Historical Winnipeg discussion

[1ajs]

true true andy i wonder what would pop up if u just searched 79 hallet? lol


btw what is the cost per month for acces to the archive?

[rgalston]

Through searching the newspapers at manitobia.ca (http://manitobia.ca/cocoon/launch/en/themesSelectionPage), I was able to learn that the man who built and first lived in my house in 1882, Nathaniel Boyd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Boyd), went on to become a Tory M.P. at the turn of the century.

Anyway, here are cars angle-parked on both sides of Albert Street, courtesy of Kenora Pix (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenorapix/72712343/sizes/o/):

[metonymy]

.
(http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Century-old-home-on-Roslyn-stripped-of-heritage-status-46727252.html)

[flatlander]

So I'm ripping out plaster in our house and found F. Zeiler 1946 written on one of the floor joists. I assume that's the company that built my house? Anyone ever hear of this builder?

[1ajs]

no pics pop up rob on a search just a blip about a big wedding in 1904 and rooms for rent and stuff for sale

[metonymy]

Carnegie Building (Winnipeg Public Library) at 380 William is getting some masonry repairs this summer (http://winnipeg.ca/MatMgt/FolderContents.asp?FOLDER_NAME=434-2009&YEAR=2009).

http://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WinnipegBuildings/wb-images/medium/CLH-51.jpg

http://www.mts.net/%7Efengshui/images/carnegienorth.jpg

http://www.mts.net/%7Efengshui/images/carnegiewest.jpg

[1ajs]

glad to hear that forgoten gem on william is getting some love

[VanExPat]

stumbled on these photos from 1961 while looking for something unrelated. by the photographer Charles W. Cushman.
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/cushman/full/P12476.jpg
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/cushman/full/P12477.jpg

[Andy6]

Nice. That is out past Deer Lodge Hospital, which you can see just beneath the plane's wingtip in the first photo (or I guess it's the flap, actually -- this was taken by a passenger on a commercial flight, I guess -- which is why it is where it is, just coming down toward the airport).

Here is a new one of mine, maybe 1910??

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3641910327_9afd7d9078_b.jpg

[1ajs]

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3975/mainfui.jpg

[thegreattait]

<--Sarcasm-->

now see if they had the pedestrian barricades up back then those poor cars would be able to speed right around that corner.

</--Sarcasm-->

[1ajs]

interesting so the random foundations between vinuard church and the yellow wherehouse have been like that for almost 100 years :O
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4854/1906fire.png

[1ajs]

1901 royal visit
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Royal_Arch_Winnipeg_1901.jpg

[rgalston]

Plans for a new tallest building made page 13 in Winnipeg of 1906...

To Erect Twelve Story Building

McAlpine of Glasgow Buys Canada Permanent Property for Two Hundred Thousand

Robert McAlpine of Glasgow, Scotland. yesterday purchased the property on the southeast corner of Main street and Portage avenue occupied by the Canada Permanent corporation for $200,000.

The deal was put through by Nares, Robinson & Black, real estate agents. Mr. McAlpine will erect an office building about twelve stories high in the rear of the present building without disturbing it. Construction may begin this fall, but will be commenced next spring at the latest. Eventually the building will be extended to Main street.

The property bought has 128 feet frontage on Main street and 237 feet on Thistle street or Portage avenue east, running back as far as the Bell Telephone company.

Instead of this 12-storey building, the Bank of Montreal built their Classical banking hall there in 1913--so not a total loss.

[viperred88]

Procession in honour of the coronation of George V, Winnipeg, MB, 1910

http://eich.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/025-133.jpg


source:http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/viewobject.php?Lang=1&accessnumber=MP-0000.25.133&section=196

[1ajs]

what st was that on?

[1ajs]

did the free press ever have an office on mcdermot in the east exchange in a building thats now a childrens playground inbehind the weat board

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/viewobject.php?Lang=1&accessnumber=VIEW-1619&section=196

seen photos of that buidling in a wider forum was demolished in the 60's after siting boarded up for number of years but can't find much els on it

[1ajs]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_In1T-FZEreI/SoUXCqFVs7I/AAAAAAAABuY/bIuoBxsgVg4/s1600/Artists%2Bdrawing%2Bnew%2Bdepot%2BApril%2B2%2B1963.bmp

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/%7Ewyatt/alltime/pics/winnipeg-CCBL30prevost2-luke.jpg


http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/%7Ewyatt/alltime/pics/headingley-SonnichsenGarwood2-luke.jpg

[grumpy old man]

Great looking buses.

