© 2020, Christian Cassidy
The Brandon Sun building at 501 Rosser Avenue is for sale for a cool $1.7 million. You can check out the listing here.
The Sun moved into their new headquarters in November 1964 and while it might look like a typical '60s commercial building that would be comfortable tucked away in any industrial park from that era, its bones date back to the late 1940s.
March 30, 1930, Brandon Sun
John Deere Plow Company's Canadian division announced in March 1930 that it had bought up land covering 30,000 square feet in central Brandon on which to build a regional sales office, show room, warehouse, and parts depot. Before plans could be finalized, world events derailed the project.
The Depression ran deeper and longer than many had predicted, then World War II regulations restricted the production of farm machinery as factories converted to wartime production. John Deere waited it out these events whilst customers in the area were served by a franchise dealership owned by W. A. Prugh.
John Deere was finally ready to build in 1947. It took out a $150,000 building permit, the largest issued in the city that year, and in June awarded the construction contract to Pearson Brothers of Winnipeg. Construction was to start the autumn for a mid-1948 completion date, but there was another delay.
Plans called for a 'virtually fireproof' building
with concrete block walls, steel beam supports for the roof, and a reinforced concrete floor. This wasn't the only project looking for steel as everyone from appliance makers and locomotive manufacturers to government infrastructure departments were all desperate to catch up on years of lost production. Many smaller construction projects had to wait in line for steel to become more widely available.
March 12, 1949, Brandon Sun
Construction finally got underway in 1948 and lasted until March 1949.
There was only one mishap on the site reported. In July 1948, a rigger was working atop a wall when he was knocked to the
ground by a steel girder being hoisted into place. Despite falling 20 feet, it was reported that his most serious injury was a dislocated shoulder.
The building has two sections. The the sales building at the front of the property featured large windows looking onto a showroom, a second level for sales offices, and partial basement. It measured 97 feet x 140 feet. At the rear of the lot was the single-storey warehouse serviced by a branch rail line which measured 95 feet x 200 feet.
As it neared completion a Brandon Sun reporter wrote, "the building has a very substantial appearance and is one whose architecture will stand the test of many years." (Unfortunately, a photo of the original building can't be found.)
The official opening of the building took place the week of March 7, 1949.
Despite this large investment, John Deere's Canadian corporate office decided to centralize its Manitoba operations in Winnipeg a decade later. It retained ownership of the building and in 1959 leased it to Brandon Automobiles Ltd. for use as their used car showroom.
GBR's drawing of the renovated building, May 30, 1964, Brandon Sun
In December 1963, John Deere sold the building to Sun Publishing Co.
Ltd. which owned the Brandon Sun. It had been looking for a
location to bring its four locations around town together under one
roof. (There was the newspaper division located at at
24-10th Street since 1905, its commercial printing business at 129-12th
Street, and two warehouses.)
The Sun hired Winnipeg architects Green Blankstein Russell Associates to redesign the building for their purposes. E. Murray Simpson, head of the firm's Brandon office, is credited for the design. The $243,576 construction contract was awarded to Malcolm Construction Co. Ltd. of Winnipeg in May 1964.
Factoring in the purchase price, renovations, and equipment - which include a new main press - the Sun's total investment in its new headquarters was estimated to be $550,000.
The biggest change to the interior of the building was the redevelopment of the front entrance so that instead of entering onto a showroom floor visitors were met with a staircase to the office level. The large showroom windows on the building's Rosser Avenue facade were replaced with pre-cast white concrete panels separated by aluminum framed vertical strip windows.
General office, left, and newsroom, June 17, 1965, Brandon Sun
The Sun and its other divisions began moving into the new space on Friday, November 6, 1964. The next day's paper was the last published entirely at the old address.
The official opening of the building waited until its 83rd birthday on June 17, 1965. Gilles Purcell, the son of a former editor and general manager of The
Canadian Press, attended the low-key event at which he unveiled a plaque. Over the next few days there was a public open house from 2 to 4 pm.
The building was larger than the sun needed. Soon after its opening the Sun
advertised 2,400 square feet of space for rent with a private
entrance.
July 14, 1970, Brandon Sun
A change in ownership came in September 1987 the Whitehead family, who had been majority owners of the Brandon Sun for 82 years, sold Sun Publishing Ltd. to Thomson Newspapers Inc.. Thomson was the largest newspaper corporation in the country and by this time already owned the Winnipeg Free Press.
In 2002, FP Newspapers Inc., its current owner, was created to acquire the Winnipeg Free Press and Brandon Sun from Thomson.
The Sun was dealt a blow in April 2010 when it lost the contract to print the Globe and Mail for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The presses at 501 Rosser fell silent five months later when FP Newspapers made the decision to print the Brandon Sun at its Winnipeg Free Press facility.
Update: In April 2022, the Brandon Sun announced that it will relocate to a suite in the Town Centre Mall in the spring.
Realtor ad says "built in 1974"
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