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The Winnipeg Fire Commissioner’s office began conducting Operation Gold Rush on Friday at the abandoned and emptied out Days Inn location on McPhillips St. The round-the-clock training exercise saw the use dog teams and specialized search equipment such as cameras and listening devices to locate trapped and buried people in a simulated rubble pile. (ROB BROWN)

The recent closure of a north Winnipeg hotel will end up benefitting a handful of charitable groups across the province.

The Days Inn location on McPhillips Street south of Selkirk Avenue has been closed since September.

The property was acquired by Man­ito­ba Lotteries earlier this year. The Crown corporation plans to demolish the building in December to make way for an expansion to the nearby McPhillips Station Casino.

The building has been emptied of its contents and Manitoba Lotteries recently donated 2,500 items from the former hotel to various community groups.

Winnipeg Emergency Services and six non-profit groups from across the province were the recipients of everything from used furniture to linen.

Oyate Tipi Cumuni Yape, a Winnipeg organization that distributes household items to women and children leaving abusive relationships, was able to make use of the lion’s share of the furnishings and bed linens.

"Our waiting lists are going to be significantly shorter now," said manager Millie Anderson, who said the bulk of the organization’s clients are from north Winnipeg.

Other organizations receiving donated materials from the former hotel include the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund of Manitoba, the St. John’s Sportsmen’s Club, Variety, the Children’s Charity of Manitoba, the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach and the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Centre.

Mary Lynn Moffat, community facilitator at the revitalization centre, said the donated furniture was a welcomed gift.

"Most funding we receive is for specific programming or projects and not operating material like office equipment," she said. "This will go a long way."

The Winnipeg Police Service and Fire Commissioner’s office will conduct training exercises in the empty building throughout the month of November.

The Office of the Fire Commissioner began on-site search and rescue exercises in the empty building last week. The RCMP’s Emergency Response Team will likely use the building as well.