Gimli/Lake Winnipeg Beaches Development

[peg]

A dense Gimli, maybe with summer train service to the beaches, is one of my big MB dreams lol

Glad to see we all think Gimli needs more love!!!

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Ummm Gimli is just about as active in winter months as it is in the summer months. It is a major destination for snowmobiles and ice fishing. I would take a guess that it is as popular or perhaps more popular than Lockport for ice fishing. The hotels are often fully booked in winter on weekends too. And it isn't just the town of Gimli but the whole area as there are definitely ice fishing shacks on the lake outside of town too. It is a different crowd but no way near as sleepy and low a season as someone might except.

Sorry, that line almost made me do a spit take.

I lived in Gimli as a younger adult year-round and grew up with my Dad's family spread on both sides of the lake, commercial fishery. Half the businesses in town shut down for the winter. There's a small fraction of the amount of people for sure. The year-round residents barely sustain one full grocery store which probably wouldn't make it without counting on May-September revenue. There's a lot of commercial fishing in the area, not a lot of recreational.

A few dozen ice fishers doesn't replace tens of thousands of cottages and campers.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I've always said, I wish Winnipeg was where Gimli is....would be truly like Chicago of the North....stupid mud filled river.

How could they see that giant lake and build the city 50 kms away.

How dare the founders of the city of Winnipeg and the fur traders before and the railways all offend our modern day aesthetic sensibilities… sigh, would be an absolute dream

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

Sorry, that line almost made me do a spit take.

I lived in Gimli as a younger adult year-round and grew up with my Dad's family spread on both sides of the lake, commercial fishery. Half the businesses in town shut down for the winter. There's a small fraction of the amount of people for sure. The year-round residents barely sustain one full grocery store which probably wouldn't make it without counting on May-September revenue. There's a lot of commercial fishing in the area, not a lot of recreational.

A few dozen ice fishers doesn't replace tens of thousands of cottages and campers.

This is correct. Gimli is far busier in summer than in winter.

[The Unknown Poster]

Always liked Gimli. Not perfect of course but I spent a lot of time at Grand Marais/Grand Beach and man alive, talk about a dead town. The residents hate any idea of generating tourists dollars there. And what local businesses do exist support that notion by making it seem like an inconvenient to service their customers.

As for PCH's after going through a couple years of dealing with a declining parent, this province's seniors care is disgusting and they dont care one iota. Because the politicians and their parents will probably be in a cushy private facility. A problem easily solved by spending time and money. But they dont care. You have to fight. They actually threaten to fine you if you dare to disagree with whatever hole they want to shove your parent into.

So more PCH's, the better. And in fact, additional PCH's are needed as well as new builds and closing the crap-holes that exist out there.

[harls]

I went to a curling camp in Gimli when I was 14. Not lying.

Don't they make Crown Royal nearby?

Also K-19 the Widowmaker was shot on Lake Winnipeg, and Harrison Ford had some good things to say about the town.

[esquire]

^ The world's entire supply of Crown Royal comes from Gimli, giving it great globally strategic importance.

Now that you mention it, it's interesting that more isn't made of that. I'm not saying I'd expect some huge Duff Gardens extravaganza, but just some sort of visitor centre that tells the story. Crown Royal has to be one of the most internationally prominent things made in Manitoba. But it's super low-key. Even walking around Gimli you see no signs of it anywhere except at the LC.

Since this is skyscraperpage, here's an up-close view of the somewhat skyscraper-like Gimli distillery where that wonderful drink is made:



Even the building doesn't say anything... it's like some sort of top-secret military facility.

[harls]

Originally Posted by esquire

Even the building doesn't say anything... it's like some sort of top-secret military facility.

Because it is. Shhh.

