• A CITY AT LEISURE An Illustrated History of Recreation Services in Winnipeg /IPEN ( t4AR181999 A CITY AT LEISURE: &LIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES IN WINNIPEG 1893-1993 BY CATHERINE MACDONALD Copyright ©City of Winnipeg, Parks and Recreation Department, 1995 Published by the City of Winnipeg, Parks and Recreation Department Manitoba Cataloguing in Publication Data: Macdonald, Catherine Logan. A City at Leisure. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7711-1436-2 1. Recreation -- Manitoba -- Winnipeg -- History. 2. Parks -- Manitoba -- Winnipeg -- History. 3. Community centers -- Manitoba -- Winnipeg -- History. 4. Leisure -- Manitoba -- Winnipeg -- History. 5. Winnipeg (Man.). Parks and Recreation Dept. -- History. I. Winnipeg (Man.). Parks and Recreation Dept. I. Title. FC3396.65M32 1994 790’097127’069 GV56.M3W5 1994 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. Cover Photo: Playground sports day at Assiniboine Park c. 1910. WPRD. 11 111 GREETINGS FROM THE MAYOR City leaders of some 100 years ago are to be acknowledged for recognizing that recreation and parks are an integral part of the social fabric of a GREAT CITY. The Winnipeg Women’s Labour Council and the Winnipeg City Council advocated the establish ment of the Parks and Recreation Department in 1893. Their deci sion set the stage for the development of the comprehensive parks and recreation system which is enjoyed by all City of Winnipeg residents today. Through the foresight and continuing hard work of volunteers, elected officials, and employees the City of Winnipeg is acknowl edged as a leader in the development of beautiful parks, innovative facilities and a full complement of recreation programs and ser vices. The Parks and Recreation Department can be proud of its 100 year history of contributing to the quality of life for all Winnipeggers. I look forward to the department’s ongoing endeav 4ab,ours in maintaining Winnipeg as a healthy and vibrant city. %SL4 q. HER WORSHIP, THE MAYOR OF WIN JPEG, SUSAN A. THOMPSON vi GREETINGS FROM THE PARKS AND This written and pictorial history depicting the department’s RECREATION DEPARTMENT first 100 years captures the contributions it has made to the citizens GENERAL MANAGER of Winnipeg and to the city at large. Indeed, 1993 was a very special year for both the Parks and Enjoy! Recreation Department and for the citizens of Winnipeg. Our city is one of the first in Canada to celebrate 100 years of providing quality recreation programs, facilities and parks. In commemoration of this special year the department formed HRENO an Anniversary Committee to plan and organize various activities GENERAL MANAGER and events. Through it’s efforts the department’s history and PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT development were highlighted and chronicled throughout 1993. Since its inception, the department has focused its service delivery on the community. This neighbourhood-based strategy has enabled every citizen of Winnipeg to reap directly the person al, social, environmental and economic benefits that are derived through the provision of parks and recreation services. The department’s mission statement reflects it’s commitment to all Winnipeggers, to the satisfaction of their leisure needs and to the protection of the natural environment. It is through partnership with community groups and volunteers, that the Parks and Recreation Department continues to play a vital role in helping citi zens lead balanced lives, achieve their full potential and gain life satisfaction. vii VIII GREETINGS FROM Remple, Bill Hanna and Glenda Kebalo — our infamous minute- THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY taker. These individuals and the scores more they recruited to COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS make the many events happen, did a fabulous job and for that we thank them wholeheartedly. Who could ever imagine that so much could happen over 100 We would like also to acknowledge the support of City years. No one told us.. .but we certainly became quick learners. The Council, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the department has a rich heritage of providing services and programs Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers. In addition we to city residents. This heritage is captured in this written and picto would like to thank the Province of Manitoba, Department of rial history of the department,which was written by Catherine Culture, Heritage and Citizenship for the financial assistance it MacDonald. It was co-ordinated by the History & Archives Sub provided towards this book. Committee, chaired by Carol Walaschuk and Ingi Ingaldson and There are many memories and legacies left with the depart with dedicated input by committee members Gunter Schoch, Jim ment and the citizens of Winnipeg from the year of celebration. Sesak and Bob Jones. Notable among these are the Winnipeg Parks Rose, the department You will read with interest, how the department celebrated it’s logo