Doors Open to Winnipeg’s mystery, history

It’s easy to travel past the Manitoba Buddhist Temple and not even notice it.

Situated on the corner of Tecumseh Street and Winnipeg Avenue, next to a Health Sciences Centre parkade, the white and brown building is home to a congregation formed in 1948 that belongs to the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism.

The congregation invited the public into the temple on Sunday as part of Doors Open Winnipeg, the annual weekend-long celebration organized by Heritage Winnipeg that allows visitors to take free tours of unique locales.

“(We participate) so that people know we’re here,” said Tanis Moore, an ordained spiritual leader at the temple.

On Sunday, visitors learned how the temple was built by Japanese families that arrived in Manitoba as a consequence of the Second World War.

The families were relocated from B.C. to work on sugar beet farms in the keystone province as part of a broader movement to intern and forcibly relocate Japanese Canadians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The temple was built in 1950 using donations and free labour from its founding members, some of whom took out second mortgages to contribute.

Notable features inside the temple include a shrine built in Japan more than 100 years ago and a series of 16 woodblock prints a congregant made depicting the story of Eshinni, the consort of Jodo Shinshu founder Shinran Shonin.

“Doors Open is a wonderful event because it gives people the chance to look into things they never would have done before,” Moore said.

At the Masonic Memorial Centre on Confusion Corner, Thor Weidenbacher shared a similar sentiment.

The centre is home to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, the governing body of Freemasonry in the province.

Constructed at 420 Corydon Ave., in 1969, the building’s brick facade and few windows give it an air of mystery.

The Masonic Memorial Centre has been part of Doors Open since 2014 in part to dispel that mystery, said Weidenbacher, a middle school teacher who has been a Mason for 36 years.

“People drive by this building by the thousands every day and they wonder what’s going on in (here),” he said.

More than 100 visitors had walked through the door within the first hour the centre was open Sunday afternoon. They participated in guided tours that allowed them to learn about the Freemasons — one of the oldest and largest fraternal organizations in the world — and their charitable work.

That work includes, among other initiatives, supporting the Canadian Cancer Society’s transportation service, which provides subsidized rides for people receiving cancer treatment.

“We want to show that we are not a secret organization and that we are in the community,” Weidenbacher said. “(Doors Open) is one small way where we can say, this is who we are and this is what we’re doing.”

This year’s iteration of Doors Open included 85 venues and events, said Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg.

East Kildonan resident and self-described history buff Aiden Hirney visited around seven of those venues on Saturday and had plans to check out two or three more on Sunday.

“I love our city and I love the history of it, so it’s always cool to find out new information you didn’t know before,” said the 21-year-old, who works in the food service industry. “I think more people should (participate) if they can.”

In Armstrong’s Point, Greg Sturko waited in line for a tour of Ralph Connor House, the majestic 112-year-old mansion that sits on the Assiniboine River at 54 West Gate.

It was one of at least three Doors Open stops the River Heights resident and retired nurse planned to make on Sunday.

“It’s just a good event and a good way to know the history of your city and see some unique architecture,” said Sturko, 66. “History is always fascinating.”

The inaugural Doors Open Winnipeg took place in 2004 and included 30 buildings in the downtown and St. Boniface areas, according to the event’s website.

By 2007, the event had expanded throughout the city.

Today, between 18,000 and 25,000 people participate in Doors Open annually, Tugwell said.

This year’s event included more interactive elements and musical performances than in previous years, she added, including the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, which performed for visitors at the Millennium Centre, and the River City Syncopators, which brought its high-energy jazz repertoire to the Vaughan Street Jail.

“I think we’re really trying to brand this as an experience and not just (an event where people are) going into a building and learning about history,” Tugwell said.

It takes around six months of planning, a budget of around $100,000 and 500 volunteers to mount Doors Open, she added.

“Without our sponsors and volunteers, it wouldn’t be possible to put an event like this on,” Tugwell said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca