25 October 2007
Heritage Site has Fans
Canadian Pacific Railway Portage la Prairie
station.
Portage la Prairie Manitoba - Restoration efforts on the
historic Portage la Prairie CPR station are to get a boost in a couple of weeks with new construction and a new fundraising effort.
Plans are in place to have new windows installed on the heritage building, including the main entrance. To maintain the historical
integrity of the building, the frames for the windows will be made of wood. "(Crews will) be out there in a couple of weeks
installing windows on the front entrance way," Vic Edwards, chairman of the Save the CPR Station Committee in Portage, said
yesterday.
Since purchasing the building from CP Rail for $10 almost five years ago, the committee has been gradually restoring the station, which
was damaged by fire in 2002.
1 Nov 2007 will mark the fifth anniversary of that fire, which forced community members to form the Save the CPR Station
Committee to spare it from the wrecking ball.
Already, work has been done to fix the roof and restore the limestone on the building. The new windows should be the end of the
exterior repairs.
Edwards said the next step will then be to restore the inside of the station with working plumbing, running water, and heat. The
committee wants to install a geothermal heating system and to restore the baggage and waiting areas to what they used to be.
Once the project is completed, the historic site, which is more than 100 years old, will operate as a interpretive centre, a meeting
place, and as a museum of railroad artifacts. The plan is for the fully-restored station to have a gift shop and be a
tourist attraction for the area.
The cost of restoring the station itself runs at about $150,000. Additional expenses for the development of exhibits and displays and
landscape design, among other things, will boost the total estimated cost to well over $1 million.
To raise money, a major new fundraising effort will be launched on 1 Nov 2007.
Tom McCartney, corporate campaign chair for the Save the CPR Station Committee, said the effort will be a national and even
international fundraising initiative. Among its unique features is the fact the CPR and CNR tracks cross at ground level in Portage, he
said. "The thing we're putting forward for citizens to consider is that this is a unique station in Canada," said McCartney.
He noted the historical importance of restoring the station and expressed his committee's desire to preserve the uniqueness of the
structure, which was built in 1893. He added this will be part of their fundraising pitch.
He plans to send mailings to Canadian and American companies to drum up interest. The committee plans to target "anybody that's
ever used the railroad," said McCartney.
Edwards said he feels very encouraged about the future of the station and the efforts to restore it. "The awareness is there
now," Edwards said. "It was tough going at the beginning, but the prominence is up a little
higher."
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