Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 23, 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press saturday january 23, 1965 saturday 1 humor churches features Section pages 17-30 2 Churchill the average picture of Churchill that outsiders hold is of a maritime outlet on the Bleak Rocky shores of Hudson Bay inhabited by a few Hun dred citizens clustered around a railway terminus and a Dock. This is about As True a picture of Churchill As would be one portraying the main business of the Winnipeg general Post office As Selling Stamps. Churchill has a population closer to six thousand than to six Hundred. It has nearly children attending the Public schools. There s More to it than a port Churchill is not one Village but Many settlements and colonies grouped about a Railroad a seaport an Airport a naval establishment a former military base and a rocket research Range. Yet it is not even listed in the latest edition of the encyclopedia Britannica though a Brief reference to it is made under the heading of Churchill River. Churchill houses a building Complex for the Hudson s Bay company which was responsible for the port com ing into being in the Early seventeenth Century and which in the last few years has poured in Over a million dollars More in capital investment in the Tow site. In addition to the spanking new Buff enamelled stainless steel Clad Block wide retail store on Hudson Square the honorable company has its warehousing and Supply base at Churchill for serv icing its Central Arctic outposts and Northern stores. The goods stored at Churchill Are mainly loaded onto its own Fleet of . ships when they put into port Early in the shipping season. The company provides its own living accommodations for approximately two score single and married personnel. And just within the past few weeks it added to its retail outlets when in the former military base of fort Churchill it took Over the Camp commissary and family shop hitherto operated by Maple Leaf services. Across the Churchill River its 12 feet thick Stone Walls visible from the oppo site Shore the mighty ancient fort Prince of Wales bespeaks of a More Glor ious Era in the history of Churchill when the far Flung company owned the entire area including what is now Winnipeg. Yet such is the scope and Complex Ity of Churchill today that the Hudson s Bay company is hardly noticeable among other establishments and services in the area. To one Side of the tracks in the Tow site of Churchill lies the Metis settlement known As the Flats. At the very end of the railway tracks lies the National harbours Board with its massive ugly cinder Block staff quarters and its Cluster of tar paper dwelling houses gradually being demolished As the inhabitants move into by the docks Are the new trim mod new old store at lower fort Garry by . Senior Ern offices and technical work shops serv icing the elevator and Harbor installation and handling the summer invasion of stevedores for loading the snips. There is the Eskimo Village of Aud Lik housing the administrative staff of the Keewatin and Franklin districts of the Northwest territories under the department of Northern affairs and National resources. There is the Chipe wean Village of Camp ten built and administered by the Indian affairs Branch of the department of citizen ship and immigration and containing several Hundred treaty indians of the Churchill band. The old far trader s retail store at lower fort Garry built in 1874 and de i Moi isfried in 1924. The new building built last summer looks exactly the same from outside. It will be opened in the Spring As a museum. Old fur traders store at lower fort Garry looks As Good As the Day it was built in 1874 if not better. Today s store of course is not the same building erected in 1874 for the Hudson s Bay company. But its appear Ance from the outside would deceive even the builders of the original store. During the summer of 1874 a group of carpenters built the original two Storey hic store for a. Few thousand dollars. In 1363 the figure of was quoted to erect a building that from outside was an exact duplicate of the old store on the original site. But beyond the exterior Walls the similarity of the two buildings ends. The original hic store demolished in 1924 because it was was made of squared logs with Spruce siding and a shingled roof. There was no basement. The store was put together mainly with muscle. The new store to be used As a museum and opened to the Public Early next summer was built with a Mobile Crane of steel and 400 Yards of Cement because the new building was to House priceless relics the department of nor Thern affairs which governs the fort asked the architects to make the build ing As fire proof As possible. This was achieved by building a Complete reinforced Concrete Shell including the roof. Onto this Shell was placed the roof shingles and the Cedar siding. While in 1874 the carpenters just hammered the siding onto the squared logs it was t that simple for the 20th Century builders. The Winnipeg architects who duplicated the store saw that with plaster on the inside of the Concrete and Cedar siding on the outside there would be a moisture problem on the inside Walls during extremely cold weather. The problem was Given to the National re search Council which came up with an unusual method of applying insulation. Unlike the original building the new store does need a basement. This Square foot area is the cataloguing room for the thousands of museum pieces and also houses the Public washrooms. The inside of the first and second storeys is designed to accommodate the museum arid bears Little resemblance to by Doug Smith the store which held supplies for the Hardy fur traders and general goods for the whole settlement. One of the Modem conveniences in the new store that would have been enjoyed by the now Long dead store keepers is the heating and air condition ing systems. In 1874 the store was heated by a Wood burning stove. The Only air conditioning the store had in those Days was a couple of open windows. Designing the building was a Challenge for the architects. They spent months pouring Over photographs gone Brown with age. To get an idea of the size of the original store s windows they toured barns in the area looking for windows taken from the store. A couple were found. And at nearby Mapleton Douglas Mackenzie 75, who helped demolish the store in 1924, was found living inside what was part of the old store. He obligingly pulled Back Asphalt to let the architects measure covered Over window frames. To make sure the new store was built on the exact site of the old building archaeologists dug on the site to find traces of the building so they could give the store s outline to the contractor. The museum displays to Start this summer will match in Quality the build ing in which they Are housed. The Hud son s Bay company historic collection has been loaned to the fort museum. There Are some items in this and the fort itself has a collection besides. A worker for the museum said the full collection would not be on display at one time. Certain pieces will be selected to Tell a Story in the Early life of the prov Ince. The first Story to be told will be that of lower fort Garry. The final touch of authenticity to the store replica is a 28-foot Bell Tower at the West Corner of the building. A Sim Bell Tower More than a Hundred years ago was used for announcing arrival of the mails once a year the arrival of supplies births deaths marriages and All special occasions. Inside the new Bell Tower is one of the e original Bells used in the lower fort Garry. Halfway Between town and Camp is the Little publicized and Ultra hush hush Royal Canadian Navy establishment of hocs Churchill a shiny Metal Clad to shaped building set on Concrete pillars Frozen into the permafrost. The naval base is surrounded by a Forest of radio masts from which Are Strung a Maze of wires like a giant spider web. Enquiries As to what sort of work the Canadian Navy is doing at Churchill Are invariably met with Stony silence. Further along a Road branches off to the Airport where trans air has its establishment and aircraft carrying commercial passengers Are Landing and taking off every Day and most nights of the week. Continued Overleaf while Canada ships wheat out of Churchill ships bring heavy machinery in. Here a 48% ton Dieter engine it being unloaded from the is. Work wort i ;