Preparing to break new ground

Windsor Park

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/03/2025 (409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ground will soon be broken on a project in Windsor Park that has the community at its heart.

The Winakwa Community Centre path project has been taking shape conceptually for the last couple of years.

A committee at the Windsor Park centre, located at 980 Winakwa Rd., has been working with HTFC Planning & Design and senior landscape architect Bruce Dixon on a plan to revitalize an area of greenspace next to the centre to transform it into a vibrant, multi-use park area.

The park will provide a new outdoor space for the neighbourhood, intended to encourage physical activity, social interaction, and to foster a strong sense of community. Construction of the first phase will begin this year, and a blessing of the land and naming ceremony will be held on Friday, March 21 at 10 a.m. at the centre with guest elder Billie Schibler.

Crystal Poirier, Winakwa C.C. president, said working with Schibler has been an important part of the project.

“What’s really important to us as a community is we do this in the most respectful way possible, honouring the spirit of reconciliation,” Poirier said.

“It’s also very important that the project is representative of our community,” she added, noting the proportion of people with Métis heritage in Windsor Park, St. Boniface, and St. Vital. “It’s so important that we honour this. We want this to be diverse, and honour what our community centre represents.”

Poirier said the communities surrounding Winakwa represent a mixed population, including many new Canadians and some low-income housing. She hopes the park will ultimately encourage more Windsor Park residents to become more familiar with the centre.

Of course, many people are already familiar with the centre, including the 500-plus folks — including many “smiling kids” — who recently attended Winakwa’s annual winter carnival. In future, the carnival will be a fundraiser for the park project as it evolves, Poirier said.

Funding for the first phase of the project includes $172,000 from area councillor Matt Allard’s ward allowance, which will cover the cost of the central paved pathway and the east section of a planned granular pathway. Tammy Winmill-Hope, the project committee’s treasurer, said this will be tendered through the city this month, with construction set to begin in June. Organizers plan to complete the second phase of construction with pending funding from a Trails Manitoba grant, and matching funds. Further construction will be completed pending a From the Ground Up grant application. Based on preliminary cost estimates, the total project budget for the park’s first four phases is around $566,000.

Winmill-Hope said parts of the project will be in tribute to the centre’s former facility manager Dino Moran, who died in 2019 and had long talked about the idea.

The project is intended for “everyone and their dog,” and Winmill-Hope said park will be accessible during all seasons and used by people with differing mobility.

Poirier said she also hopes youngsters in the community will embrace the project — Collège Béliveau and Windsor Park Collegiate are both located nearby.

“There will be lots of trees planted, and little paths exiting the main path everywhere,” she said, adding the Seven Teachings will also be incorporated into the project.

Another key feature of the park’s renewal will be the addition of a large outdoor shelter, designed to host community events and gatherings.

Like many things in the last few years, the shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic has helped people appreciate the need and importance of outdoor spaces, Poirier said.

“I feel that COVID taught us lots of things, including that we need more places to gather and be outside,” Poirier said, adding the event on March will be an experience.

Contact the Winakwa office at 204-253-4418 or drop by for more information.