P.P.C.L.I. Leaving Winnipeg

Web Posted | Jun 18 2004 05:10 PM CDT <Picture>
Patricias prepare to leave 'Peg

WINNIPEG - Military families with the Second Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry are preparing to leave the city at the end of the month.

About 1,000 soldiers and their families will move from their well-known home at Kapyong Barracks on Kenaston Avenue to Shilo, near Brandon, as a result of a decision three years ago by the federal government to consolidate Manitoba's land forces.

"It is the end of over 30 years of history of this battalion and over 50 years of history of our regiment of some type of association with the City of Winnipeg," says Lt.-Col. Mike Day.

"For our soldiers, many of whom have served their whole careers here, it's a very significant change, not only in terms of workplace, but also in terms of the setting their families will be living in."

Barb Gregory, her husband, and their 18-month-old son Tyson are excited about the move, but Gregory says leaving is bittersweet.

"It's bitter because I was born and raised in Winnipeg and all my family and friends are here and I've got a lot of connections here," she says. "But, I mean, we're moving into a new place and we're building a new house, so it's new beginnings."

• School to lose a quarter of student population •

A few blocks from the base at Carpathia School, principal Marcey Dveris is saying goodbye to all her students as the school year comes to a close – but many students won't be back next year. As many of 70 of the school's 300 elementary students are moving.

Dveris says the school and the community will feel the loss of the spirit of the military group.

"They've been a wonderful parent group to be involved in, and the children bring amazing kinds of experiences," she says. "We've had winter experiences, they come and they set up survival tenting … at our school picnic last week, they brought in tanks. The families, you know, our connections are through their children."

A sign at Polo Park Shopping Centre, just across the river on Portage Avenue, sums up the community's feelings.

"The message is 'Farewell 2PPCLI, you will be missed,' and that is the sentiment of many, many Winnipeggers here," says Sandra Hagenaars, director of marketing at Polo Park.

• Prime real estate left behind •

Citizens will have two opportunities to say goodbye to the soldiers, who have been part of the community since 1969:



•a sunset ceremony will be held at the Forks Friday night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

•a parade from City Hall to the legislature gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday.



The second battalion PPCLI will be granted Freedom of the City of Winnipeg, the highest honour a military unit can receive from a community.

When the battalion leaves, the city will have 65 hectares of land to develop near some of Winnipeg's most expensive neighborhoods and along one of the city's busiest thoroughfares.

Peter Rinaldi, a senior real estate adviser for the military in Ottawa, says the community will have input about how the land is used.

Some people with ideas are already speaking up. Private companies want to build housing developments and businesses on the land. Two First Nations want the site as part of land owed to them under treaty agreements so they can create an urban reserve, and possibly build a casino.