and this written and pictorial history book. In it readers will 100th anniversary as the committee’s initiatives are highlighted at find an accurate and entertaining account of the department’s first the end of the book. It is appropriate at this time to acknowledge 100 years, augmented with hundreds of photographs. The spirit of the hundreds of hours contributed by volunteers who brought the the 100th Anniversary Celebrations will carry the department and anniversary celebrations to life through various activities and the citizens of Winnipeg forward through the next 100 years. events. The initial committee set the framework for the 100th anniversary celebrations and was comprised of: Doug Ross (Chair), WE ALL LOOK FORWARD WITH ANTICIPATION TO 1994 Shirley Blaikie, Ashley Langridge, Wendy Mackie, Gerald Mirecki, AND BEYOND! Ron O’Donovan, Bruce Richards, Gunter Schoch, Gary Solar and W.J.(Jim) Swail (General Manager). Early in 1992, an organizing committee was formed to orga IRECkL nize a wide range of activities and events. As co-chairs we were fortunate to have a dedicated and enthusiastic planning committee CO-CHAIR CO-CHAIR comprised of: Gary Swanson — Program; Claudia Engel Boyce & 100TH ANNIVERSARY ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Barbara Maughan — Promotions; Phil Hay — Resources; Klaus Burlakow & Laurelyn Neilson (MPRA rep.) — Education; Carol Walaschuk & Ingi Ingaldson — Archives/History; Alice Ivanyshyn & Glenda Kebalo — Chronicle 100; Herb Rowe — CUPE Representative; and special support from Margaret Barbour, Wally ix 1 x TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. PART IV THE SUBURBAN EXPERIENCE 1914 - 1977 11. Parks and Recreation Services in the Suburban PART I LAYING THE GROUNDWORK 1892 - 1914 Municipalities 1914-1977 114 1. Small Town, Big Dreams 1893-1903 3 2. Boom Times 1904-1914 13 PART V COPING WITH COMPLEXITY 1960 - 1993 3. Building the City Beautiful 24 12. The Leap Forward Under Metro 1960-1971 144 13. Unicity and the Years of Uncertainty 1971-1979 162 PART II HOLDING ON 1914 - 1945 14. Hard Choices: The Eighties and Nineties 173 15. One Hundred Years of Parks and Recreation 4. Keeping Them Off the Streets 1908-1919 34 in Winnipeg 188 5. The Strike and the Twenties That Never Roared 1919-1929 42 6. Making the Best of a Bad Situation 1930-1945 55 APPENDIX 1993 in Review: 101 Reasons to Celebrate PART III THE LONG SUMMER 1946 - 1960 One Hundred Years of Service 195 7. Charles Barbour Comes to Town 64 8. Community Clubs and How They Grew 77 ENDNOTES 199 9. Parks at the Dawn of the Metro Era 1945-1960 91 10. The Struggle to Modernize 1945-1960 104 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 INDEX 213 xi XLI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Paul Panton’s editing and proofreading skills as well as his research legwork have made this a much better manuscript than This book was commissioned by the City of Winnipeg Parks would otherwise have been the case. Gerald Friesen made time in and Recreation Department as part of the celebrations honouring an already crowded schedule to read an earlier draft of this manu the centennial of Winnipeg municipal parks and recreation services script and to offer both encouragement and sound editorial advice. in 1993. As I searched for research material and answers to many Sharon Segal managed the publication process smoothly and edit questions, staff members of the department always made me feel ed the manuscript with sensitivity and skill. welcome and were unfailingly helpful. I never found the answers It is difficult to make a headlong run through 100 years of his to all of my questions but I do want to thank everyone in the tory without making errors and leaving out some developments. I department who helped me along the way. Special thanks must go take responsibility for these deficiencies as a small price for the to Carol Walaschuk, Chair of the Centennial Committee’s History enjoyment of spending some two years immersed in the parks and Sub-committee, whose enthusiasm for the project often raised my recreation history of Winnipeg. spirits when I felt overwhelmed by the task. Ingi Ingaldson of the History Sub-committee, who co-chaired the publication phase with Catherine Macdonald Carol Walaschuk, pushed the book through the final stages with determination. Tom Fred, who took on the task of caring for the department’s photographic archives, went out of his way to identi fy and file photographs to make my job easier. Dave Harrison took on the mammoth challenge of doing the layout and desktopping. Former staff members were no less helpful. Gunter Schoch shared knowledge gleaned from more than 30 years of work in the Winnipeg parks and recreation field. Margaret Barbour gave a wide-ranging oral history interview on her years working in the Recreation Branch and on her husband’s pioneering work in estab lishing the public recreation program in Winnipeg. I must also thank the archivists, records managers and librari ans who shared both their collections and their expertise.