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 (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

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