1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: A.K. turns sod for first Rest Haven apartments

A. K. Penner, president of the Rest Haven board, in August of 1964, turned sod to officially mark the start of construction of a 12-unit seniors’ apartment building on the grounds of the Rest Haven Nursing Home, just off Kroeker Avenue in Steinbach.

The new apartment building would be the first of a series of low-cost rental units for elderly citizens who are well enough to look after themselves but who may not be able to afford the luxury of maintaining their own homes.

It had been only a year since the Evangelical Mennonite Churches of Kleefeld, Steinbach, Prairie Rose (Landmark), Ridgewood and Blumenort decided to study the possibilities of this type of seniors’ housing, to augment the nursing home, which had replaced an aging facility on Hanover Street in 1961. Plans were drawn up, government approval was obtained and carpenters were ready to start construction on the building.

The apartment building would contain eight single units and four double units. The single units measured 16 feet by 22 feet and the double units were 18 feet by 24 feet. Rent would be $42 for a single apartment and $54 per month for a double.

In order to qualify for the government grant, the organization had to have twice as many applications as they would have room for. The 6,500 square-foot building was expected to cost approximately $76,000 with the provincial government picking up one-third of the cost.

Henry Reimer, Steinbach, is the chairman of the building committee, with other members including Ernie Penner of Blumenort, Pete Peters of Kleefeld, William Koop of Prairie Rose and Cornelius Friesen of Ridgewood.

It wasn’t long before the building committee for additional seniors housing at the Rest Haven were back to the drawing board. The increasing size of the waiting list at Rest Haven Nursing Home prompted the board to decide to add another 16-person unit in the spring of 1966.

These new accommodations for 16 elderly persons would be similar housing to those already in use at Rest Haven.

The new units would bring to 32 the number of people who could be accommodated in the housing units attached to the nursing home.

Rest Haven’s main nursing unit had 59 patients under care in 1965 and there was a waiting list of about 20 who had applied for either the nursing unit or the individual housing units.

The building boom at Rest Haven was far from over, and in March of 1970 Rest Haven board chairman Levi Schellenberg announced that another apartment building would be added to the grounds.

A waiting list of 100 applicants for the new apartments was cited by Schellenberg as one of the reasons the Evangelical Mennonite Conference, as the sponsor of the project, decided to build.

The announcement came at the same time Manitoba Health Minister Rene Toupin said the province was providing $427,000 to community-based organizations for increased accommodations for the elderly. The Rest Haven Apartments would receive a grant of $51,900.