The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba has been in the process of restoring the Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. II, affectionately known as the “Dome Building”.  It is located at the Keystone Centre Fairgrounds.

The Dome Building has quite the history.  It was originally built in 1913 for the Dominion Exhibition, a national agricultural fair initiated by the Department of Agriculture and held each year in various cities across Canada.  It ran for 34 

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years from 1879 to 1913, the first year being held in Ottawa.  Every year the federal government would award the role of hosting the event to one of the country’s larger fairs.  Brandon was awarded the Dominion Fair in January of 1913, and set to work to construct the Dominion Exhibition Display Building for that summer.

Communities competed fiercely to be chosen for this prestigious and important event.  To be awarded the Dominion Exhibition, Brandon had been recognized as a community with agricultural excellence and innovation on a national level.

General Manager, Ron Kristjansson, says the preservation of the last remaining building built specifically for the 1913 Dominion Exhibition is a huge undertaking, and is important locally, provincially and nationally, as it held the very last Dominion Fair in Canada.  The outbreak of the First World War brought an end to the national exhibition, and it was never revived.

We get a picture of what that last Dominion Fair looked like in 1913 as some 200,000 people attended the 10-day fair.  Brandon had opened its streetcar system just prior to the July 13th week, and trailers were attached to the street cars to help move the crowds of people through the city to and from the fairgrounds.   The local roller rink boarded the overflow of visitors to the city as hotels were filled to maximum capacity.  It was deemed an incredible success for the prairie city of Brandon, Manitoba.

Kristjansson says the interior of the Dome Building will be used for offices for the Provincial Exhibition and other Ag-related organizations.  In addition, they will be using the space for display and demonstration purposes, keeping the long history of agriculture in mind.

Ron Kristjansson explains some of the renovations that have been taking place throughout the past year, including the 100 plus windows which were restored by the Brandon Air Training Plan Museum.  The six sets of double doors were built by Alexander and Nadezda Tolmachev from Cartwright, Manitoba, according to photos and information supplied by Manitoba Heritage.

The total anticipated budget for the “Restoring the Glory” restoration project was 7.2 million dollars.  They’ve reached the 4 million dollar mark now.  However, with being able to make some changes, they’ve been able to save significantly, and they expect to finish the project under the estimated 7 million. Kristjannson says they’ve been very budget-conscious, and have focussed on staying under budget.

There have been some challenges along the way; one being the changes in the provincial and federal government in the past year, and the application process for the various grants for funding.  Two grants have been in the works; one to the Canada 150 program and the other through Parks Canada.  Kristjansson adds that the slow process of building according to the ready funds has made the project take longer than they expected. 

A significant challenge has also been the task of keeping the Dome Building in its heritage state, replacing as little as possible and yet keeping with building codes.

The Dominion Exhibition Building has been used most recently during this year’s Manitoba Summer Fair hosting a citizenship ceremony for approximately 90 new Canadians. Ron shares how the ceremony brought his own Icelandic heritage to mind.

Kristjansson says that the present-day Manitoba Winter Fair, held each year in March, holds much the same flavour as that first fair from back in 1913. 

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“During the Manitoba Winter Fair we fill the whole Keystone Centre.  Inside we have about 12 acres, or half a million square feet. It’s a huge facility where we hold cattle shows, horse shows, Ag education and all kinds of entertainment.  Our evening presentation is kind of the finale for each day and its kind of a formal presentation; a prestigious event and we get world-class competitors and world-class entertainment here.  That all dates back to that 1913 fair that this building was built for.”

In 1999 The Dominion Exhibition Display Building II was designated a National Historic Site of Canada as it is the last remaining building built for the Dominion Exhibition.  It was designed by two prominent Brandon architects, Walter H Shillinglaw and David Marshall. It was built in the Beaux-Arts Classicism style of architecture popular for monumental buildings in the early 1900’s.

For more information on the Dominon Exhibition Display Building No II, or to support the restoration project through donation, contact Ron Kristjansson at www.provincialexhibition.com or call 204-726-3591.

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