COLUMN: Viewpoint – Adaptive reuse

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I was happy to read in The Carillon last week that the vacant medical clinic on Loewen Boulevard will become the new home of Steinbach Bible College. The college needed to move due to the growth of the Steinbach Christian School with whom they share their current campus. Rather than building a new facility they decided to update and add to the former health care centre which has been sitting empty for many years.

The drawings for the new project make it clear they will keep some of the signature features of the old building as they renovate and add to the site. My father was instrumental in the building of the original clinic which opened in 1990. I’m happy to see the solid work he and his colleagues invested in its planning and construction means it doesn’t need to be torn down but can instead be repurposed.

The current Steinbach Arts Council building on 2nd Street is another example of the same idea. It was originally a high school and later a junior high where I was a student in the 1960s. In 1973, it became the first home of the Steinbach Public Library. Then in 1997 when the Jake Epp Library opened, the Arts Council took over the building and gave it a new life as a hub for all kinds of interesting and enriching arts programs in the community.

It’s heartening to see this trend towards maintaining older buildings by giving them a new life. I’ve spent the last month in Victoria British Columba. One night we attended a concert in a beautiful venue at the University of Victoria’s School of Music. Built in 1890 as a Methodist Church it later became a United Church. Then after merging with other United Church congregations, it finally closed its doors. The university saw its potential as a performance centre and bought it. They’ve renovated it into an acoustically rich auditorium while keeping many of the unique architectural features of the former house of worship. It remains a grand and historic feature of downtown Victoria.

My son is a manager for a record company in Winnipeg and recently the Free Press carried a story about how they have moved into the former St. Michael and All Angels’ Anglican Church on Hugo Street which was built in 1912. Renovations have begun to turn spaces in the church into offices, a warehouse, a performance venue and recording studio. Winnipeg businessman Mark Chipman is funding the project as an investment in the cultural life of the city. An agreement has been struck with the small current congregation of the church so they will be able to continue to meet in the space for Sunday services as long as they want to. Another great example of repurposing a heritage building rather than tearing it down.

An article a few months ago in the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about the way this kind of ‘adaptive reuse’ is becoming more and more popular and may account for a major portion of real estate development over the next decade. Adaptive reuse is better for the environment because you aren’t hauling all the refuse from a demolition to a landfill. You also aren’t contributing to urban sprawl which creates a need for new infrastructure and you are maintaining a part of a community’s history.

Clearly Steinbach’s City Council sees the environmental, financial and historical value in adaptive reuse. A change of zoning regulations was needed for the college to proceed with its building project. The council appears ready and willing to approve the change. Kudos to them.

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