125 years later, Manitoba school building still bringing community together

Inside the former Napinka School building in Napinka, Man., in an undated image. (Shelley Boulet)

It has been decades since a fieldstone school in the southwest corner of Manitoba regularly hosted students, but over a century since being erected, the building continues to bring members of the community together.

In June, the former Napinka School building—now a drop-in centre—celebrated its 125th anniversary, bringing in more attendees than the unincorporated community’s population.

“It’s just the hub of our community,” said Susan Ross, president of the Napinka Drop-In Centre. “It kind of keeps us together, but we welcome everybody.”

Ross, who was born in the community and currently resides there, said the milestone was marked with a remembrance service at the Napinka Cemetery followed by speeches, coffee, and cake at the drop-in centre.

For many years, Napinka School, located approximately 275 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg in Napinka, provided an education to students in the region.

According to JoAnne Juce, administrator for the Turtle Mountain-Souris Plains Heritage Association, construction of the school began in 1897 by gathering fieldstones just south of Highway 3.

“And so, people just went out and they picked up these fairly large rocks,” she said. “I don’t know how they did it, because they didn’t have machines.”

Juce said the stones would have been “painstakingly” hauled to the highway before being moved several kilometres to the present-day site.

Cut and placed together by a stonemason, the stones would go on to form the two-story structure, which initially lacked plumbing. By 1900, Juce said the structure was erected; however, the school did not open for classes until the following year.

“It was mostly elementary, because in those days, the government supported kids going to Grade 8, and after Grade 8, it was up to the families if they wanted the children to go further,” she said.

In 1959, Juce said Napinka School consolidated with Menota School and Tremblay School as a dwindling rural population led to declining enrolment. She said an expansion to the building around the same time caused the school’s square footage to increase by about 50 to 60 per cent.

“They built a section at the north end, and they added indoor washrooms and more rooms so then they could accommodate the high schoolers,” Juce said.

By 1975, the school closed, and children from Napinka would attend school in Melita, approximately 12 kilometres southwest of the community.

However, Ross said shortly after the building ceased operating as a school, it became a seniors’ friendship centre—before eventually becoming the present-day drop-in centre.

“They just love it,” Ross said. “People come to enjoy and relax, meet up with some fellow people, just have a coffee and talk about what is going on… We have farmers coming and going, talking about the crops and cattle.”

Ross, who was a former student in the old school building, said the drop-in centre is the heart of the community, which now has a population of less than 75 people.

She said the drop-in centre offers a morning coffee and fellowship from Monday to Saturday, from approximately 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., “or when the last person leaves.”

“We have a lot of chit-chat, and getting caught up or they can tour the museum,” Ross said. “We have a library, we have a meeting room, we have a pool room with two pool tables and a shuffleboard, and if I’m not busy, I can tour them through the old school.”

However, Ross said attendees must sign a waiver before entering the aged building.

For Maurice Saltel, Reeve of the Municipality of Brenda–Waskada, he said the drop-in centre offers “true community.”

“I’d have to say all the communities that I know of in southwestern Manitoba have a common meeting place for people. And in Napinka, that’s the place where people can meet,” Saltel said.

“I think it would be great to make sure that the history of the place is not forgotten, because it’s a strong lesson to everyone on citizenship.”

‘The place to be at one time’: Reeve

According to Juce, Napinka used to be much larger and was a “fairly hopping place.”

“Anything you would want in a town was there for you, plus all the community activities.”

Now, Ross said the community is “so small,” with few other buildings, such as a community hall, an old fire station and a Royal Canadian Legion branch. She said her 92-year-old mother is the oldest resident in the community.

“Napinka was the place to be at one time,” Saltel said. “Most of this country, at one time, lived in rural places, and these rural places were thriving and bustling places. And locations like Napinka would have been among the best in that class.”

In 1994, the former Napinka School building was designated as a heritage site by the local municipality.

For Juce, she said the building remains a celebration of the “courage, tenacity, and dreams” of Napinka’s founders and a monument to the early settlers’ value of education.

“(It honours) the small community that still keeps memories alive.”