One of Niverville’s long-gestating beautification projects is in its final stages of completion this week. The Heritage Pavilion, located in the Heritage Centre Gardens, is under construction now, and the structure is already nearing the finish line.
“It’s great to see it going up!” says Shirley Hoult of the Niverville Community in Bloom (NCIB) community and a longtime community volunteer.
The pavilion incorporates wooden planks from the town’s original grain elevator, destroyed by fire long ago. The structure’s circular wall design, meant to represent that elevator, was planned by Cornerstone Timberframes.
The front half of the pavilion will be left open to allow for special events to be held there.
Due to the pandemic, there won’t be any large-scale community event to celebrate the pavilion’s competition, but Hoult says there is likely to be an event next summer.
There have also been talks of hosting a Winnipeg Pops Orchestra outdoor concert on June 7, 2021. Sponsorship for this concert has already been pledged by Heritage Lane Builders.
Several other beautification projects are also underway and will be ready to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The largest of these projects is the Heritage Wall, which will be erected in front of the Niverville Credit Union parking lot on Main Street. The wooden fence previously located there, and which has already been torn down, will be replaced by 64 feet of metal panels measuring four-feet high and designed to illustrate the town’s heritage.
The wall art tells the story as imagined by local resident Dustin Krahn, with input from the NCIB and the Heritage Wall committee, as well as Dr. Nigaan Sinclair, Professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba.
“Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of some residents and local businesses, we are very close to reaching the fundraising goal for the heritage wall,” Hoult says. “The designers and manufacturers are currently firming up materials with the intention of completing installation in late fall.”
Additionally, a community mural is being created to be showcased on the west side of the post office. The collaborative design for this mounted wooden mural has been developed by four local artists: Abigail Olfert, Elaine Krahn, Dustin Krahn, and CD Muckosky.
Hoult says the mural is expected to be in place no later than the Thanksgiving weekend.