[borkborkbork]

Compare with Bulleit, another Diageo-owned brand.

https://www.bulleit.com/visit-us/

I feel Manitoba has a vicious cycle of "nobody visits here anyway" -> don't bother building attractions -> nobody visits here

[esquire]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

Compare with Bulleit, another Diageo-owned brand.

https://www.bulleit.com/visit-us/

I feel Manitoba has a vicious cycle of "nobody visits here anyway" -> don't bother building attractions -> nobody visits here

Yeah, wow. That would be a huge attraction if something like that existed in Gimli.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, wow. That would be a huge attraction if something like that existed in Gimli.

100% the crown distillery should be marketing itself as a bit of a destination. have tours insofar as they can, have a museum and a tasting room. We are terrible at taking advantage of the things that make us interesting and worth a visit. Weird how we seem anti tourism aside from churchill and the forks

[esquire]

^ And the funny thing is that Crown Royal has to be way more globally prominent than Bulleit. I mean, I remember being overseas 20+ years ago and people from other countries knew what Crown Royal was.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

100% the crown distillery should be marketing itself as a bit of a destination. have tours insofar as they can, have a museum and a tasting room. We are terrible at taking advantage of the things that make us interesting and worth a visit. Weird how we seem anti tourism aside from churchill and the forks

quite often when i travel we love to hit up winerys, craft breweries, distilleries, so 100% agree, no idea why more isnt done w Crown Royal being made here in our Province.

FYI a bottle of Crown Royal is cheaper to buy in Minnesota than it is in MLCC stores!

[drew]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

quite often when i travel we love to hit up winerys, craft breweries, distilleries, so 100% agree, no idea why more isnt done w Crown Royal being made here in our Province.

FYI a bottle of Crown Royal is cheaper to buy in Minnesota than it is in MLCC stores!

Maybe the company itself doesn't want to make a big deal of where this whiskey is made. IIRC the bottles themselves only mention Toronto.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by drew

Maybe the company itself doesn't want to make a big deal of where this whiskey is made. IIRC the bottles themselves only mention Toronto.

I have seen ads in the past where Diageo acknowledges Gimli as the place where Crown Royal is made, but they don't shine too bright of a light on it.

For what it's worth it is actually bottled in Amherstberg, ON, so maybe that is the place they highlight?

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I've always said, I wish Winnipeg was where Gimli is....would be truly like Chicago of the North....stupid mud filled river.

How could they see that giant lake and build the city 50 kms away.

It's all about the rain lines.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Kinguni

It's all about the rain lines.

When you look at a map you can see how the CP rail line was planned to through Selkirk where it was know to be high and dry.

To the west and east the line drops down to come into Winnipeg after the land speculators paid CP to reroute the line south.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by esquire

I have seen ads in the past where Diageo acknowledges Gimli as the place where Crown Royal is made, but they don't shine too bright of a light on it.

For what it's worth it is actually bottled in Amherstberg, ON, so maybe that is the place they highlight?

Not from what I can see on Google Maps. the Diageo building there is just an unassuming warehouse.

It is interesting that all the Royal Crown comes from Gimli to Amherstberg by rail tank car for the blending and packaging. It must be enough traffic to pay the bills for the short line railway to run the Winnipeg Beach Subdivision

[esquire]

^ I wonder what the economic rationale is for doing it that way vs. just doing it all in Gimli and shipping it out from there? That's a hell of a long way to haul the product just for the finishing stages.

[Hecate]

Yup. It’s a brutal setup, why would a company put more focus on the bottling facility than they do the production. Almost like they’re ashamed the most iconic whiskey in the country comes from Manitoba. If that distillery was in any American town, there’d be a massive tour of the facility with a gift shop and all kinds of merchandising as well as a tasting room. And they’d Have customizable bottling right there in shop.

Our floodway is the same way. One of the largest earth moving projects in human history, nothing to celebrate it. anywhere else in the world and there would be a massive interpretive centre with a tower to see the expanse of the floodway off into the distance, a small museum outlying the history of the floodplain and why the floodway was built and the machines used to build it. Along with gift shop and merchandising.