Labossiere.

That did not stop the new owners from putting down an offer, but their purchase decision was not immediate.

The couple were in search of a home project and Friesen said an initial inquiry after seeing the building for sale did not feel quite right.

The couple decided to take a different route and began looking into an RTM (Ready To Move) home or even build one themselves, but prices and unfavourable floor plans gave them pause.

“At that point in time all the pieces fell together in order for us to actually make a deal with the previous owner,” said Friesen.

The process has not been easy. Preparations have been ongoing for a year for Saturday’s move.

“We’ve had countless meetings with two RMs because we’re crossing an RM line, multiple sets permits for the move and also for the construction, engineers have been involved as well, hundreds of emails and several permits and many visits to the site for measurements,” he said.

“It’s very rewarding to see it actually move today with all the work that’s happened over the past 365 days,” said Friesen.

The home’s floor plan will remain true to the original structure due to the unique design of the building, along with the engineering challenges and costs associated with any changes.

“And it would ruin the feeling of the building,” said Labossiere.

The home is travelling to a historical property with an old creek and oak trees, some of which are hundreds of years old. A suitable match, according to Labossiere, and one Friesen said will be enjoyed by friends and family for another 100 years.

“With all these old historic buildings being torn down it’s nice to preserve something and to recycle,” Friesen said.

“It’s comforting to know the building will actually mean something. It’s not just some fresh build that we found in a book somewhere that we decide to build,” Labossiere added. “There’s like a soul to it.”