[The Jabroni]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_In1T-FZEreI/SoUXCqFVs7I/AAAAAAAABuY/bIuoBxsgVg4/s1600/Artists%2Bdrawing%2Bnew%2Bdepot%2BApril%2B2%2B1963.bmp

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/%7Ewyatt/alltime/pics/winnipeg-CCBL30prevost2-luke.jpg


http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/%7Ewyatt/alltime/pics/headingley-SonnichsenGarwood2-luke.jpg

I like how they deliberately misspelled "Headingley" just to get it into their signage label on their busses.

[UrbanPlannerr]

I can't believe they tared this sucker down :(

http://cac.mcgill.ca/cac/bland/building/pictures/full/5-106.jpg

[grumpy old man]

tared?

[1ajs]

we still have the old union bank building at least :)

[UrbanPlannerr]

true, I'm happy to say we still have buildings that could fit well in a art gallery

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1161/1487698406_a74406347b.jpg

[1ajs]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3457214123_d194d32373.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lexart_photography/3457214123/in/pool-791457@N25/?addedcomment=1#comment72157622411808260

[rgalston]

Quite a few historic photos of the Point Douglas area, including copies of fire insurance maps, at the Facebook group "History Lives in Winnipeg's Point Douglas." (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99094802038)

Here's one shot of Higgins Avenue west from the Disraeli Bridge, c.1962:
http://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WinnipegBuildings/wb-images/large/MCSCLANON-52.jpg

[1ajs]

los mising and lots still there nice find

[1ajs]

what the hell happend :(
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Fta5SQvT4nc/So3y0gr3nVI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/vwTFoWzsUqw/s1600/RAHM-55a%5B1%5D.jpg

[1ajs]

3 neat videos with a bunch of neat footage of winnipeg and sound bites http://www.winnipeg.ca/Clerks/docs/arcFilmProject/default.htm

[h0twired]

what the hell happend :(

The hard working immigrants were replaced with welfare collecting lowlifes.

[ScrappyPeg]

I was just gonna say -- see that babushka (aka: immigrants), get those folks back on Main Street - and maybe turn the clocks back a few decades.

[nordique]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kennnnnnnnnn/Picture-9.jpg
source: that city of winnipeg video 1ajs posted

damn are these all "civic centre" concepts? how do i live there?

[1ajs]

that was part of the civic center thing from jubas time some of it was built though

[1ajs]

ooo i now own this
http://i.ebayimg.com/12/%21Bc2hcu%21%212k%7E$%28KGrHqIH-CoEquZ7NEfiBK2TtyQeF%21%7E%7E_3.JPG

[Andy6]

very nice!

[1ajs]

ahah i knew i was not crazy that wooden walk thing by the river was longer
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo101/mtc656/102309004.jpg

pulled from a ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.ca/Via-2-Bridge-Winnipeg-Original-Slide-1997_W0QQitemZ110449164551QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b7488107


anther ebay find
1950 main st at luxton
http://i.ebayimg.com/20/%21BdeCYG%21%21Wk%7E$%28KGrHqYOKjoEq4F8pn97BK5HfgEN6%21%7E%7E_3.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ORIGINAL-TROLLEY-SLIDE-1950-Winnipeg-Electric-200_W0QQitemZ110449930020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b7542f24

[Kinguni]

ahah i knew i was not crazy that wooden walk thing by the river was longer

That was the original connection from Water to Stephen Juba Park when there was still an active rail line and yards there. Rode my bike along there many times as a teen. They removed most of it with the creation of Waterfront Drive.

[1ajs]

That was the original connection from Water to Stephen Juba Park when there was still an active rail line and yards there. Rode my bike along there many times as a teen. They removed most of it with the creation of Waterfront Drive.
yea i walked and road on it alot more so in the winter for what ever reason that was

[rgalston]

That's a great photo of the North Main streetcar. That would be looking north from the east side of the street, since you can see the tracks that branch off the main line--those would have gone to the streetcar yards that were located either where Safeway or Extra Foods (can't remember which) is at Main and Luxton.

[1ajs]

Heritage rolling in for planned bus museum

New Flyer donates two vintage buses to group

By: Geoff Kirbyson
29/10/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3 (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/heritage-rolling-in-for-planned-bus-museum-67151332.html#comments)

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http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/240*194/1958_Flyer.jpg Enlarge Image http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/designimages/enlargeicon_WFP.gif (http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/1958_Flyer.jpg)
New Flyer Industries is donating a 1958 Model T-40.

http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/240*193/1956_Flyer.jpg Enlarge Image http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/designimages/enlargeicon_WFP.gif (http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/1956_Flyer.jpg)
And a 1956 Scenic Cruiser.


