ABOUT ISLAND LAKES

Island Lakes is located in South East Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We are at the corner of Bishop Grandin and Lagimodiere Boulevard with easy access to major crosstown routes and only a few minutes from St. Vital Centre. The development began in 1985 when Novamet Development Corp. developed the 580-acre Island Lakes subdivision.

The elementary school opened in the fall of 2001. Adjacent to the school is a 16-acre park with tennis courts, basketball hoops and baseball diamonds. The neighborhood’s lakeside walkways have always been a popular feature for joggers, cyclists and strollers, and the lakes are always popular with canoeists. For lovers of nature and birdwatchers, the community has a five-acre natural grass area planted with native prairie species. Enjoy our parks with playground equipment, baseball diamonds and large green areas for fun.

What is community anyway?
“Community” is so easy to say. The word itself connects us with each other. It describes an experience so common that we never really take time to explain it. It seems so simple, so natural, and so human.

It’s about people.

First and foremost, community is not a place, a building, or an organization; nor is it an exchange of information over the Internet. Community is both a feeling and a set of relationships among people. People form and maintain communities to meet common needs.
Members of a community have a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and caring for each other. They have an individual and collective sense that they can, as part of that community, influence their environments and each other.
That treasured feeling of community comes from shared experiences and a sense of—not necessarily the actual experience of—shared history. As a result, people know who is and isn’t part of their community. This feeling is fundamental to human existence.

Partial Quote excerpt from:
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_is_community_anyway

David M. Chavis & Kien Lee; May 12, 2015; Stanford Social Innovation Review

Island Lakes is Close to 40 Years Old! The following article elaborates on the owners before the development began.

A reminder that Island Lakes is still very new

By: Jasmine van Gerwen

Once upon a time there were no houses, pools, concrete driveways or even the manmade lakes with parallel pathways.

Island Lakes and Royalwood both began as farmers’ fields. I remember growing up in Windsor Park and all you could see past Southdale was farmland adorned with bales of hay.

To my delight I recently received an email from a reader about the story I wrote on the trails along the Seine River in Royalwood. He mentioned how his family had a farmstead in the area.

Ernie Dormer said his family actually used part of the forest and an adjacent clearing for work horses to graze in and he said it was interesting to see that the paths the horses had made are now the walkways through the forest.

I got in touch with Ernie to find out more.

Ernie’s parents, Henry and Anna, came to Canada in 1927 from Hungary and purchased a parcel of land. These parcels were sold by the parishes, and because the demand for property around the Seine River was high, even in those days, their parcel was only 220 yards along the river and ran as a narrow strip for miles past the railway tracks all the way into what is now Island Lakes.

The family later purchased additional land that ran as far as Prairie Grove Road and across into what is now Sage Creek.

Many Island Lake residents will recognize Henry Dormer Drive but Ernie isn’t certain how the name came about.

The Dormer family’s original homestead was located on what is now Tascona Road in Royalwood, and was surrounded by bush. The Bruces were their neighbours on John Bruce Road.

Ernie’s dad Henry sold his Royalwood property to Ladco in the early ’90s. He then moved across the train tracks into another older home on what is now Pamela Road in Island Lakes. That property was about five acres and was a part of the original parcel of land that extended from the Seine River. Henry Dormer was still farming until about 1991 or 1992. He passed away in 1994 at 94 years of age.

Ernie was the youngest of five children, all of whom helped on the farm. They had dairy cows on Tascona Road until the late ’80s but also grew a little wheat. The family had a contract with Modern Dairies, and Ernie fondly remembers delivering milk downtown by horse carts in the summertime.

Ernie said that, through working with a sod farmer from Belgium who owned the parcel of land north of Pamela Road, Henry was able to purchase more land in and around what is now Highway 59 West and up to the Perimeter. The Dormer family recently sold the remaining portion of farmland it still owned in Sage Creek but it has yet to be developed.

Henry lived to see the start of the new community and felt he received a fair price for his land.

Ernie said that he’s glad that the Save the Seine group continues to fight for the preservation of the beautiful forest around the Seine River, but that it is a shame Island Lakes did not retain the lush 20 to 30 acres of mature oak trees he vividly remembers.
Free Press Community Review>The Lance>A reminder that Island Lakes is still very new; By: Jasmine van Gerwen; Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Wednesday, Jun 19, 2013

Have you ever wondered where our street names come from?

