New development on Pembina Highway honours the neighbourhood's past
A new infill housing development is going up along Pembina Highway, taking the neighbourhood into the future while making sure to honour its past.
The condo, which features specialized work from home suites, is replacing the former Fort Garry Legion.
Garry Reid, treasurer of the Fort Garry Legion, said they sold the space to a development group after repairs for the old building started to pile up.
“We just didn’t have the ability to sustain ourselves at that location, and when developers offered us what we thought was a very reasonable offer, we accepted it,” said Reid.
When completed, the new development called 'Point on Pembina' will be an 82-unit condo with six main floor live/work units for people who work from home. The condo developers are making sure future residents know about the long-standing history of the former legion location.
“They graciously invited us to put some sort of memorial on their property,” said Reid. “We haven’t quite decided whether we’re going to have a plaque inside, or some sort of memorial on the outside, so that’s what we’re looking at right now.”
Point on Pembina’s development comes on the heels of another multi-use building that is slated to be built in the space where the Pembina Hotel currently sits, as well as a new local grocery store in place of the old Original Pancake House, and another potential condo in place of the Cambridge Hotel.
Jino Distasio, an urban geography professor at the University of Winnipeg, said these new builds are helping to re-energize this section of Fort Garry, while making the neighbourhood more livable and diverse.
“I think it’s a good thing for Pembina Highway and the Fort Garry neighbourhood in particular. They are really seeing some dynamic changes now with condominiums, more commercial retail, and some mixed use spaces like (Point on Pembina).”
Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights–Fort Garry) said it is an exciting time in the area, and the new Point on Pembina build will help with urban uplift on the street.
He was also glad to see the developer honour the legacy of the old Fort Garry Legion that used to occupy the space.
“That Legion has a very strong connection to the neighbourhood, and I really appreciate them taking that into account when they were developing the property.”
A few minutes north of the old location, a new Fort Garry Legion is currently under construction. Reid said even though condos are replacing the old building, he’s glad the history of the building will live on.
“We were there for over 70 years, so there’s a lot of history there, and it’s not going to be forgotten, that’s what I appreciate.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.