Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 4, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Richardson greenshields corporate notes Days Over Karla Berkson Arthur Shipman 9345311 subject to Winnipeg free press Tempo Section Maureen Houston 6977373 c1 july 1995 Neepawa historic courthouse is the second oldest on the photos by Wayne Lowacki free press by Bud Robertson staff reporter smile crosses Evelyn vivians face As she recalls a vivid childhood memory of Sweet music coming from the courthouse ban Shell on a warm Summers it was just says a local his Torian who has documented much of the towns As she strolls around to the front of the old Brick the smile grows even there used to be a door Here leading to the says pointing to the set of windows on the whenever someone was jailed for the a Light above the door would come she everybody would get very curious because they wondered who got thrown into jail for the she while the ban Shell has Long since been replaced with a parking and the jail no longer occupies space the 111yearold Beautiful Plains county court building the second oldest on the Prairies still stands serving the the original Brandon courthouse was constructed nine months Only one other in is it was built in two years the Neepawa nestled in the Centre of also has the distinction of being the fifth old est Public building in hidden away in the picturesque Community of located about 175 Kilometres West of Winnipeg on the Yellowhead the courthouse is also Home to two Rural municipality offices and the town and while it May be overshadowed by the historic Home of noted Manitoba writer Margaret the magnificent old building still gets its fair share of admiring i see tourists taking pictures of it All the says the history behind the courthouse goes Back to Neepawa birth during the Boom years of the Early 1880s when the Westbourne and North Western railway reached a Point of intersection with the upper White mud opera House settlers from Ontario arrived in numbers to the agriculture Rich Beautiful Plains area and it was soon decided that a prestigious county court build ing was needed to serve the residents of Rosedale and Lansdowne the building is owned by the town of Neep Awa and the Rural municipalities of Rosedale and English born architect Charles Osborn Wickenden who was also responsible for designing the Winnipeg and Brandon courthouses was hired and a site out on an open Field secured for a tender was posted in june 1884 and was won by a Portage la Prairie gossip and work began almost immediately and by Decem the magnificent Brick Structure was completed at a final Cost of about in addition to a the building was occupied by municipal the three cell jail and for a time an opera the impressive incorporating elements of the Queen Anne style of was designed to convey strength and built on a native fieldstone the Walls Are made of yellow Sand Brick brought in from Portage la the windows on the main facades Are arched with key tones while Brick string courses encircle the All of the ornamental is of native which House the paired Are and profiled by detailing Roux id the Arch time machine historic Neepawa courthouse is a link with the past portraits of Neepawa mayors dating Back to 1884 Are displayed in the the towns modern Chambers Are located in the old is and the co Belling projecting supports at the top of each the ground floor is distinguished from the upper level by thick Brick banding and the symmetrical exterior is dominated by a projecting the basement housed a dining bedrooms for the caretaker and a with fuel room at the the county court registrar and treasurer each occupied offices on the ground each office had its own fireproof Justice was meted out in the impressive courtroom with the High vaulted surrounding the courtroom were rooms reserved for the witnesses and despite its solid the Interior of the Well used building fell into disrepair by the Early first world War Monument outside i court build Uig dates to 1884 Beautiful Plains county court building located in about 175 Kilometres West of Winnipeg on Yellowhead Highway turn East on Hamilton Street at the lights after driving into the business District Frorup the High constructed in the courthouse is the second oldest on the Canadian Prairies and the fifth oldest Public building in it was designed by architect Charles Osborn who was responsible for numerous Public buildings and private residences in Mani Toba As Well As Acadia College in Nova the building is still used As a courthouse and municipal office and is open during regular office hours through the which were poorly kept on the buildings show the Interior underwent a major redecoration in the referendum but for All its Rich the court building very nearly disappeared from the face of the Earth in the Early 1980s when the town gave thought to tearing it Down and constructing a new building on the Vivian shudders at the it would have been a she a group of concerned citizens calling itself Saye the county court building committee stepped in and convinced the Powers hate that the proud old building still had a lot of life left in a Public referendum was held in june and those who had fought to preserve Neepawa historic character won the building was designated a provincial historic site and in renovations totalling about were the buildings modern Interior complements the Well preserved creating a piece of modern history that is certain to serve the Community Well for generations to ;