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historic grain elevator that had marked the town on the prairie landscape for decades was scheduled to be demolished.
Growth was sluggish, businesses were moving out of the downtown, the town reservoir was unused and the
It was then, with the help of a large donation to the community, that a group of visionaries came together to chart a new future and one important piece was the establishment of the Plum Coulee Community Foundation.
years ago, a southern Manitoba community was at a crossroads.
Plum Coulee was finding its new identity as a bedroom community as they transitioned from a farming community.
20 years later, the grain elevator still stands, renovated into The Prairie View Elevator Museum honouring the legacy of Plum Coulee. New walking trails have sprung up around the charming town, four downtown business blocks are refreshed, the Saidye Rosner Bronfman Town Square is developing with bright storefronts, and the inviting Sunset Beach still attracts swimmers all summer. Where neighbours used to be excited to see one new home built a year, the community now sees many new constructions every year as the
town itself has grown to over 1,000. And it all centred around the work of the Plum Coulee Community Foundation and its faithful volunteers with a passion for their community. In 2022, the group looks back on its 20th anniversary. “Our community has gotten very young, there’s something about having walking trails and beaches and things like that in your community,” local resident and Plum Coulee Community Foundation board member Heather Unger says, adding the average age is only 26 in Plum Coulee. “So it’s a very young town and probably some of that contributing factor would be this downtown core work. I’m a business person in this community so it’s resonated with me to keep the core of our community strong and to try and keep a central gathering point. You know, here we are 20 years later, and reflecting back the community
