Barber House rises from the ashes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2011 (5164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of Winnipeg’s most storied houses is poised to reopen more than a year after it was nearly destroyed by  fire.

Barber House, located at 99 Euclid Ave. in Point Douglas, is scheduled to officially reopen Wed., Aug. 3 at 2 p.m.

Regarded as Winnipeg’s oldest residential house, it was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters responded on the morning of June 7 of last year. The house was constructed by E.L. Barber in 1862.

No one is likely happier about the reopening than area resident Barry Ham­mond, who lives near the historic property.

Hammond said the rejuvenated house already looks a hundred times better than it previously did.
“It looks absolutely beautiful,” he says.

Hammond said the reopening of Barber House and the addition of the North Point Douglas Seniors Association as its major tenant is good news for the community.

“Wait until everyone sees the interior. The interior logs on the inside were able to be preserved and left the way it really was,” he said.

Rick Caslake, volunteer co-ordinator and program manager for the seniors group, said he and other volunteers have been busy get the facility ready for the upcoming reopening.

Caslake said the first order of business was organizing a food delivery service for area seniors. They have also been kept busy with landscaping, programming, sweeping and other tasks, he added.

“I’ve been wearing many hats,” joked the North Kildonan resident.

Caslake said his organization expected to have an occupancy permit this week.

He said last year’s fire actually helped speed up efforts to rehabilitate Barber House.

“It actually reduced some of the cost of the restoration and made things a bit easier,” he said.

Last year’s blaze was the second time Barber House has suffered extensive fire damage. After undergoing a major renovation in the early 1990s, a fire undid most of the work in 1993, and caused significant damage to the interior of the house.

Community efforts to restore the home gained momentum last year after area residents complained it had become a hangout and makeshift shelter for the homeless.

rob.brown@canstarnews.com