Memorable Manitobans: Gerard Alphonsus “Gerry” Baert (1906-1971)

Building contractor.

Born at Ingelmunster, Belgium on 14 June 1906, he came to St. Boniface in 1926 and worked as a carpenter. He began doing small-scale contract work on his own in 1931, ultimately founding the G. A. Baert Construction Company that was responsible for the erection of many fine buildings around Manitoba.

On 18 December 1930, he married Martha Flora Mourant (1906-1992) in St. Boniface and they had five children: Harry Baert (1928-1990), George Baert (1934-1953), Jules Baert, Robert Baert, and Elaine Baert. The family lived successively on 201 Des Meurons Street and 88 Kingston Row. He was a member of Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, St. Boniface Rotary Club, and the Carleton Club. He was an honourary life member of the Winnipeg Builders Exchange.

He died at Rochester, Minnesota on 7 August 1971 and was buried in the Belgian Sacred Heart Belgian Cemetery.

Some of his construction work in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Dominion Post Office Building / Winnipeg Postal Station F

187 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg

1935

 

Fort Osborne Barracks Instructional Building

Tuxedo Avenue, Winnipeg

1936

Demolished (?)

Weston Locomotive Shop (addition)

Winnipeg

1937

 

Norwood Telephone Exchange Building (addition)

235A Horace Street, Winnipeg

1938

 

St. Boniface Hospital (Outpatient Building)

409 avenue Taché, Winnipeg

1938

Demolished (2022)

St. Germain School No. 969 (expansion)

St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg

1939

 

No. 3 Wireless School

500 Shaftesbury Boulevard, Winnipeg

1940-1941

Demolished (?)

Deer Lodge Hospital (various additions)

2109 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1942-1945

 

Moody and Moore Building

295 Broadway, Winnipeg

1948

 

Dickson Motors Garage

634-640 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1949

Demolished (2019)

Nordale School

99 Birchdale Avenue, Winnipeg

1949

 

Viscount Alexander School

810 Waterford Avenue, Winnipeg

1949

 

Norwood United Church (addition)

170 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg

1951

 

Pigott Motors Building

1290 Main Street, Winnipeg

1951-1952

 

Security Storage Truck Terminal

Ellice Avenue at St. James Street, Winnipeg

1952

 

Airport Hotel

Ellice Avenue at Berry Street, Winnipeg

1953

 

Christie Brown Building (addition)

1147-1155 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg

1953

 

Winnipeg General Hospital Nursing School and Residence

Winnipeg

1954-1955

 

University of Manitoba Medical Building (addition)

Winnipeg

1954-1955

 

Monarch Lumber Building

207 Donald Street

1955-1956

 

Winnipeg General Hospital (addition)

Winnipeg

1955-1956

 

Great-West Life Assurance Company Building

60 Osborne Street, Winnipeg

1957-1959

 

Norquay Building

401 York Avenue, Winnipeg

1959-1960

 

Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital

800 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg

1959-1960

 

University of Manitoba Education Building

71 Curry Place, Winnipeg

1961-1962

 

Green Acres Memorial Chapel

RM of Springfield

1961-1962

 

Medical Arts Parkade

218 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg

1961-1962

 

Baxter Building

360 Broadway, Winnipeg

1962

 

Clark's Department Store (Grant Park Plaza)

Grant Avenue at Nathaniel, Winnipeg

1962

 

Clark's Department Store (Northgate Plaza)

McPhillips Street at Dafoe, Winnipeg

1962

 

St. Paul's High School

2200 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg

1963-1964

 

St. Mary’s Academy (addition)

Academy Road, Winnipeg

1963-1964

 

Winnipeg City Hall

510 Main Street, Winnipeg

1963-1964

 

Coca-Cola Bottling Plant

Inkster Boulevard, Winnipeg

1963-1964

 

Clark's Department Store

Regent Avenue and Highway 59, Winnipeg

1964

 

Wiley Motors Building

555 Empress Street, Winnipeg

1964-1965

 

Fire Hall No. 1

65 Ellen Street, Winnipeg

1965

 

Garden Hill School

Garden Hill First Nation

1966

 

Crossroads Shopping Centre

Regent Avenue and Highway 59, Winnipeg

1966

 

University of Manitoba Engineering Building

Winnipeg

1966-1967

 

Duff Roblin Building, University of Manitoba

35 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg

1967-1968

 

Museum of Man and Nature (science tower and exhibit hall)

190 Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg

1968-1970

 

Victoria General Hospital

2340 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg

1970-1971

 

Sources:

Marriage registration [Gerard Baert, Martha Mourant], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Contract let for new barracks unit,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 July 1936, page 2.

“Award 5 contracts for railway work,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 April 1937, page 5.

“St. Boniface Hospital lets contract for new annex, cost $125,800,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 June 1938, page 28.

“Plan Deer Lodge Hospital addition,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 November 1942, page 19.

“Award contract for Deer Lodge clinical wing,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 March 1943, page 1.

“G. A. Baert gets contract for hospital pavilions,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 December 1943, page 3.

“G. A. Baert gets $207,000 contact for Deer Lodge,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 March 1945, page 4.

“G. A. Baert awarded local building contract,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 July 1945, page 6.

“Norwood United to speed Sunday School, steeple,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 April 1951, page 10.

“Our new showrooms open [Pigott Motors Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1952, page 13.

“Winnipeg firm erecting new truck terminal,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 July 1952, page 13.

“$500,000 Airport Hotel opens in July,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1953, page 3.

“Local builders get contracts from 2 firms,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 July 1953, page 3.

“General Hospital nursing school tenders open,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 November 1954, page 4.

“Contract let for addition to Med Bldg.,” The Manitoban, 3 December 1954, page 1.

“$4 million contract [Winnipeg General Hospital addition],” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 December 1955, page 21.

“$4 million contract let [Norquay Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 1959, page 3.

“Start on U addition job next week [University of Manitoba Education Building],” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 October 1961, page 31.

“Green Acres Memorial Chapel,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 October 1961, page 8.

“Medical Arts Parking,”Winnipeg Tribune, 13 January 1962, page 51.

“Business world [Baxter Building],” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 February 1962, page 94.

“Business world [Clarkes-Gamble stores],” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 May 1962, page 46.

“Jottings from the business world [St. Paul's High School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 April 1963, page 57.

“St. Mary's to get new wing [St. May's Academy],” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 July 1963, page 5.

[Coca-Cola bottling plant illustration], Winnipeg Free Press 5 September 1964, page 59.

“Firm opens third store here [Clark’s Department Store],” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 November 1964, page 54.

“Business world [Wiley Motors Building],” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 November 1964, page 44.

“Plan big school for north Indians,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 February 1966, page 31.

“$2.8 million engineering wing for U of M,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 April 1966, page 12.

“Large all-weather shopping centre to be opened at end of the month,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 November 1966, page 54.

“Zoology, Psychology get new building [Duff Roblin Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1967, page 10.

“Baert gets museum contract,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 March 1968, page 14.

“Victoria Hospital sod turned,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 December 1968, page 3.

“Logic dominates design of hospital,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1971, page 10.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 August 1971, page 22.

Obituary [Harry Baert], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 February 1990, page 40.

Obituary [Martha Flora Baert], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 July 1992, page 28.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 27 March 2023

Memorable Manitobans

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