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
Han Dong resigns from Liberal caucus amid foreign interference allegations
Han Dong has announced he will be sitting as an independent MP after being the subject of foreign interference allegations.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper says Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance'
Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance,' former prime minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Pierre Poilievre should wait until an election before telling Canadians how he might run the country.
Biden is coming to Canada: Here's what we know about his visit
U.S. President Joe Biden is coming to Canada Thursday evening, kicking off his short but long-awaited overnight official visit to Canada. Here's what CTV News has confirmed about what will be on the agenda, and what key players are saying about the upcoming visit.
Canada's relationship with the U.S. needed rebuilding post-Trump says Ambassador Hillman
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman says the country’s relationship with its American counterparts required rebuilding after the Trump administration.
WeightWatchers appears set to close dozens of Canadian locations Sunday
WW International appears set to close dozens of its roughly 118 WeightWatchers locations across Canada on March 26 in what may be part of a restructuring strategy.
Police find 2 more bodies at site of Old Montreal fire; first victim identified
The death toll from last week's massive fire in Old Montreal has risen to four, Montreal police confirmed. Julien Levesque, a police spokesperson, said Wednesday evening that two more bodies were retrieved from the historic building that went up in flames last Thursday.
Top 4 quirky consumer complaints received in 2022: BBB
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says it receives tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across Canada each year, but once in a while a "quirky" one will take them by surprise.
What are the predictions for Canada's real estate market this spring?
The Canadian real estate market has been sluggish since last year, when prospective buyers started putting off plans to purchase homes as the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates eight consecutive times. But realtors see many edging toward a purchase once more.
More than half of Canadians OK with telling lies to spare others’ feelings: Poll
According to a new poll conducted by Research Co., more than half of Canadians surveyed said it is permissible to lie to spare someone’s feelings.