Elkhorn museum raising money for new roof

July 14, 2025, 10:30 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s been known for some time that the roof on top of the Manitoba Antique Auto Museum needed an update, but viewing the project from a different angle has spurred on the immediacy to replacement.

“We are redoing the original 100 feet of the museum that was built in 1966,” said Tawna McLean, LUD Elkhorn Office Manager. “We had Crane Steel come out and inspect it last fall, because we obviously knew inside we were having issues with the elements getting in.”

After flying a drone over the roof, the conclusion was drawn that a bad batch of steel was used back when the roof was originally constructed. Despite this fact, it has provided shelter from the elements for nearly 70 years.

“You can see the squares of the bad batch, and even in the original section, there’s non-rusted squares, and then there’s rusted squares,” McLean said. “We’ve known it was coming, and we applied for different grants and got denied. Then this year, we just decided we’re at that breaking point—it has to be done.”

Unsuccessful in securing a provincial grant to cover the work, it was on to Plan B—fundraising.

“We were just not sure where we were going to get the money from, but knew it’s time we have to do something, or we’re going to have to be looking at closing the place, not just replacing the roof,” McLean explained. “We decided we would have to do a lot of fundraising, and we approached the RM (of Wallace-Woodworth) if they would give us a bridge loan to help us be able to get the job done while we continue to fundraise. They approved that, so they gave us $80,000 and we have five years to pay them back.”

In addition, money was secured from the Thomas Sill Foundation through the Elkhorn and Area Foundation.

“We have received $30,000 in grants from them, and then we are putting in our own $47,440, and then the RM is making up the difference while we continue to fundraise,” McLean said. “We’ve already been receiving grants from local businesses and individuals—we’re excited!”

The project is anticipated to cost around $140,000 with Crane Steel to begin work in December.

“The intent is we will not have to remove the collection,” McLean said. “We will have to move it, but not empty the building.”

With work done in 20-foot sections, cars can be moved from the work area temporarily.

“We’ll move the cars out of the way, and because they have the cranes, they’ll come and lift from above, redo the insulation and everything,” McLean explained. “They anticipate nothing’s going to fall onto cars, but we’re going to move them, just to be safe. When the first section is done, then we’ll move the cars out from the next section, and they’ll do the next section, and so on and so on until the 100 feet are done.”

So how can the public help? One yard at a time.

There are four donation levels that will secure generous donors with a 3’x3’ portion of roof, from Friend of the Project at $50, a Silver Square Yard for $100, Gold at $250, and a Platinum level sponsorship set at $500. To buy a square yard of roof, people can contact McLean at 204- 845-2161 or t.mclean@wallace-woodworth.com.

The museum is home to more than 100 vehicles, dating back to a 1908 Reo operated by a two-cylinder, chain-drive engine.