 In 1960 the Kleine Gemeinde church building, which by then was called the Evangelical Mennonite Conference, burned to the ground.The same year, the last traditional Mennonite housebarn in Steinbach was torn down by car dealer (and later mayor) A.D. Penner.Partially in response to the destruction of heritage buildings in the area, such as the historic housebarn destroyed by A.D. Penner, residents in the 1960s saw the need to preserve and remember the Mennonite history of the region.