View is southwest from the roof of Clark Hall. Photograph shows the construction of the foundation and exterior walls of the Clark Hall extension. George T. Richardson Centre and construciton materials in the background.
View is north northwest from the roof of the John R. Brodie Science Centre. Photograph shows the Knowles Douglas Students' Union Building, and the Citizens' Science Building, the Brandon College Building and Clark Hall under restoration, as well as parts of the driveway and front lawn, including the flag pole.
View is northwest from Clark Hall. Photograph shows construction materials in the area between Clark Hall and the A.E. McKenzie Building during winter. The Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium is visible in the upper right hand corner.
View is south southeast from the skywalk. Photograph shows the courtyard in winter full of vehicles, machines and building materials. Also visible are the Development and Physical Plant H-Huts, the Citizens' Science Building, the John R. Brodie Science Centre and McMaster Hall.
View is northwest from the roof of the Brandon College Building. Photograph was taken through wire fencing and shows construction on the roof of the Brandon College Building during winter. The original Clark Hall entrance to the roof is clearly visible. Portions of the A.E. McKenzie Building, Clark Hall and the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium are visible in the background.
Photograph was taken from the skywalk and shows students leaving the George T. Richardson Centre during winter. The courtyard contains construction materials. The Physical Plant H-Hut and McMaster Hall are partially visible in the background.
The idea of the Keystone Centre was first mentioned in 1958, at a meeting of the board of directors of the Manitoba Winter Fair. The Manitoba Winter Fair wanted a new facility because the old Wheat City Arena had a leaking roof and a deteriorating west wall. The old facility also had limited space and the Winter Fair felt it needed more space for expansion. The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba also had problems with their facilities, such as old barns and poor display areas. The idea of the Keystone Centre was put on hold until 1969, when the boards of the Provincial Exhibition and the Manitoba Winter Fair joined together as the Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba and the Wheat City Arena was sold and demolished. The original estimate for the cost of the Keystone Centre facilities was $4.5 million and funding would be proportioned so that the federal and provincial governments would each put in one-third of the money, with the rest coming from local donations. The financial campaign for the Keystone Centre began in 1970, and construction began in November 1970. The grand opening of the Centre was in March 1973, and coincided with the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair of that year.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains many folders full of correspondence, financial statements, meeting minutes and other documents relating to the development and construction of the Keystone Centre from 1970-1974, including those from the Keystone Executive Committee, as well as the Building Committee. Fonds also contains one folder that pertains to the Brandon Area Agricultural Development Survey from 1959. This folder contains the names and locations of all farmers in the Brandon area in 1959. The Brandon Area Agricultural Development Survey was created in 1959, in order to make farming in the Brandon area more profitable. The survey was aided by Doane Agricultural Service from St. Louis, Missouri, who had success creating agricultural development programs in the United States. Fonds also contains folders from the Provincial Exhibition with correspondence, pamphlets, estimates, and studies from the 1960's. There is also one folder belonging to the Manitoba Winter Fair, which contains correspondence and financial statements relating to the Wheat City Arena. Fonds also contains information pertaining to the proposals made in the 1960's, for the building of the Keystone Centre, as well as one folder about the Keystone campaign from 1970-73. There is also one folder about the opening of the Keystone Centre, which contains newspaper clippings and guest lists. Finally, the fonds contains information about a court case involving Albert Bobyk and Robert Stewart. Stewart was the project manager for the Building Committee and Bobyk worked on the Keystone Center. The fonds includes a report about the trial of the two men who were charged with fraud involving their work on the Keystone Centre.
Photograph shows the northwest corner of 10th Street and Princess Avenue. Traffic on the west side of Princess Avenue appears to travelling both ways. A taxi waits at the intersection.
Above the west entrance on the corner building is an electric sign that spells "Hughes Bldg." A second storey has been added to the portion of the Doig's shop that is adjacent to the Alexandra Block.