© 2026 Christian Cassidy.
Address: 772 Sargent Avenue at Home Street (Map)
Opened: September 14, 1947
A big renovation is taking place at what used to be known as Kinsmen Playground No. 3 at the intersection of Sargent Avenue and Home Street. It opened om September 14, 1947, and was one of several playgrounds funded by the Kinsmen Club and other community service organisations who answered the city’s call to help create outdoor recreation spaces on land it owned after the Second World War. (For more about the Kiwanis Playgrounds.)
It appears that this was vacant land, even after the area urbanized. A survey of street directories shows no homes on Home or Simcoe streets beyond the ones that already border it (built in 1924 and 1931), and there is no address on that block along Sargent Avenue.
There was the office of a fuel yard, in the 1930s known as A. J. McInnis, at the corner of Beverley and Sargent. This block could have been its work yard, which would have meant piles of coal, wood, coke, and the wagons to deliver it to homes. (The only way to know for sure would be to locate fire insurance maps for this area and see what is indicated.)
Whatever the reason, the land was vacant in the 1940s and at some point became property of the city.
June 2, 1944, Winnipeg Tribune
Kiwanis began their fundraising efforts for playgrounds in 1944. The first to open was at Burnell Street at St. Matthews (current site of Orioles Community Club) in 1945; the second was at Lizzie Street and Logan in 1946 (later Lizzie Playground and now Giizhigooweyaabikwe Park); the third was at Sargent Avenue and Home in 1947.
The practice was for Kiwanis to raise the estimated amount of money needed, donate it to the city to hire the contractors to build it, then do a ceremonial handover of the playground to the city when the work was complete.
The practice was for Kiwanis to raise the estimated amount of money needed, donate it to the city to hire the contractors to build it, then do a ceremonial handover of the playground to the city when the work was complete.
September 13, 1947, Winnipeg Free Press
Work began on the site in the spring of 1947. Like the other Kinsmen playgrounds, the space got playground equipment (swings, a see-saw, three types of merry-go-rounds, sandboxes, and picnic tables), a wading pool, and a pool building. The cost was around $5,000.
The official opening ceremony took place at 4:15 pm on Sunday, September 14, 1947. George Jackson, president of the Kiwanis Club of Winnipeg, handed over the playground to Mayor Garnet Coulter. The Salvation Army Band, likely from the nearby Citadel No. 8 at Ellice Avenue and Home Street, provided the musical entertainment.
The city's newly created recreation department supplied staff, usually high school or university students, to work at the playgrounds from late June to late August. At times, various playgrounds would go on field trips to larger parks for things like picnics or to compete against each other at sports days.
The name "Kiwanis Playground" began to fall out of use by the late 1960s. By 1972, notices about programming at this space usually referred to it as Home Street Playground.
In 1977, it received a $7,300 renovation.
In 2008, a mural called Pathways was added to the pool building by Mandy van Leeuwen and Michel Saint Hilaire
Source: Winnipeg.ca
A tender was awarded for the Home Street Playground Redevelopment in October 2025. The city budgeted $290,000 for the project, but it is unclear how much the winning bid was.
The work will revitalise the park but not change much about the footprint or services offered. The site will be excavated, regraded, and new play equipment, site furniture, fencing, and pathways will be added. The wading pool is not part of the bid, but will remain in place.
The playground was to reopen on July 1, 2026, but fell behind due to the wet spring. The city's new estimated date for reopening is July 27.
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