The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Henry Rattai, the Winnipeg developer whose gamble on Flin Flon paid off with the Flintoba Shopping Centre, passed away unexpectedly last week. He was 72. The founder of Kraft Construction, Rattai was convinced early on that the empty lot where the shopping centre now stands held enormous promise ? even if some people around him couldn't quite agree. "Henry is a true entrepreneur," Mayor Dennis Ballard once said. "He had faith in the community and he went against the odds and a lot of advice, and went ahead with this project." The moment that would ultimately earn Rattai his place in Flin Flon history took place in 1999. While in town on an unrelated matter, he was surprised to see that the future commercial property ? the proposed site of a previous shopping mall that never materialized ? remained vacant. "I looked at the site and said, 'Has nothing happened here yet?'" he once said. "I had followed the history of that site. It was over 20 years since somebody else had ventured on to that site, but nothing had happened." Many businessmen wouldn't have given a second thought to a slag field on the outskirts of a chilly mining town. And Rattai, a successful, self-made man nearing retirement, certainly didn't need to take a chance on Flin Flon. But upon his return to Winnipeg, Rattai and his staff took a serious look at the opportunity, projecting the cost of developing the land. In the ensuing months, Kraft talked to various businesses about the prospect of setting up shop in Flin Flon. As Rattai had believed all along, there proved to be sufficient interest. In February 2002, after clearing a few hurdles, Kraft hired a crew to blast away many tons of rock in preparation for construction. Even as the work went on, some Flin Flonners doubted Rattai would attract anything more than contractors. He proved them wrong. By the end of 2002, Wal-Mart had opened and other so-called 'big box' stores weren't far behind. Today, that slag field where Rattai saw so much potential is home to Wal-Mart, Extra Foods and Canadian Tire ? and the prospect of some further expansion remains high. Rattai was described by co-workers as both a "visionary" and a "risk-taker," and Flin Flonners will for years to come reap the rewards of his virtues.
