Limited opening starts this spring with full grand opening to take place soon
Captain William Kennedy House has officially opened its doors to the public, after over ten years without anyone being able to experience the iconic building due to structural problems. The building is now home to The Heritage Tea Room, where residents and visitors can grab a coffee, tea, snack, or something to eat.
The inside of Kennedy House
The home was built in 1866 for Captain William Kennedy, a Métis explorer, who was declared a National Historic Person last year. Most people call it Kennedy House now, but it was previously known as Maple Grove and is one of only a few old stone houses still standing on the Red River. People can now once again check out this historic structure and grab a bite while they’re there, as it’s currently soft launching as a tea room with a full grand opening to follow soon.
“Kennedy House is a historic building, it’s been closed for a lot of (the past) 10 and a half – 11 years, and the renovations were extremely substantial, but they were really non-esthetic,” explained Musette Fowke, the owner of the Heritage Tea Room, which is now operating out of Kennedy House.
As far as changes go, people who visited the building a decade ago will recognize that many major structural features have remained the same. However, in addition to upgrades to ensure structural stability and safety, there are some accessibility improvements that have been added.
The main changes are to the commercial kitchen, which has been upgraded and to the study, which has been turned into an accessible bathroom.
As for what’s been kept the same, the wallpaper is still in place, though the walls have been freshly painted, they are the same colour, and the staircase remains grand. The sunroom also remains the same.
“I’ve added some floral decor, and I’ve added some art on the walls,” said Fowke.
As for what services are offered, residents can stop by and grab tea, coffee or a quick snack at the till, but they can also sit down for breakfast, lunch, or high tea by reservation. With all of the excitement of the opening, it’s probably best to get a reservation to shorten your wait if you plan to check it out any time soon.
Fowke explained that the current limited opening is a way for them to get their feet under them and smooth out any hiccups before the grand opening. Though they have been a bit busier than they may have anticipated, they are tweaking and perfecting with the goal of having everything ready for an upcoming grand opening.
In addition to the food, they also have a small merchandise shelf with local artisans’ work.
Fowke is happy to see so much support from the community.
“It’s so heartwarming, because even in the days leading up to (opening), my husband and I and our daughter would be here, and we’d be setting up and hanging the arch on the walls, and we’d see people peering in the windows, and, obviously, very excited and wanting to see what was going on. And so, my husband, being a social person the way he is, he would always open the door and introduce himself and invite people in and give them a bit of a tour and tell them what we’re working on and it was so interesting to hear the stories of the neighbourhood — How many people had their weddings here, how many people got engaged here, how many people took their grad photos here, how many people used to come here all the time with their grandmothers and experience tea, right? There’s so many stories that are so personal and so much ownership. Everyone has an ownership piece with this space, and that’s really interesting, because it really shapes my role as a custodian of this,” she said.
Lois Wales, Co-chair of the Kennedy House Renewal Committee, is very happy to see it opened again after a long ten years.
She explained that getting to this day was a lot of hard work by the volunteers on the committee and support from the community.
“It was petitions. It was lots of letters, lots of meetings with the government. And, yeah, sometimes it maybe felt like 20 years, not 10,” she said.
Wales, who is also the Past-President of Red River North Tourism, is excited to see the impact that having this Kennedy House opened again will have on local tourism.
“Hopefully, when people come to the Tea House, they take in the (St. Andrews) Heritage Center or come into town and see the Marine Museum,” she said.
Wales wanted to thank everyone who supported Kennedy House’s journey.
“I think it started with the community. The community did a petition on change.org, and the communities in all three municipalities we represent under tourism were all in favour of reopening (we also got support from) other businesses and service groups. We also have a lot of thanks to give to the Historical Society, Heritage Winnipeg. They met with the government as well on our behalf. It was a lot of lobbying by a lot of lot of groups. We just really thank all the support that they gave us. They also saw our vision,” said Wales.
She also hopes that residents stay tuned, as in addition to the grand opening, there is going to be an event at Kennedy House in the future where a plaque for Captain William Kennedy will be installed in recognition of him being declared a National Historic Person. If you’ve got an interest in local history, Métis history, or iconic people from our region, this isn’t one to miss.
In the meantime, Fowke hopes that residents find some time this summer to stop in.
“Our door is open, and we’re excited to meet everybody and hear all the stories,” she said.
If you would like to book a reservation, visit heritagetearoom.ca for contact information and more information about the space. You can also keep up with them online at www.instagram.com/heritage.tearoom or www.facebook.com/heritage.tearoom/.
