April 12, 2019 will go down as a monumental day in Niverville’s history. On this day, ministers and leaders from all levels of government made an appearance at the Niverville Arena in order to make formal announcements regarding their investment to the people of the community and the surrounding area.

The big news? The much-anticipated Community Resource Centre (CRC) will be ready to break ground as early as Monday, April 15—just three days from now—thanks to grant contributions of $7.8 million from the federal government and an additional $3.5 million from the province.

“So much of the activity in our communities… has to do with places like this, where we gather, and it’s also a way of acknowledging how important it is that our governments work together, because when we do, almost anything can happen,” Jim Carr, the federal Minister of International Trade Development, told the gathered crowd. “Spaces like these play a huge role in all of our lives as Manitobans.”

The initial plans for the CRC began to take shape in 2014, although Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck admits that improving recreation options in the community has been on council’s mind since at least 2001.

Today, with 29 percent of the town’s population under the age of 14, it’s never been more important. Demographics like these mark Niverville as the youngest community in Manitoba.

“The residents here are very generous… but you can’t just keep asking [them to donate to] everything because [we’re all] limited, so you had to be patient,” Dyck says. “We needed other levels of government funding. This [financial promise today] is what we needed. We committed $5 million three years ago with the hopes that this would show that we are serious.”

Carr says he understands first-hand the important role that community campuses play in the life of a town’s residents.

“Growing up in south Winnipeg, I spent all of my time at the community club,” Carr says. “This was where lifelong friendships were forged. We exercised our bodies and our minds… this is where we forged who we were in our identity. For Niverville, whether you’re taking centre stage in the performing arts spaces, or chasing a puck down the rink, or monkeying around on the indoor jungle gym, or taking advantage of new childcare services, the centre will have something for everyone.”

All parties seemed to agree that it was the unique and multifaceted plan for Niverville’s CRC that made it an investment they could sink their teeth into. The proposed 99,000-square-foot facility, once complete, will house an NHL-size arena, fieldhouse, and regulation-size ball courts. But it will also serve as an optimal gathering place with a registered childcare facility, a performing arts space, a two-storey indoor playground, meeting rooms, multipurpose rooms, a teaching kitchen, and rental space.

A Project of Firsts

The CRC will be known as a project of firsts. It will be the first facility of its kind in Manitoba to be connected to a high school, something made possible by Hanover School Division’s cooperation in locating the school onsite.

The CRC is also the very first project in all of Canada to be made possible through the federal government’s Investing in Manitoba initiative.

“I think it’s very important that the people who go to the polls and elect us know that, in spite of all the noise that you might here, we really do often work collectively for the betterment of our people,” Carr adds. “It’s important… [for] the democracy that we share.”

While Kelvin Goertzen, Manitoba’s Minister of Education and Training, agrees that government funding plays a role, he acknowledges that, in the end, it’s the people on the ground floor who really make things happen.

“One of the things I learned and will always remember in representing Niverville is the tremendous creativity that this community has in getting projects done,” Goertzen says. “In this community, [people] don’t just talk the talk but open their wallets and walk the walk… Governments get to stand in front of podiums and make announcements, and I’ll tell you that that feels good. But it’s really about you. It’s not about government.”

Carr also shares these sentiments, suggesting that the CRC project became a reality due to the fortitude and persistence of the community and its leadership.

“It’s easy for [us to see] that [Niverville] is a place that knows its future and how it wants to get there [based] around all of the best values: recreation, culture, economic development, and young people gathering together to forge lifelong relationships,” says Carr. “[We] have [all] worked so well on this project, so it’s probably a model for other projects to coalesce around the same values.”

The Project’s Roots

Mayor Dyck wants to remind everyone, though, that the community vision took root long before many actually remember.

“The residents of Niverville have waited a long time for today’s announcement,” he said in his emotional address. “Some longer than others. Today, in this room with us, is both a council member, Chris Wiebe, and a former mayor, Clare Braun, that fundraised for [the existing arena] as school-age boys back in 1967. Also here today is our deputy mayor, John Funk, who has served on council for over 30 years. Back in the 80s, he ran on a platform of bringing recreation to Niverville. Seeing their smiles today makes me so happy.”

Mayor Dyck also chose to acknowledge the generosity of the Church family, who, in the 1960s, donated the parcel of land on which the CRC will sit in the hopes of providing recreational space for the community.

As well, Dyck recognized the Indigenous community that once inhabited this land.

“When our forefathers came up the Red River and settled in this area, it was our Indigenous neighbours that assisted them,” Dyck said. “The CRC project will have part of it set aside to honour our Indigenous friends and neighbours and to acknowledge the relationships both past and present that we have with them.”

Final Fundraising

For the CRC fundraising committee, this important commitment from all three levels of governments means they, too, can make positive strides forward. The total cost of the CRC build is estimated at around $19 million. Now, with assurances of grants totalling $16.3 million, the committee has a better idea of the fundraising mark they need to achieve.

“We have been wondering when we should really begin the major part of our fundraising focus,” says committee member Clare Braun. “We’re in the position to raise $3 million, which includes donations, naming rights, and all of those kinds of things. We didn’t want to start before we knew that we were going to get the grants, so the announcement today from the federal and provincial governments is huge.”

Residents can watch for a variety of fundraising events in the near future, including the Sparkle Spring Gala being held at the Heritage Centre on Friday, May 10.