Historic railway station becomes Aboriginal Centre

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After being in decline for 30 years, Winnipeg's historic Canadian Pacific railway station has a new lease on life as Winnipeg's Aboriginal Centre. The national historic site will eventually provide more than 7,000 sq. m of office space, as well as a public area fully restored to pre-decline standards.

"The special focus (as a historic site) has been on the train rotunda, the grandest of them in western Canada," said Mel Michener, principal of the LM Architectural Group, who has worked on the restoration. "It's an important site because almost everybody who came into the West came through the rotunda at one time or another. It was in seriously deteriorated condition, but in general, when this phase of restoration is complete, people will be able to experience the original grandeur of the public space."

"As long as the building remained in railway's hands, it couldn't be designated a historic site," explained Bill Shead of the Aboriginal Centre of Winnipeg Inc. (ACWI), who has directed the redevelopment. "As soon as ACWI became owners, on Dec. 15, 1992, the building became a historic site. ACWI then took on a stewardship role with the maintenance of the building."

"It is important to note that the Aboriginal community assumed the responsibility of this building at considerable cost," explained Michener, referring specifically to the 3,000 sq. m rotunda and public area. "It will generate little or no revenue for them, and it provides the community at large with an important and accessible public space."

The railway station, located just north of Winnipeg's city hall in an area known as "north Main," was built in three phases by Canadian Pacific. The first phase, in 1904, was what is now the east portion of the station. The west wing was added shortly thereafter, and the Royal Alexandra Hotel was added to the west end while the great era of trains continued.

Settlers coming west until after the war all passed through the grand old station, or through the Canadian National station, now VIA Rail's Union Station, near Portage and Main. The hotel was demolished about 25 years ago, after the whole area had begun a long decline; it was recently designated by the city the downtown area most in need of revitalization.

"This renovation could provide the focus for some renewal in the area around the building," Michener said "There's a lot resting on the success of this project, not just in the Aboriginal community but in the city as a whole."

"When ACWI became owner, (the building) had to be brought up to standards required by the building codes, for which the railways were and are exempt," Shead explained. "It's not just enough to operate and keep the building open, but we've also had to find funding to make the building occupiable." And all that has been required before the building could start to generate revenue by renting office space in it.

"We could occupy the building as owner," Shead continued, "but we weren't able to enter into leases with any of the groups who we expected to be tenants. When the retrofit is completed, we will have a number of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal tenants." In addition to Aboriginal service organizations, Shead expects several governmental agencies, as well as a number of professionals, to open offices in the refurbished Aboriginal Centre, as it is being called.

"The 60,000 sq. ft. of office space was in a variety of conditions, from dilapidated to just outmoded," Michener said "It will become modern office space. The building has had a number of special kinds of problems, particularly renovation of the mechanical and electrical systems.

"A good portion of the work has been under a federally funded employment program," Michener continued. "Much restoration work is tedious, and requires more dedication than is normal in construction work. The work's been done very well, and the program funding has considerably reduced the costs of building restoration."

Even so, the total cost wil be about $6 million, Shead said, with the cost of the first phase, which will see more than half the office space come-on-line, reaching nearly $4 million. Peter Mitchell of the Bosgoed Group has been the project manager, The Dominion Company has been the construction mangers and Werner Design has been responsible for the tenant layouts. Phase One of the refurbishment project will be completed in early March.