A financial services business cut the ribbon to officially open its new offices in Altona's downtown. Kathy Klassen Financial Strategies is now located in a newly renovated building at 30 Main Street, in the former laundromat building.

The exterior of the extensively renovated building on Main Street in Altona The company offers full financial services, including a wide range of insurance and investment options.

Owner Kathy Klassen explains why she made the decision to move from her Centre Avenue Location.

"We definitely need more space because my business has really started to grow in the last two to three years, so an opportunity to move came up and all the pieces fell into place. There aren't too many places downtown in Altona that were available, so I feel pretty fortunate to have the location we now have."

Klassen says the main street location that she purchased needed significant renovations as the building was likely constructed in the 1940s.

"We gutted it floor to ceiling, the wiring the plumbing absolutely everything. It was a lot of work, but pretty pleased with the way it turned out."

During the extensive renovation quite a treasure was found, two ledgers in the attic which included entries from 1949 to about 1952.

“It's talking about Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance policies given to Red River Mutual Insurance,” explains Klassen. “It lists the fire risks and premiums and some local names, and the premium cost and the agent who sold them, and some other interesting financial data that's listed in here.”

Klassen notes the memorabilia was pretty dusty when they were removed from their nearly seven decade long hiding spot, and she was very happy to find them.

Kathy in studio with the ledgers they found while renovating the new office