The Manitoba Transit Heritage Association hopes the donation of a pair of vintage buses -- including one used in the recent Don Cherry movie filmed in the city -- will help serve as a springboard to establish a bus museum.
New Flyer Industries will present the MTHA with a 1956 Scenic Cruiser, a one-and-a-half deck bus, and a 1958 Model T-40, a more traditional highway bus, at a ceremony at the bus manufacturer's Transcona headquarters Thursday morning.
"Our members are incredibly excited," said Alex Regiec, president of the MTHA, a non-profit group comprised mainly of bus-loving volunteers and current and retired employees of Winnipeg Transit, Beaver Bus Lines and Greyhound as well as bus enthusiasts among the general public.
The two fully-restored buses, which have been appraised at $165,000 for the Scenic Cruiser and $107,000 for the Model T-40, will be displayed at various community events from the spring through the fall beginning next year. Also in MTHA's stable are six other operable vintage buses, including a 1937 coach and a 1950 electric trolley.
"The next step for us is to start contacting foundations and private sector partners to begin looking for a building and establishing a bus museum in the next five years, similar to the London Transport Museum in London, England. A museum could not only show off our province's bus history but it would draw a connection to how public transportation contributed to the growth of the city," he said.
Both buses have driven hundreds of thousands of miles since they first hit the road around the time Elvis Presley was taking the world by storm.
The Scenic Cruiser was originally purchased by Thiessen Bus Lines in Winnipeg and subsequently sold to Grey Goose Bus Lines, which used it along Manitoba's highways for about 25 years.
The Model T-40, more of a standard highway coach, was used by the Royal Canadian Air Force in the 1950s and '60s and later serviced the Flin Flon area for Northern Bus Lines.
Neither one has been on the road for years but the Scenic Cruiser was used earlier this spring in a number of scenes in the Don Cherry Story, a movie documenting the life of the one-time hockey player who garnered fame and fortune as a coach and broadcaster.
It took two years to restore the buses to their original lustre, with much of the work being completed by New Flyer employees, said Hans Peper, its executive vice-president of customer services. This particular Scenic Cruiser is one of only four made by New Flyer's predecessor firm, Western Flyer Coach.
"In 1956, there was a trend to make buses a half-deck higher so passengers could sit at the back and have a more grandiose view. It's a style unique to that particular time in the bus world. Two (of the other Scenic Cruisers) might still be alive but we don't know at this point," he said.
Paul Soubry, president and CEO of New Flyer, said the company decided to donate the buses because the MTHA could make the best use of them, and it presents a great opportunity to share New Flyer's past with Manitobans. The company dates back to 1930, and even though it's the largest manufacturer of transit buses in Canada and the U.S. today, it's still a "bit of a secret" in Winnipeg, he said.
"Today, everybody flies everywhere; but back in those days, bus transportation was the primary way people moved around the country. We've been a big part of that," he said.
Soubry said the company has manufactured more than 23,000 buses since its inception and more than one-quarter of all buses on the streets in Canada and the U.S. are made by "this little company in Winnipeg." New Flyer employs 2,400 people, including 1,300 Winnipeg and the rest in St. Cloud, Minn.
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca


Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 29, 2009 B2

[Jeff]

ooo i now own this
http://i.ebayimg.com/12/%21Bc2hcu%21%212k%7E$%28KGrHqIH-CoEquZ7NEfiBK2TtyQeF%21%7E%7E_3.JPG

WOW! that's an amazing find!

[1ajs]

txs


this is a neat find
http://home.westman.wave.ca/%7Eroakden/wpegpaint1.jpg

[Andy6]

Here's an excerpt from a speech by the retiring president of the Winnipeg Real Estate Exchange, as reported in the Free Press for April 6, 1912, p. 7:

The coming year, 1912, promises quite as important developments as the past one, and we, as members of this real estate exchange, can confidently look forward to another year of great activity in the real estate market. The extension of the provincial boundaries wil include a very large amount of new territory in this province, and add greatly to its prestige. A large amount of new railway work is also projected for 1912, including work on the Hudson Bay railway. Construction work on the new parliament buildings will be started. A large number of up-to-date first-class modern office buildings will be completed or started during the coming year, including the Bank of Montreal, the Canadian Bank of Commerce, the Union Trust company building, the Confederation Life building, the extension to the Sterling bank building the Boyd building, the Free Press building and the Lindsay building. A street-car line will be laid on Donald street to complete the downtown loop. The Osborne street bridge, the palatial new Grand Trunk Pacific hotel [i.e. the Fort Garry], the new Agricultural College buildings, and a new armory building, are among the permanent improvements projected for the coming year.

Every one of those buildings still stands 97 years later, so "permanent" was the right word.