This is by no means a complete list, but we thought you might be interested in knowing where some of the names came from. This information was obtained from the Planning, Property and Development Department of the City of Winnipeg and compiled by Lindsey Wilson. If you have any updates on streets we have missed, please contact us at ilrg.memberships@gmail.com.

Arpin Bay – Named after Maurice J. Arpin, Lawyer
DeCaigny Cove – from St. Boniface street name list.
Beaupre Bay – a long time teacher and principal at the St. Norbert Convent who lived in the St Norbert area between l875 and l900.
Blvd De La Seigneurie – No history available
Brian Monkman Bay – first Chairperson of the Island Lakes Residents’ Group and founding member. Brian has devoted countless hours of his personal time to the community. One of the first residents of Island Lakes in the fall of l985.
Cassin Crescent – from St. Boniface street list
Charbonneau Crescent – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was a soldier, fur trader and mason. Born in 1795 in Boucherville, Que. , he worked on the construction of the St. Boniface Cathedral in l832. Died in St. Boniface in l883.
Chenier Bay – Victor Chenier, one of the first two students at Red River under Bishop Provencher.
Desjardin Drive – Father Josephat Dominique Desjardins, Oblate priest, born in l908 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Ordained at Sherbrooke, Que in l933 and came to Manitoba that year. He served in Winnipeg, Russell and Swan River. Father Omer Desjardins, Oblate priest, born in Marcelin, Sask. In l932 and ordained there in l958. He served in Winnipeg, Elie, St. Francois Xavier, St Norbert, as chaplain at the Misericordia and St. Boniface Hospitals, and in administrative positions in St. Boniface (Casa Bonita).
Evelyn Reese Blvd – former city councillor for St. Boniface who was instrumental in assisting the Island LakesResidents’ Group establish and open lines of communication between the ILRG and City of Winnipeg.
Gauvreau Road – Pioneer family of St. Boniface. Old records for l876 show entries for Joseph Alfred and Adjutor Gauvreau living on Rue Notre Dame.
Georges Druwe Crescent – former president of Franco Manitoba.
Henry Dormer Drive – Henry Dormer was the owner of the land now known as Island Lakes. A pioneer family, they farmed these lands for generations.
Huppe Bay – No history available.
Langton Drive – from St. Boniface street name list.
Leger Crescent – No history available.
Lessard Place – no history available.
McKall Bay – from St. Boniface street name list.
Pamela Road – granddaughter of Henry Dormer.
Pauline Boutal Crescent – submitted by the St. Boniface Historical Society for having significant historical value. Pauline Boutal became the director of the Cercle Moliere, the French theatre company, in l941 following the death of her husband. She was a painter and worked closely with author Gabrielle Roy. She wasappointed a Member of the Order of Canada in l973 for her contribution to the development and growth ofFrench theatre in Manitoba.
Peres Oblates Drive – Order of fathers.
Place Berube – Napolean Berube, Publisher of Les Cloches de Saint Boniface, an ecclesiastical and historical publication of the Diocese of St. Boniface. Died in March 1932.
Place Corbeil – Louis Philippe Corbeil, born in Saskatchewan in l918. He moved to St. Boniface with his familyin l920. He was involved with La Societe Historique du St. Boniface, following the destruction of the St.Boniface Cathedral by fire in l968. (this is possibly the individual La Society had in mind when it submitted thename Corbeil to the St Boniface Street Reserve List) Father Osias Corbeil, priest, born l867 in Sainte-Scholastique, Que. Ordained in l894, he arrived in Manitoba in l896 to become the parish priest in St. Adolphe. Died in April 1918.
Place Joyal – Mr. Emile Luc Joyal settled in St Norbert in l900. He was a harness maker with five children. All five children became teachers, spending a total of l08 years in the education profession, many at the Boys’ School in St Norbert. The family lived in what is now Maison Turenne.
Place Marcoux – submitted by the St. Boniface Historical Society in May 1984 for having significant historical value.
Pynoo Place – from St. Boniface street list.

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