City rejects plea for more money for St. Boniface Museum restoration

St. Boniface Museum officials fear a funding shortage will delay the reopening of the building, which will mark its 175th anniversary next year.

The museum is the city’s oldest building; it was constructed between 1846 and 1851 and originally served as the Grey Nuns convent. It closed for renovations in 2024 and had planned to reopen in time for the milestone anniversary.

While the museum raised $4.5 million for repairs, the need for more extensive work was discovered during construction, raising the cost to $6 million.

Its leaders expect $500,000 of additional donations will help bridge that gap but asked the City of Winnipeg for the remaining $1 million on Thursday.

“We are at a critical stage. Ideally, we need to know by the end of the year how we can move forward, in terms of being able to complete the work,” said Cindy Desrochers, the museum’s director, during a property and development committee meeting at city hall.

The committee did not grant the request. Instead, it directed city staff to reach out to the museum board to seek options that would phase in the construction project differently and stay within its existing budget.

“It was more of a phased-in process (we chose) that took into account the financial state of the city, currently, and the priority of this project getting done,” said Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood), chairman of property and development. “The public service will go back to the museum and work with them.”

Desrochers said she’s disappointed.

“I find it frustrating that we have a difficult time having… some members of city council understanding where the responsibilities lie,” she said.

Desrochers said the project was expected to require $1 million to fix the roof, but major heating repairs and electrical upgrades, as well as work on doors, windows, siding and accessibility, forced the price up much higher.

She doesn’t believe completing the work over a longer period to save money is practical, especially if doing so requires the museum to reopen before construction is finished.

“The gap that we’re looking at right now is especially around the funding for the historic windows. That (may not) sound important but when you have windows that are leaking, that have lead, asbestos, it’s not something you can necessarily work around… in a safe manner,” said Desrochers.

While the city owns the building, the museum has sought funding to cover renovations since the 1990s, she said. Desrochers stressed the city should help protect the building and support the project.

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) said he would prefer to see the funding request referred to the city’s budget process but voted in favour of the phasing-in motion to keep it “alive.”

“This museum is a national heritage site and it’s important to the entire nation, not just St. Boniface … There’s a benefit in terms of tourism and economic development,” said Wyatt.

In an email, city spokesman Kalen Qually said the city has provided $313,000 for the museum’s repair in recent years.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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