Another item on the page was that the legislature had decided on the name "Fort Garry" for the new municipality south of Winnipeg, formerly the part of St. Vital parish west of the Red River. "It also serves to perpetuate a name that is dear to every westerner", the Free Press noted approvingly.

[rgalston]

Here's an excerpt from a speech by the retiring president of the Winnipeg Real Estate Exchange, as reported in the Free Press for April 6, 1912, p. 7:


Didn't quite see the recession of 1913 coming. Nevermind the Great War, the collapse of grain prices, the half-century of extraordinarily good growing conditions in the prairies, and the rise of collectivism in Manitoba. It is easy to picture to imagine what migth have been...

[1ajs]

a pre union tower look up mainst from portagr and main
http://images-02.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/065/882/296_001.jpg



and a realy rare view looking north from the royal alex up main
http://images-02.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/044/812/078_001.jpg

http://images-02.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/039/929/353_001.jpg?v=1

pre royal alex
http://images-01.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/017/633/733_001.jpg?v=1

[rypinion]

Just FYI, there is a display in the lobby of the Richardson Building right now with many photos of the construction of the Richardson Building. (In celebration of its 40th anniversary)

I didn't look today (I enter on the other side of the building) but I would imagine it is still there, they just put it up on Thursday, I believe.

[rgalston]

All four of those images are incredible, Adrian.

[1ajs]

indeed also i notice the porogy church has a different roof on it lol

[1ajs]

http://images-01.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/068/261/469_001.jpg

[flatlander]

Can somebody translate the handwriting on the postcard?

[Jeff]

translated more or less from french, the writing on the postcard says that the person did indeed get a post card from may 1st and he/she is not forgetting to put them in a journal each week to make a collection. it also says "you can see winnipeg isn't as small as you thought."

[Andy6]

translated more or less from french, the writing on the postcard says that the person did indeed get a post card from may 1st and he/she is not forgetting to put them in a journal each week to make a collection. it also says "you can see winnipeg isn't as small as you thought."

Interesting, as there are numerous postcards that appear to be from the same person for sale on the same website. Possibly the collection from the journal he speaks of (or, more accurately, one that the French recipient is assembling in reciprocation).

[1ajs]

it apears to be that albert st one i piced up btw

http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/073/811/477_001.jpg

http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/072/410/789_001.jpg?v=1

http://images-01.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/072/410/853_001.jpg?v=1


1914
http://images-02.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/066/174/406_001.jpg



http://images-02.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/062/445/907_001.jpg

http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/046/195/367_001.jpg?v=2

[rgalston]

http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/046/195/367_001.jpg?v=2

Oh look, there's that ugly little box of a building that was thankfully torn down for that lovely architectural treasure that is the 23rd greatest arena in the world.

Who needs Chicago of the North when you can have MONSTER TRUCK MAAADNESS... live at the... MTS CENTRRRRE.

[grumpy old man]

Sounding just a little bitter rgalston...

How was that ugly little box of a building doing before it was sold?

[drew]

^ it was a ugly BIG dark empty box. Sort of like a depressing black hole on Portage Avenue.

If the history of large hard to renovate 100 year old buildings in Winnipeg has taught us anything, I think it's safe to assume tha if the Eaton's building had been saved, it would probably be just as big, just as dark and just as empty today.

[nordique]

imagine if eatons was converted into condo/apartments?? daaamnnnn that'd be nuts. so many people!

[rypinion]

imagine if eatons was converted into condo/apartments?? daaamnnnn that'd be nuts. so many people!

So many people without windows in their home. Would that not be an issue? There is a whole lot of space in the interior of a building of that size that has to be filled with something.

[Andy6]

^ it was a ugly BIG dark empty box. Sort of like a depressing black hole on Portage Avenue.

If the history of large hard to renovate 100 year old buildings in Winnipeg has taught us anything, I think it's safe to assume tha if the Eaton's building had been saved, it would probably be just as big, just as dark and just as empty today.

If the history of knocking down buildings in Winnipeg has taught us anything, it is that it never seems like a good idea in retrospect. I well remember when exactly the same arguments were being made for other buildings, when in reality time proved that in fact there was a use for them if we were patient. We would have had a huge parking structure or gravel lot on the east side of Main Street where the Bank of Hamilton and Bank of Commerce buildings sit if this sort of confident defeatism had been listened to. Same with the Union Tower. With its renovation, it will be an ornament for the city, but 10 or 20 years ago it was something whose demise we allegedly all had to accept. I remember on this very forum a few years ago someone going on and on about how the John Atchison-designed Cadomin Building (Wilson's) at Main and Graham absolutely had to be demolished because there could never possibly be another use for it. You could say the same for the Childs-TD-Nanton corner at P&M...why did that have to go to be replaced by a nondescript generic office tower that the market doesn't need?

