The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1984, Side 29

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
27
Arriving back at Sargent Ave., turn right
(east) and follow the avenue through to
Beverley St. Along the way, you will pass
46. “HEIMSKRINGLA’’/VIKING PRESS
SITE (853/55 Sargent Ave., NW
comer at Banning St.). Now the site
of “Unitarian Park” (1984), this was
once the location of Viking Press —
which published “Heimskringla” on
this site after 1921. Established in
1886, “Heimskringla” was originally
published at 35-37 King Street. After
amalgamating with “Logberg” in 1959,
it became the newspaper “Logberg-
Heimskringla” and moved to offices
at 303 Kennedy St. The combined
weekly newspaper is now located at 525
Kylemore Ave., Winnipeg R3L 1B5.
47. UNITARIAN CHURCH, SINCE 1921
(790 Banning St., at Sargent Ave.).
This is the present site of the Unitarian
Church of Winnipeg and was origi-
nally built in 1921 to house both the
Unitarians from Sargent and Sher-
brook and a sizeable group or prac-
titions from the Tabernacle Church
who refused to join with First Lutheran
Church. In 1945, this congregation
amalgamated with the English Uni-
tarian congregation in Winnipeg (“All-
Souls” congregation, formerly at Furby
and Westminster). There is still a sig-
nificant Icelandic element in the con-
gregation.
48. ROSE THEATRE, ETC. (801 Sar-
gent Ave., NW comer at Arlington
St.). This was a favourite haunt and
diversion of Icelandic children and
adults of the Sargent Ave. area in the
1930s and 1940s, and many former
residents will remember it with fond-
ness. Almost across the street from the
theatre was Sub-Post Office 22 (804‘/2
Sargent), which must have seen more
mail to and from Iceland than any other
sub-post office in North America!!
Turn left (north) at Beverley St., and
follow it through to Notre Dame Ave. At
Beverley and Wellington Ave., look to your
left to see
49. JON BJARNASON ACADEMY
1915-23 (720 Beverley St., NW comer
at Wellington Ave.). On this site was
the first exclusive location of the Jon
Bjamason Academy. Located here from
1915 until 1923, it was later removed
to its site at 652 Home St.
At Notre Dame Ave., make a left turn
(west) followed almost immediately by a
right turn (north) at Tecumseh St. Proceed
one block to Winnipeg Ave., and turn left
(west).
50. BETEL HOME (854 Winnipeg Ave.).
Now a vacant lot, this was the site of
the first Betel Home Foundation struc-
ture (personal care home) established
in March 1915 through the initiative of
the First Lutheran Church Ladies Aid.
By the end of its initial year, it had
been moved to a new site at Gimli.
More recently, a Betal Home was
established at Selkirk and another is
planned for Winnipeg.
The Betel Home marks the end of this
general historical tour. Winnipeg Ave.
eventually intersects Arlington St., and by
following this south you will eventually
arrive at Portage Ave. If you wish, you can
turn right (west) at the corner of Arlington
and Notre Dame Ave. and follow it through
to Erin St. Turning left (south) at Erin, you
will eventually reach Portage Ave. How-
ever, after you pass the intersection of Erin
and St. Matthews Ave. you should watch to
your right for the “Scandinavian Centre’’
(764 Erin St.), a blue-brick faced building.
This was recently acquired by the Scan-
dinavian community in Winnipeg, and is
now the location for a number of Icelandic
social and cultural activities.