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| Kelvingrove Apartments |
Half a year has passed since the eviction of some 90 tenants at the heritage rental apartments on Bayview Ave. in Leaside. The modest structures known as the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven apartments are now vacant, except for certain newer units more recently built over the garages on the spacious property. What’s being done to these small housekeeping apartments which were so prized and loved by those who were thrown out? The answer is not very much. Looking through windows and door glass of the apartments reveals quite limited types of work. Typically, the openings between the tiny kitchens and the sitting area of the apartments have been widened, as seen in the inset pictures. Workmen say that “everything” is going to be done over but by most ways of assessing this, the improvements would appear to be superficial. We see things like kitchen and bathroom fixtures. That will certainly make things nicer in the units but it does not appear that they are going to be merged to make larger and more richly-rentable places.
Owned by Manitoba Pension Fund
The ultimate owner of the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven Apartments is the Civil Service Superannuation Board of Manitoba.(CSSBM). It is a pension fund for Manitoba teachers and others. A number of holding companies exist to cloud the ownership and the most commonly named of these is ADMNS Kelvingrove. Decisions about the future of the apartments, including the evictions, are made by the nine-member investment committee of the CSSBM. The Internet information provided by the NDP government reveals the committee is chaired by Peter G. Munro and includes the Manitoba Deputy Minister of Finance, John Clarkson. The Kelvingrove, Glen-Leven and related properties were the subject of a bitter battle between the owner and the Leaside Property Owners Association in the years following 2010. The LOPA said the buildings were historic and part of the community’s heritage. It won that battle. While it saved the buildings, it could not save the homes of the Leasiders who lived there. The simple red brick buildings between 1351 and 1365 Bayview on the east side were built by Howard Talbot, who served as Mayor of Leaside from 1938 to 1947.