Living Prairie Museum
July–Aug. (Daily 10–5)
Sep. (Sun. 10–5)
25 Ness Super Express
83 - Unicity - Strauss Drive - Murray Industrial Park
The Living Prairie Museum is a 30-acre (12 ha) tall grass prairie preserve located between Daisy Road and Harcourt Street, east of Ness Avenue in the St. James-Assiniboia suburb of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
It was discovered in 1968 when two botanists from a local sub-committee of the International Biological Program surveyed Manitoba for native prairie plant communities.[1] Of more than 60 sites that were researched, only four were found uncultivated. One of the largest undisturbed sites was discovered in a residential area of Winnipeg. Today a vestige of this original prairie community has been set aside as a City of Winnipeg Nature Park, called the Living Prairie Museum.
The Living Prairie Museum is home to over 160 species of prairie grasses and wildflowers, as well as a great array of prairie wildlife. In Manitoba only 1/20 of 1% of original tall grass prairie remains. The Living Prairie Museum is one of the few preserves of this once vast ecosystem. This museum is defined by the historical interpretation of the tall grass prairie of the Winnipeg Region.
The museum has an interpretative centre with displays on prairie history and ecology as well as an interactive art installation by Winnipeg artist Collin Zipp, titled lost_landscape.[2]
History
The City of St. James-Assiniboia set aside set aside 26.5 acres (10.7 ha) of virgin land untouched by urban development in Assiniboia, Manitoba, a suburb of Winnipeg to create the Living Prairie Museum in 1970. Preserving the land, it was projected to cost $90,000 over the 1970-1980/82 time period to maintain the space.[1] The Report to St. James-Assiniboia Council at the time said:
The importance of the St. James prairie as a sample of original vegetation can hardly be over-emphasized. More than 125 plant species have already been found on the site, and it is probable that others occur.
Many of these are endangered species in Manitoba, for each year many natural areas disappear through agriculture and urbanization.
Because of its location within the city this area offers an unusual for young and old to enjoy a natural remnant of our heritage.[1]
In 1973 an interpretive centre was approved by Winnipeg Council, who agreed to pay $50,000 (25% of the cost) of the 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) and would be counted as a Centennial project.[3] A sod turning ceremony, attended by new Governor General Jules Leger took place in late April 1974.[4] The Interpretive Centre was opened on June 23, 1976.[5]
A year later, a group of residents lobbied to have an additional 50–100 acres (20–40 ha), at the time zoned as Industrial, be added to the Living Prairie Museum.[6]
In the 1960s Metro planned the Western Freeway to cut through the Living Prairie Museum. Residents suggested it be built further north, before the project was cancelled.[6]
Affiliations
The museum is affiliated with CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
References
- ^ a b c "Plot Of Virgin Prairie To Form Living Museum". Winnipeg Free Press. April 23, 1970. p. 62.
- ^ "Lost Landscape". Winnipeg Arts Council. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- ^ "'Living Prairie' Advances". Winnipeg Free Press. March 23, 1973. p. 8.
- ^ Street, Claire (April 27, 1974). "Leger Makes Many Friends". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 82.
- ^ "About". Friends of the Living Prairie Museum. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ a b "Residents Want Park Enlarged". Winnipeg Free Press. April 26, 1974. p. 31.
External links
- Living Prairie Museum
- Living Prairie Virtual Museum
- Friends of the Living Prairie Museum
- v
- t
- e
- Asessippi
- Atikaki
- Bakers Narrows
- Beaudry
- Beaver Creek
- Bell Lake
- Birch Island
- Birch Point
- Birds Hill
- Burge Lake
- Camp Morton
- Caribou River
- Chitek Lake Anishinaabe
- Clearwater Lake
- Colvin Lake
- Criddle/Vane Homestead
- Duck Mountain
- Duff Roblin
- Elk Island
- Fisher Bay
- Grand Beach
- Grand Rapids
- Grand Valley
- Grass River
- Hecla-Grindstone
- Hnausa Beach
- Hyland
- Kettle Stones
- Kinwow Bay
- Lake St. Andrew
- Lake St. George
- Little Limestone Lake
- Lockport
- Lundar Beach
- Manigotagan River
- Manipogo
- Marchland
- Margaret Bruce
- Memorial
- Moose Lake
- Neso Lake
- Netley Creek
- Nopiming
- Norris Lake
- North Steeprock Lake
- Nueltin Lake
- Numaykoos Lake
- Oak Lake
- Overflowing River
- Paint Lake
- Patricia Beach
- Pembina Valley
- Pinawa Dam
- Pinawa
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- Primrose
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- Red Deer River
- River Road
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- Swan River
- Trappest Monastery
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- Twin Lakes
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- Wallace Lake
- Watchorn
- Wekusko Falls
- Whitefish Lake
- Whitemouth Falls
- Whiteshell
- William Lake
- Winnipeg Beach
- Woodridge
- Yellow Quill
- Zed Lake
- Agassiz
- Belair
- Brightstone Sand Hill
- Cat Hills
- Cormorant
- Duck Mountain
- Moose Creek
- Northwest Angle
- Porcupine
- Sandilands
- Spruce Woods
- Swan-Pelican
- Turtle Mountain
- Wampum
- Whiteshell
- Armit Meadows
- Baralzon Lake
- Birch River
- Brokenhead River
- Brokenhead Wetland
- Cedar Bog
- Cowan Bog
- Holmgren Pines
- Jennifer and Tom Shay
- Kaweenakumik Islands
- Lake St. George Caves
- Lake Winnipegosis Salt Flats
- Lewis Bog
- Libau Bog
- Little George Island
- Long Point
- Palsa Hazel
- Pelican Islands
- Piney
- Pocock Lake
- Red Rock
- Reindeer Island
- Ste. Anne Bog
- St. Labre Bog
- Walter Cook Caves
- Wampum
- Whitemouth Bog
- Whitemouth Island
- Whitemouth River
- Woodridge
- Alonsa
- Assiniboine Corridor
- Basket Lake
- Bernice
- Brandon Hills
- Broad Valley
- Broomhill
- C. Stewart Stevenson
- Catfish Creek
- Cayer
- Churchill
- Delta Marsh
- Deerwood
- Dog Lake
- Ebor
- Gerald W. Malaher
- Grant's Lake
- Gypsumville
- Harrison
- Hilbre
- Holmfield
- Kasatamagan Sipi
- Kasatamagan
- Lake Francis
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- Lee Lake
- Lee River
- Little Birch
- Little Saskatchewan
- Manatagao
- Maple Lake
- Mars Hill
- Marshy Point
- Moose Creek
- Narcisse
- Oak Hammock Marsh
- Observation Point
- Oranole
- Otter Lake
- Parkland
- Pembina Valley
- Penonan Point
- Pierson
- Point River
- Portage Sandhills
- Proven Lake
- Proulx Lake
- Rat River
- Red Deer
- Riverside
- Saskeram
- Sleeve Lake
- Souris River Bend
- Spruce Woods
- Spur Woods
- St. Malo
- Steeprock
- Stuartburn
- Thalberg Bush
- Tiger Hills
- Tom Lamb
- Turtle Mountain
- Upper Assiniboine
- Wakopa
- Washow Bay
- Watson P. Davidson
- Weiden
- Wellington
- Westlake
- Whitemouth Bog
- Whitemud Watershed
- Whitewater Lake
World Biosphere Reserves
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