Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 29, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wayne Glowacki Winnipeg free press file photo these Grain elevators at Inglis Are getting a new lease on life thanks to a determined group that is converting the Row of buildings into a heritage sentinels reborn last Row of Vintage Grain elevators will soon Welcome crops of tourists by Manfred Jager staff reporter a vanishing piece of Prairie history is getting a second Chance As workers begin preserving the last Row of Vintage Grain elevators this fall. The elevators Are located in Inglis 20 Kilometres or 15 minutes North of Russell on the Yellowhead route near the Saskatchewan Border. By the end of next month the Western Manitoba heritage group which sponsors the project will own the Row of four wooden Grain elevators. Tourists will Start visiting the time i worn Prairie sentinels by autumn but wont be Able to enter them until they re safely restored. The heritage group the Inglis area heritage committee will gradually restore the abandoned elevators to working condition and operate them As a heritage museum to show visitors How Farmers and Grain companies co operated during the Early years of this Century in gathering Grain and getting it by rail to Ocean ports for shipment overseas. As Well the heritage committee will build an interpretive Centre near the elevators and once they Are fully restored the buildings themselves will House demonstration and Revenue making ventures such As an organic milling operation or a microbrewery. Marcia Rowat who chairs the heritage committee said last week the committee recently signed an agreement with United Grain growers to become the new owners of two of the four elevators which sit on the Eastern Edge of the farming Community of 200. As Well Rowat who co ordinates a Federal labour Market training project for unemployed Rural Manitoban from her office in Russell said the group has received Money from the Federal Job creation partnership program to hire red River Community College creative communications graduate Shannon Neuhofer to be the full time project coordinator and fund drive designer. A about a week ago Revenue Canada wrote to inform us that we now have charitable donation status and can Start raising Money a Rowat said. A a we re quite delighted. It looks pretty Good for this project now. We re finally on our the heritage group now plans to launch a three phased fund drive for $3 million. Rowat said a third of the Cash is needed to pay for the actual restoration work and materials. Another third will build the interpretive Centre buy fire detection and sprinkler systems for the elevators and get Revenue making activities going. Phase 3 of the fund Raiser is aimed a Grain separator used in the 1930s sits in the Interior of one of the old Grain elevators. At establishing an endowment fund. Once it is in place investment earnings from the fund will be used to finance operation and maintenance of the new museum. The idea to turn the four 1920s-Era Grain elevators into a museum started More than a year ago when Canadian Pacific railways abandoned its Inglis Spur line and the elevator owners United Grain growers and . Paterson and sons Ltd., announced their intention to tear the structures Down. The Inglis heritage group approached the Grain companies offered to buy the elevators for $1 apiece and asked that the Money it would have Cost to demolish the buildings a at least $17,000 for each of the structures a be turned Over to the committee to help Start restoration. Rowat said the contract with ugg was signed Early this month and stipulates that the Grain company not Only turn Over its two elevators but donate an undisclosed sum of Money As Well. Negotiations with n. M. Paterson and sons Ltd. Are nearing completion she shy about letting reporters inside pad Reform Leader denies entry to Stornoway by Dan Lett National reporter Ottawa a there Are Many rooms in Preston Manning a new mansion but unfortunately the Public wont get to see any of them. The Reform party Leader last week officially declined any and All requests to see the inside of the opulent 34-room, 9,500-Square-foot mansion deep in the heart of Ottawa a upscale Rock life neighbourhood. This came in the Wake of the astounding announcement by Manning that he and his family would occupy the residence maintained for the Leader of her majesty a Loyal opposition after years of threatening to sell the property if he Ever achieved the top opposition Job. However a spokesman for Manning was less than forthcoming with the reasons for the decision to bar the Media at first offering Only that a the Boss does no to want on further prodding the official said a we think there Are a lot mor important issues that Are bigger issues than while there May be More important issues facing Manning few Are providing More grist for the Mill in Ottawa. Manning first elected to the House of commons in 1993, has Long promised to end Perks and privileges for maps. After being elected Manning staged a photo Opportunity where he put the Blue government Sedan provided to him up for Sale. Even during the last Federal election Manning threatened to turn Stornoway into a a Bingo now however the Thrifty Reform Leader has changed his mind. Some observers have offered that Manning a move to Stornoway is part of a Reform Effort to make the party seem More mainstream and attractive to voters. Others have speculated the Reform Leader could not resist the trappings of Power. A i strongly suspect this is about Preston a demonstrated concern with his own Well being a said University of Calgary political scientist Tom Flanagan one of the original architects of Reform party policy who has since left the party inner Circle. Flanagan said it is reasonable to speculate that accepting the Home is a financial move on Manning a part especially since he is rumoured to be concerned about his financial situation since entering Public life. Flanagan also noted that Manning has accepted a personal allowance from the party for clothing and other personal expenses funds that have been used for an expensive wardrobe and other trappings of Power. A i know that Preston while not greedy on a grand scale has always been interested in his Standard of living a said Flanagan. Manning has taken heat for deciding to move into Stornoway. The move to Stornoway has greater political implications Flanagan said because it exposes the inherent flaws in Manning a populist philosophies. Flanagan said the Reform party often claims to be at the Beck and Call of Public opinion but when presented with a particularly thorny Issue the leadership manipulates Public sentiment to its own use. Flanagan noted that while Manning claimed to have received a lot of feedback from party members who wanted him to move into the Home Manning and his handlers have been unable to say who these people Are or provide evidence that any Survey has been taken of the party membership. A a it a a troubling illustration of How populism can run itself off the rails a he said. For some organizations who have supported Reform in the past the Stornoway Issue has been troublesome. A it does no to seem to be consistent with other stands the party has taken in its policy Blue Book a said Walter Robinson Federal director of the Canadian taxpayers federation. A the has campaigned. In the past As the populist anti perk politician. This is now an Issue about or. Manning a mansion features 34 rooms facts about Stornoway residence for the Leader of the opposition a built in 1914 by an Ottawa grocer the spacious 34-room, 9,500-Square-foot mansion in the capitals trendy Rockliffe neighbourhood has been used As the residence for the Leader of the opposition since 1940. The Home rests on approximately one acre of prime Ottawa real estate and is appraised at More than $2 million. A from 1940 until 1970, when the Federal government purchased the House it was maintained by a foundation supported by private donations. A the Home was rented by Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands Between 1942 and 1945 after she and her family were driven out of their Homeland by the nazi invasion. A the Home has been empty since 1993 when then opposition and Liberal Leader Jean Chretien occupied its draft confines. Bloc quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard elected Leader of the opposition in 1993, and subsequent to leaders have declined to use the Home. Wayne Glowacki Winnipeg free press file photo ;