By Sarah Klein
The future site of the new Upper Fort Garry historical park won’t see construction begin until the spring of 2011, but that doesn’t mean shovels aren’t already in the ground.
The location at the corner of Fort Street and Assiniboine Avenue is being dug up for archaeological excavation to identify former buildings within the fort.
“While we have no intention of rebuilding the fort as it was, this work is important to our overall design as we plan to demarcate the foundations of the original buildings and walls,” said Jerry Gray, Chair of FUFG.
Thirty students from the Joint Archaeological Field School of the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg are performing the work, which will continue until June 18. Besides former buildings, the team is also working to find locations of former fort walls, and to recover fur trade artifacts.
“These finds will enable The Friends of Upper Fort Garry to show the locations of these structures on the surface of the park that is to be created at the site and to display recovered artifacts and other information in the interpretive centre,” said Greg Monks, Professor, University of Manitoba.
The Field School is on site daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can follow their progress at UpperFortGarry.com.
ChrisD.ca photo
