Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pacific Junction School (715 Cathcart Street, Winnipeg)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

Located on Cathcart Street in the Charleswood suburb of Winnipeg, this elementary school was built in 1987 and named after the former Pacific Junction Railway Station, which previously stood at the eastern corner of Elmhurst Road and Wilkes Avenue. There, in the early 1900s, the Canadian Northern Railway line merged with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway line, forming a single track towards Winnipeg. The first trains arrived around 1905, with the Loudoun School built nearby in 1910, and a post office following two years later. A bronze plaque commemorating the pioneers of the early Pacific Junction was presented to the school by the Charleswood Historical Society.

The 32,000-square-foot Pacific Junction School was built on designs of the Winnipeg architectural firm MCM Architects at a cost of about $2.5 million. It opened to students in September 1987 and was officially opened at a ribbon-cutting event on 30 November 1987 attended by Assiniboine South School Division Board Chairman Ron Statham, Assistant Deputy Minister (Administration and Finance) Tim Sale on behalf of Education Minister Roland Penner, Community Services Minister Maureen Hemphill, Charleswood MLA Jim Ernst, Vice-President of the Charleswood Historical Society Len Van Roon, Principal Paul Gluck, John G. Taubensee of Taubensee Construction, and Glen Cockburn of MCM Architects. The K-6 school features an independent daycare facility and a 750-square-foot community room, cost-shared between the Assiniboine South (now Pembina Trails School Division) and the City’s Parks and Recreation Division.

Principals

Period

Principal

1987-1996

Paul Gluck

1996-1998

Xavier Abrioux

1998-2006

Cindy Tinsley

2006-2008

Elaine MacDougall

2008-2011

Janet Gray

2011-?

?

2018-?

Caterina Romeo-Mzakar

?-?

Kathy Bru

2019-2022

Troy Calder

Vice-Principals

Period

Vice-Principal

1989-1991

Robert “Rob” Williams

1991-1996

Pat Bottrell

1996-1998

Cindy Tinsley

1998-2001

Laura Zimmerman

2001-2005

Elaine MacDougall

Teachers

Among the teachers of Pacific Junction School was Pat Bottrell (1988-2007).

Photos & Coordinates

Pacific Junction School

Pacific Junction School (June 2020)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.85071, W97.25401
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

“Pacific Junction officially opens,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly Southwest Edition, 6 December 1987, page 1.

“School named after rail station,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly Southwest Edition, 6 December 1987, page 4.

“Kids craft empty bowls to fill empty bellies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 November 2004, page B8.

“It's a playground again,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 October 2007, page A6.

We thank Pat Bottrell, Steven Christianson, Margaret Stimson, and David Beer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 14 December 2021

Historic Sites of Manitoba

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