Fort la Reine Museum director Emma Ens-MacIver says last week’s storm caused significant damage to one of the site’s most important heritage homes. She explains that aging infrastructure makes the museum especially vulnerable to severe weather.
Ens-MacIver notes that the Case House, built in 1922, suffered the worst impact when a ceiling collapsed, soaking sheetrock and seeping into an upstairs bedroom. The damage came just as the museum secured a provincial Heritage Conservation Grant to restore the roof and windows this fall.
“So we did receive a Heritage Conservation Grant recently for the Case House roof, but it’s a matching grant, so we’ve had to raise 50% of the funds” Ens-MacIver says. “It’s a large project but I would like to stabilize the roof and then also at the same time, we want to replace the windows because it’s just better to seal the entire envelope at once.”
She adds that the grant will cover half the project, but with the new damage, the museum may fall behind schedule. The restoration work is especially important, she says, because the Case House and nearby Hourie House were both municipally designated as heritage properties earlier this year, which requires conservation to heritage standards.
Fundraising and community support
Ens-MacIver explains that the museum continues to fundraise for multiple restoration projects, including the Case House, the Hourie House foundation, and the historic trading post. Community support has been strong, with donations helping complete recent work, but the storm damage has created new challenges.
She continues that, while unexpected setbacks like this are difficult, the museum is determined to preserve its heritage buildings and collections for the long term.
Impact on museum programming
The Case House has become one of the museum’s busiest spaces, hosting popular tea parties and other community events. Ens-MacIver says the building’s spacious design makes it a central location for programming, and the goal is to restore it fully so activities can continue without interruption.
“This is our main tea party location and we’ve seen a huge increase in bookings this year, more than we’ve ever had,” Ens-MacIver notes. “The hope is with restoration, we would fix up and screen in the porch so we can have events outside in the fall.”
She explains that events bring vital revenue and community engagement, which makes protecting the Case House a priority. Still, she says natural disasters remain an ongoing threat to the museum’s heritage homes, many of which are more than a century old.
Ens-MacIver says roofing work is still scheduled to begin this fall, but with water now pouring in, temporary fixes such as tarping are urgently needed to prevent further loss. She says the hope is to complete the repairs before winter, ensuring the building can be used for decades to come.
The museum relies heavily on donations from residents to bridge gaps in project funding, as provincial grants only go so far. Ens-MacIver says Manitoba museums receive significantly less heritage support than those in other provinces, making community generosity all the more vital. Every contribution, she says, directly strengthens the museum’s ability to preserve local history while keeping its programming alive.
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