THE BRANDON SUN • WINTER FAIR • MARCH 2023
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Brandon’s historic Dome Building: Going beyond the restoration
The space will feature stone benches, landscaped lawn surrounding the con- crete patio, a truth and reconciliation garden, and bronze plaques in celebra- tion of funders and con- tributors to the project. The patio will be partly shad- ed, and lighting will be in- stalled for events that spill over into the evenings. The project is being fund- ed in part by the Platinum Jubilee Fund, which was secured by the exhibition after applying for the fund- ing last year. The Provincial Ex also received word in February that it would be receiving $102,000 from the Tourism Relief Fund, which was created by the federal government to help busi- nesses and non-profit or- ganizations in the tourism sector rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Tourism is an econom- ic driver for everybody. We might not be a beach, or have a permanent theme park, but we are certainly drawing people from all over the world to our shows like the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, so we believe we’ve ticked all the boxes of tourism,” Humphries told the Sun earlier this month. Built in 1913, the Do-
minion Exhibition Display Building No. 2 is a rare sur- viving structure associated with the Dominion Exhi- bition, an agricultural fair held annually in various Canadian towns and cities from 1879 to 1913 to pro- mote progressive farming methods. Brandon was the last community to host the agricultural event and the building is now the only known structure left from the Dominion Exhibition anywhere in the world. As such, it is an integral part of the Provincial Ex fair events held throughout the year. However, long after its initial glory days had passed, the structure had begun to badly deteriorate, and was in such a sorry state that there were con- cerns within the communi- ty it would fall down of its own accord. The building has come a long way after millions of dollars were invest- ed to renovate the build- ing, Humphries said. And through money raised by fundraising events and shows, the building has re- cently been completely re- painted top to bottom.
A patio area and gar- den will soon enhance the Brandon’s Display Building No. 2 for its use as both an event space and rental for special occasions. Work on the outdoor ad- dition started last fall, when Alternative Landscaping scraped and levelled the area before the ground froze. Alternative will be handling the creation of the space, which will be lo- cated at the east end of the structure, otherwise known as the Dome Building. The addition of the patio
area will improve the rent- ability of the building, but also offer event attendees an outdoor place to relax, said Mark Humphries, gen- eral manager for the Pro- vincial Exhibition of Man- itoba. “The plan is in place to develop an area that we can capitalize on in the spring and summer months for events that are going to be held at the Dome, so peo- ple can spill out outside and enjoy the sunshine as well as the lovely building,” Humphries said.
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Bob Desjardin, operations manager for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, preps one of the flag poles atop the Display Building No. 2 (Dome building) for painting on a sunny July afternoon. (File/The Brandon Sun)
Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba general manager Mark Humphries explains how recent federal grant money will be used to improve the grounds to the east of the Display Building No. 2. (File/The Brandon Sun)
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