Stone quarried only in Manitoba receives international heritage recognition
A stone that is in many buildings throughout the province and is found only in Manitoba, is now getting international attention.
Tyndall Stone is mined in Garson, Man. and has been fitting builders’ visions for nearly 200 years. The limestone dates back more than 400 million years and is filled with fossil fragments.
It was first used to build the walls and warehouses of Lower Fort Garry in 1832 and it now can be found as part of the Manitoba Legislative Building, the Manitoba Museum and in the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa.
Tyndall Stone was used to build the walls and warehouses of Lower Fort Garry (CTV News Winnipeg file)
Number TEN Architectural Group decided to go with the Manitoba stone when designing the Richardson Innovation Centre.
“We had a particular vision in mind of the combination of glass and very clean smooth material with some textured features. And so it fit very well with the overall vision,” said Doug Hanna, an architect at the company.
Donna Gillis, the operations manager at Gillis Quarries – the quarry in Garson, said most of the time the stone is used for exterior cladding.
“But we do do it on other interior things based on what the person wants. It could be interior rooms, it could be for table tops, you know giving it a different look, a different modern use of the same material,” said Gillis.
Now the stone is being recognized on the world stage by the Subcommission on Heritage Stones.
Donna Gillis, the operations manager at Gillis Quarries, says Tyndall Stone has a variety of uses. (CTV News Photo Jon Hendricks)
“There was no Canadian stone on the list. They had Carrara Marble that Rome was built from. They had Portland Stone that London was built from. They had Tennessee Marble that has been used across North America. There was no Canadian stone,” said Graham Young, the curator of Geology and Paleontology at the Manitoba Museum.
Young, along with a colleague of his at the University of Saskatchewan, nominated the stone and now the international organization is listing the Tyndall Stone as a designated global heritage stone resource.
“Humans have this relationship with geological materials, we take them for granted. We shouldn’t take them for granted,” Young said, adding, especially when one of the materials is only quarried in Manitoba.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.