Decades-old Manitoba grain elevator demolished

CTV’s Joseph Bernacki has more on the Austin grain elevator coming down.

A wooden grain elevator that has stood in a southern Manitoba community for 75 years has come crashing down.

On Wednesday morning, the grain elevator in Austin came down during a scheduled demolition after a period of disuse. Approximately 100 people—including attendees from Winnipeg—gathered to watch it fall.

“I understand there are hazards and they have to come down, but at the same time, it is still a little sad to see something that hard work was put into,” said Shaina Bergen, who owns Phil’s Fine Foods with her husband across the street from the former grain elevator.

Bergen said she has watched the elevator, about 125 kilometres west of Winnipeg, fall into disrepair in recent years.

She said she wasn’t surprised to hear it had to come down but was happy to see a group of people gather to pay their respects.

“My husband and I were actually joking that it kind of reminded us of Corner Gas because the entire town was out to watch something as simple as an elevator falling,” Bergen said as she laughed.

For retired truck driver and Austin resident Erle Fehr, the elevator was a goalpost reminding him he was close to home. The elevator was a staple in the community ever since he was a kid.

“A little sad to see the historical buildings come down that you just been so used to seeing all the time,” Fehr said.

Gordon Goldsborough, executive director of Manitoba Historical Society, said grain elevators like the one built in 1951 in Austin are a dying breed on the Prairies.

He said they are the heart of the community.

“We have a countdown of grain elevators in Manitoba, and it presently stands at 114,” Goldsborough said Wednesday.

“At one time, there were over 700 elevators in Manitoba.”

Goldsborough estimates of the remaining 114, less than half are still in operation.

Luckily for Austin residents, an even older grain elevator still stands high above the treeline.

At the Manitoba Agricultural Museum just down the road, their grain elevator from 1901 remains the oldest standing elevator in the province. It originally served the Austin community and was transported to the museum grounds in the mid-1970s.

Last year, the museum spent over $9,000 in repairs to help keep the building sound for a few more decades.

“Conversely to the elevator that was torn down today, which had disrepair from water and the elements getting in, these expensive but very worthy conservation repairs is why we do that,” said Tricia Dyck, collections and programming manager at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum.

“It was the lifeblood of the town.”