Mennonite Heritage Village has been awarded $100,000 in funding for the rehabilitation of the Waldheim House at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) in Steinbach, Manitoba. This funding, as announced by then Member of Parliament Ted Falk, is part of the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program.
The Waldheim House at Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba.
The rehabilitation of the Waldheim House will take place over two years, beginning in spring 2016, and will include repairs to the exterior logs and interior walls and replacement of the existing roof with a thatched roof authentic to this type of building and its period of construction. This funding, amounting to just over 35% of the anticipated project cost, will be supplemented by several community organizations.
The Government of Canada’s investment in this restoration project at our museum is timely both in terms of the current condition of the structure as well as the celebration of various elements of Canadian heritage in 2017. ~ Barry Dyck, Executive Director of MHV
Built in 1876 the Waldheim House is the oldest historic building at Mennonite Heritage Village. This log structure was originally constructed by Julius Dyck in the former village of Waldheim, just south of Morden, MB. It is representative of the first permanent dwellings Russian Mennonite immigrants built when they arrived in southeastern Manitoba (the ‘East Reserve’) in 1874 and south central Manitoba (the ‘West Reserve’) in 1875. Curator Andrea Dyck commented, “The museum is privileged to include the Waldheim House in its collection of heritage buildings and is grateful to the people of the ‘West Reserve’ for providing us with this significant artifact. Its restoration will enable the museum to continue to share this Russian Mennonite settlement story for many years to come.”
Mennonite Heritage Village is a museum whose purpose is to preserve and exhibit, for present and future generations, the experiences and the stories of the Russian Mennonites and their contributions to Manitoba. The street village with its 16 heritage buildings is open to the public from May 1 to September 30 and hosts approximately 45,000 guests annually. The galleries, library, gift shop, and meeting rooms are open to the public year round and are extensively used by organizations, individuals, and researchers in the community. Mennonite Heritage Village celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.
“Such partnerships are so valuable to organizations like ours,” says MHV Executive Director Barry Dyck. When Government and Business join forces to support the work of heritage organizations, the whole community benefits.”
