Winnipeg church gets demolished to make room for housing project

Construction nears on the long-awaited housing project in Transcona, the previous location of a church.

On September 30, the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption church on Leola Street was demolished, taking with it a piece of Transcona history.

The parish had not been used for four years, sitting empty on the lot. 

The Archdiocese of Saint Boniface made a deal in 2019 with the Winnipeg developer, Discovery Homes, to turn the site into a Leola Village, a condo complex. 

Diocesan financial administrator Richard Fréchette called the project “a first for the Archdiocese of St. Boniface,” in a news release in 2019. 

"We have another Catholic parish just adjacent to that property, an English church," explained Frechette. After exploring various options, the idea to develop the property arose.

30 condominiums will be built according to the plans created by the parish and Discovery Homes following the demolition of the old parish church, available to the general public for purchase.