Historic Sites of Manitoba: Inland Cement Plant (1191 Kenaston Boulevard, Winnipeg)

This site in south Winnipeg was acquired in mid-1963 by Inland Cement Limited for construction of a manufacturing facility for Portland cement. Built at a cost of some $16 million, the plant became operational in September 1965. At the facility, high-calcium limestone and gypsum, quarried elsewhere in Manitoba, along with clay excavated from a pit immediately west of the site or from nearby pits of the Canada Cement Company was mixed and fired at high temperature in a kiln to produce a fine gray powder. The initial annual production was estimated at 8,000,000 sacks of cement to supply an area from Thunder Bay (Ontario) to central British Columbia.

By the early 1990s, the demand for Portland cement had decreased, due to the effects of recession in the construction industry, to such a degree that, in 1993, the plant operated for the equivalent of only 85 days. Local grinding of clinker (the product of kiln firing) ended in 1992 and the last production of cement occurred in 1994. At this time, the plant was shut down, along with a counterpart in Regina (Saskatchewan), and manufacturing was consolidated at the company’s facility in Edmonton. The site was used for local storage and distribution of cement delivered from the Edmonton plant. However, machinery had been removed from the abandoned plant.

The entire structure, except the concrete silos, was demolished in late 2019. The silos were demolished in March 2023.

Aerial view of the former Inland Cement plant (August 2017) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Abandoned offices of the former Inland Cement plant (August 2017) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Demolition of the remaining silos from the Inland Cement plant (March 2023) Source: George Penner Site Location (lat/long): N49.83674, W97.21218 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: British-American Cement Plant (Sturgeon Road, RM of Rosser)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canada Cement Plant (McGillivray Boulevard, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Cement war is on,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 September 1963, page 55.

“Inland begins production,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 September 1965, page 61.

“Industrial minerals in Manitoba” by James D. Bamburak, Geological Services Branch, Manitoba Energy and Mines, 29 September 1998.

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and James Bamburak.

Page revised: 10 March 2023

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