The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2008, Síða 17

Vol. 61 #4
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
155
Heritage buildings in the
R.M. of Gimli
From mansions and churches to sheds and a biffy
by Gail Halldorson
This is the story behind the exhibit, If
These Walls Could Talk, that opened on
Manitoba Day, May 12, 2008, at the New
Iceland Heritage Museum (NIHM) in
Gimli and closed at the end of May. Gimli
by-law no. 07-0016 re-established the
Gimli Municipal Heritage Advisory
Committee (MHAC) on March 28, 2007.
This was the dream of Wally
Johannson and he took on the chairman-
ship. Wally was born in Arborg in 1936.
He was educated at the University of
Manitoba and worked first as a high school
history teacher, then from 1969 to 1977 as
MLA for St. Matthews (west-end
Winnipeg), and back to high school teach-
ing in the Evergreen School Division until
his retirement in 1999. He is a long-time
member of the Rotary Club of Gimli and
the Icelandic National League among other
voluntary organizations. Presently, he is
the driving force behind the MHAC. The
entire municipality benefits from his pas-
sionate interest and tireless work.
The MHAC started out with a $1000
budget, granted by the Rural Municipality
of Gimli (RM). The first step was to find
out what buildings in the RM were built
early enough to be of interest as heritage
buildings. Wally went to the Assessment
Branch in Selkirk and obtained a list of 218
pre-1939 buildings—large and small. All
properties were included, not only those
with an Icelandic connection. The
Assessment Branch also provided the date
of construction for most of the priority
buildings. The Historic Resources Branch
of the Provincial Government helped with
a basic information form. The MHAC set
up their “Heritage Building Inventory
Form” on which they recorded the follow-
ing information: building name (if any);
building address; owner address, phone,
email; description; construction date; origi-
nal owner; original builder; original func-
tion; construction material; stories or fea-
tures of interest; building condition; build-
ing integrity; owner interest in heritage;
date of survey and personnel involved. The
assessment rolls of the Town of Gimli and
the RM of Gimli provided a check on the
dates of construction and names of original
owners. When a building was put up at an
address, the rolls showed it, and the taxes
were put up too. The New Icelandic
Heritage Museum generously shared their
summer students to work with Wally.
Angela Sylvester, Alex Specula and
Stephanie Sydney provided valuable assis-
tance in interviews, photography and data
entry.
Areas designated for coverage in 2007
were Gimli town, Loni Beach, South
Beach, Camp Monton, and Berio. A dri-
ving tour was the next step. Buildings were
rated on a 1-2-3 priority. One meant “top
rated,” two meant “questionable for a vari-
ety of reasons,” and three meant “too
changed.” Fifty-five buildings got a “1”
and the hard work began. Wally, Angela
and Alex visited every building taking pic-
tures of the outside and, in some cases, the
inside. They interviewed present owners,
neighbours, and anyone they heard about
that might have more information. The
inventory forms were filled out and entered