Ninette, Man. sanatorium making a recovery

Richard O’Leary presses his power drill to the door of the vacant Ninette Sanatorium. He toggles the drill into reverse and unwinds five screws out of the wood that had sealed the entrance, and the door swings open.

The floor inside is littered. Books, rubble and dirt rest on the ground, the walls and ceilings are peeling. O’Leary steps in, and tells his dog Chance to be careful behind.

The carpenter comes to a brick fireplace and kneels before it, sticking his arm up the chimney. From his knees, he says the brick model will be perfect for an electric fireplace.

O’Leary is one of a team of three construction workers who are gutting the Ninette Sanatorium and refurbishing it to house apartments and commercial projects. The 10-year vision is underway, with the hope one apartment building will be completed this winter, having rented a suite already, and a museum is planned for the end of summer.

The final project will encompass roughly three dozen housing units next to a new museum of the sanatorium, an event venue for weddings and banquets, a childcare facility, office space and a culinary arts program with some accommodation, if all goes according to plan. Geoff Gregoire is leading the work.

“For me it’s the satisfaction of taking something someone abandoned and bringing it back to life … And it’s the challenge. For me I just want to see life back in these buildings, I just think that would be so cool,” Gregoire said. “You don’t want to lose the history.”

The renewed vision for the property spans four buildings that still stand at the Ninette Sanatorium from its history as a fresh-air getaway to recover from tuberculosis. There’s an administration building, two identical residential buildings, and another that was used to house on-site nurses.

The first building is being remodelled into an apartment building with six units. The second building will similarly be transformed into rentals. The flagship administration building of the old sanatorium is envisioned to be used for different programs when it is complete, such as the museum, as well as the home of a culinary arts program and student accommodation and daycare space. The final building, the former residence for on-site nurses, is planned for housing.

The transformation that has taken place at the first derelict, abandoned building includes kitchen cabinets, an island, a fridge, a stove, and a space for laundry machines in a suite planned for completion this month. It contrasted to the building next door, which remained in a state of atrophy, with sights like a ceiling fan drooping towards the ground.

“You can feel the humidity in here,” Gregoire said, touring the decrepit building. “That’s why you got to take it down to the studs and let it dry out … This gives you an appreciation. That’s what we start with. This is how she starts.”

To transform the building, the process begins with a complete demolition of everything except the bones of the structure, Gregoire said. The building is cleared out, and then left to sit empty for four months to air dry. When it is dry, reconstruction can start without the risk of problems like dampness and deterioration continuing.

RM of Prairie Lakes Coun. Glen Johnston said the project would help bring people through the community and drive tourism to the town. He said he supports the reconstruction as the history there was important, and he is happy to see the work to keep it alive.

“The buildings, from an architectural standpoint, are pretty amazing,” Johnston said. “It’s pretty good that somebody’s stepping up to revamp it, make it livable again in there. It’s a good thing, I think, a very good thing for the community.”

Originally opened in 1909, the sanatorium accepted patients, Johnston saying his aunt was one, to be treated for tuberculosis. The site gave patients access to fresh air, which was the treatment at the time, and also employed health-care workers until its closure in 1972. Johnston noted it employed many people, including his mother in law who began work out of school and trained as a nurse.

The building has since been bought and sold in private hands, and Gregoire is the most recent owner. Multiple attempts to make use of the building had fallen through and the property has been mostly vacant for roughly 25 years, Gregoire said. It had even been difficult to find the place when he first started.

“You literally couldn’t see anything, we spent the first year, I would say we cut 500 trees out of this property, they were fallen, broken,” he said “We dug out, like, four feet of rotten leaves.”

With the new hope emerged for the building, RM of Prairie Lakes council is working on a bylaw to designate the administration building as a municipal heritage site. The process allows for the owner to apply for government grants.

Karra Burney, a local who is helping to restore the sanatorium, works in her spare time to apply for grants to create the museum. Funding had not been confirmed as of late June, however she said she is hopeful. So far, work has come from volunteer time, private donations and out of the owner’s pocket, she said.

“I believe that there is a tremendous amount of history that needs to be protected and shared revolving around the sanatorium,” said Burney. “The building is a shell holding the stories that are being lost. It is an important part of Ninette’s history, and I am thrilled to be a small part of bringing those items, stories and the past back to a place that people are interested.”

In the administration building, the plan includes a first phase to fix the roof and revitalize the main floor, where the museum will be housed. The goal is to open the museum for the Ninette Sanatorium by the end of summer 2025, with the other projects set to come afterward.

Future phases of the restoration will include renovating the dining area and kitchen on the second floor of the administration building, with the goal of launching a culinary training program, and offering space for banquets and weddings and community events. Office space is also the goal for instructors, as well as on-site child care on the same floor.

Plans for the museum include six rooms showcasing old medical equipment, clothing, memorabilia, machinery and photographs of the sanatorium when it was running in the 20th century.

The community is happy to see the development taking place, said Kevin Cameron, Chief Administrative Officer of the RM of Prairie Lakes. He said anything that introduces more housing to the community is a bonus, and he believes the rebuild will be an attraction, especially if the museum goes forward as planned.

“Anything that could draw tourists to the area is certainly a benefit to the municipality,” he said. “Museums are popular, and we think it would be a great addition to things to see and do around Pelican Lake and in the Ninette area.”

For the time being, all six new rental units are spoken for, said Gregoire. He said he hopes to begin work on the second building before winter.

This story was originally published in the Brandon Sun. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.