A brief history of Elmwood Park
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2021 (637 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Elmwood Park was the first park created after Elmwood joined the City of Winnipeg in 1906, from the Municipality of Kildonan, the land for the park was bought from the Municipality of Kildonan in 1909.
Often called Roxy Park, the legal name for the park has always been Elmwood Park, there was nothing in the area called Roxy until 1929 when the Roxy Theatre opened, and it was located in a separate municipality, East Kildonan, which did not become part of Winnipeg until 1972.
When the park was created in 1909 there was still a house on the site which had to be removed. In the early years and until the mid 1960s there was a full-time gardener who maintained the park from early May to the middle of October. Elmwood Park was full of flowers as every spring up to 1,200 flowers were planted by the gardener until the mid 1960s. In the early 1920s the first washrooms and wading pool were built, these original features were replaced in the 1970s by newer ones that exist today.
The Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Winnipeg organized recreation activities for younger children and these were held in the park from the 1930s to the early 1960s during July and August.
In the mid 1930s residents of Elmwood petitioned the City of Winnipeg to build a full-size outdoor swimming pool, but that petition was rejected, citing the lack of money. The land adjoining the north boundary of the park, the present Bredin Drive and Roosevelt Place was offered for sale by East Kildonan to the City of Winnipeg to enlarge the park to by almost three times its size but again the City of Winnipeg wouldn’t spend the money.
This vacant piece of land owned by East Kildonan had the unofficial name of the Roxy Grounds until it was sold by East Kildonan to developers in 1947 to create Bredin Drive and Roosevelt Place. The Roxy Grounds were used by East Kildonan for baseball, soccer and other sporting events from as early as 1920. Fairs were held on the grounds as well as illegal crap games during the 1930s where one player complained to the East Kildonan Police that he lost $260 in one of these games.
If this land has purchased by the City of Winnipeg, Elmwood Park would have been a much more active park than it is today
Jim Smith is a community correspondent for Elmwood, East Kildonan and North Kildonan. Email him at jimsmith@mts.net
Jim Smith
Jim Smith is a community correspondent for Elmwood, East Kildonan and North Kildonan. Email him at jimsmith@mts.net