Man climbs roof of downtown former bank

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/10/2021 (1798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winkler farmer looking out from his 10th-floor downtown Winnipeg hotel room window saw something he didn’t expect: a man scaling the roof of a nearby building.

Toban Dyck said he was on a weekend getaway at the Fairmont, when he threw open the curtains Sunday morning to take in the view.

That’s when he saw a man, holding what looked to be a flag, scaling the metal roof of the former Bank of Montreal building at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street.

“It was just very alarming,” said Dyck, who used his cellphone to record the man’s activity.

“It didn’t look like it was sanctioned or for a charity. He was just out there going up the roof.”

Dyck said the man reached the top, but once there, and appearing not to see where he could plant the flag, he made his way back down.

“I think his intention was to plant the flag up there, but once he got there it was either too scary or too windy,” Dyck said. “He then shimmied down.

“I called the front desk about it. Then, when I was checking out, I saw police in the lobby and I asked them about it. They didn’t tell me what the man had been doing but they were surprised by it.”

He sent city police a copy of the video; an officer later texted back saying the man had been charged.

Winnipeg police said this week they couldn’t find any information about the roof climber in their records for Sunday without an incident number.

The historic bank building, which has stood on the southeast corner of Portage and Main since 1910, is currently under renovation to become the country’s first Métis-owned heritage centre. It is expected to open in fall 2022.

Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand said last May the iconic intersection, where major trade lines on the Red River Cart trails once ran and which was the centre of the Red River Settlement, is the ideal location for the organization’s heritage centre.

A MMF spokeswoman said Tuesday a person was able to get into the building Sunday by breaking in through a window.

“He triggered a motion detector and the alarm company was notified and they called the property manager,” the spokeswoman said.

“By the time they got to the building, the police were there and the homeless man was already in the front foyer. We are thankful he was not injured. People should not be doing this. It was not a wise choice and I hope no one makes that choice again.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca