37 Issue 2 Summer Edition 2019 BUILD MANITOBA relative and owner of the Fortune Block’s sole remaining tenant, the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club. “We’d done a little bit of suburban real estate development and I just had a personal interest in tackling heritage building restoration as opposed to a new development,” Pollard recalls. “John was fighting to save his business because the building was going to be torn down and redeveloped, so we saw the chance to fix it up and do something positive for the city.” WHAT’S OLD IS NEW It took more than a new facade and fresh coat of paint to bring the buildings into the 21st century. Decades of neglect had taken their toll on both properties, leaving crews to contend with significant structural issues. What’s more, restoring both buildings meant adhering to heritage building requirements and modern building codes which had not been considered when the properties were first constructed in the 1880s. “Our clear task was to restore the building to exactly the way it was originally, but in accordance with today’s building and life safety codes,” says Pollard. “That was a significant challenge and source of frustration, because those two things are often mutually exclusive.” Pollard entrusted that challenge to the team of Jilmark Construction, the project’s general contractor, who collaborated with Unit 7 Architecture, Wolfrom Engineering, Stasynec and Associates and Jorey Electric to learn as much about the buildings as possible before beginning their work. “We knew the building very well before going in, so, architecturally speaking, there weren’t any major surprises when we got started,” says César Cruz Cázares, Associate with Unit 7 Architecture. “Of course, there were wall alignment and foundation issues that were not reflected in the construction drawings, because under our circumstances it was not possible to discover these things until construction had started.” One of the team’s first tasks was to ensure the restoration started on solid footing. JILMARK has been serving Winnipeg for the last 18 years and has a team that can assist you in any of the three processes:Construction Management, General Contracting and Design Build. Our attention to detail shows as we work closely with our clients, consultants and sub trades to meet and exceed our client’s expectations. Unit A, 1108 Henderson Hwy. Winnipeg, MB R2G 1L1 204-661-4301 | www.jilmark.com Douglas Little Photography 204.255.4842 www.joreyelectric.com CSA Z32 Electrical testing for health care facilities COMMERCIAL  INDUSTRIAL RESIDENTIAL  ENGINEERING “The footings of the original Macdonald building were not in good shape, so job one was working with the engineer on a plan to get in there, to put new strip footings in and strengthen that foundation,” says David Regehr-Wiens, Project Manager with Jilmark Construction. “This whole experience has been rewarding for everyone involved. It’s been like working on a piece of art, and we’re very excited to see how the city and future tenants react to our final creation.” – David Regehr-Wiens, Project Manager, Jilmark Construction