Eaton's was something on a world-class scale that Winnipeg had and should have hung onto -- the psychological heart of the city for generations, sacrificed for a cheap, plasticky arena that is squished unexpandably into the lot. MTS is mostly a big dead spot on Portage anyway and offers nothing on any other of the frontages it has. Why Glen Murray gave up so fast on Eaton's I have never quite understood.

[newflyer]

imagine if eatons was converted into condo/apartments?? daaamnnnn that'd be nuts. so many people!

Alas reality struct those fantasies a deathblow. There was no demand to live there and no developer who wanted to lose hundreds of millions on such a project. Winnipeg has had no luck finding a developer for the Avenue Building either after so many years and it is a small fraction the size. If condos on Portage Avenue was viable it would have long been converted.

Could anyone imagine how hopelessly dark Portage would still be today if the decaying old Eaton's building was still standing. I am fairly confident even if Eaton's were still around as a department store, that location would have be closed. Being a centre of nastelga for the blue hairs, just didn't generate much revenue.

Today Winnipeg has the 3rd busiest arena in Canada. New reastaurants have opened up in the area and thousands of people who have ignored downtown for years are now making regular visits. IMO, the real potencial of it has not been fully realized, as of yet.

[newflyer]

Why Glen Murray gave up so fast on Eaton's I have never quite understood.

Glen was one of the biggest supporters of the MTS Centre .. I believed he called the movement to build it "an unstopable steamroller".

After voting against saving the Jets when it mattered, he figured then was a great time to build a new arena. :rolleyes: Ahhh yeah he never surprised me with his wisdom.

[drew]

Eaton's was something on a world-class scale that Winnipeg had and should have hung onto --

The only thing world class about the building was it's size. This building was only originally built as a temporary structure, and there wasn't anything all that grand about the building itself.

I agree that the building represented something other than architecture for this city, but consider how would it have affected the psyche of this city to have it sit empty, dark and deteriorating all these years?

[rgalston]

If the history of knocking down buildings in Winnipeg has taught us anything, it is that it never seems like a good idea in retrospect. I well remember when exactly the same arguments were being made for other buildings, when in reality time proved that in fact there was a use for them if we were patient. We would have had a huge parking structure or gravel lot on the east side of Main Street where the Bank of Hamilton and Bank of Commerce buildings sit if this sort of confident defeatism had been listened to. Same with the Union Tower. With its renovation, it will be an ornament for the city, but 10 or 20 years ago it was something whose demise we allegedly all had to accept. I remember on this very forum a few years ago someone going on and on about how the John Atchison-designed Cadomin Building (Wilson's) at Main and Graham absolutely had to be demolished because there could never possibly be another use for it. You could say the same for the Childs-TD-Nanton corner at P&M...why did that have to go to be replaced by a nondescript generic office tower that the market doesn't need?

Is this too long to use as my signature? Maybe "Confidident Defeatism" (or the Latin translation thereof) should be the City's new motto.

[grumpy old man]

We can't save every single building. I'd say Winnipeg has done quite well and the city is recognized for it. As long as we use great care when deciding when a building should go it's all good.

Hell, 50 years from now some nostalgia buff will be lamenting the loss of 100 Main Street.

[flatlander]

We can't save every single building. I'd say Winnipeg has done quite well and the city is recognized for it. As long as we use great care when deciding when a building should go it's all good.

Hell, 50 years from now some nostalgia buff will be lamenting the loss of 100 Main Street.

Nobody expects you to save every building, but Eaton's wasn't just any building.

Hydro would have been a nice fit in there. Didn't need to displace a viable retail block.

[nordique]

as crappy as it is, i think we really really lucked out with the two replacement buildings (mts centre and mb hydro), as they are both highly recognized stand-outs in their respective fields (super popular event arena and world-class energy efficient design). they could have easily been replaced by a completely generic, forgettable trizec building that would have contributed absolutely nothing to anything.

[Andy6]

This building was only originally built as a temporary structure,

I keep hearing this but I've never seen any evidence for it. The building was built at great expense in four separate stages between 1905 and 1910. I can't see how it was ever meant to be a "temporary structure" or why that would be relevant 100 years later even if true. As a "temporary structure" it lasted a lot better than most of today's "permanent structures" will.

[1ajs]

true so true andy but whats done is done we need to look at what we have

[Biff]

I keep hearing this but I've never seen any evidence for it. The building was built at great expense in four separate stages between 1905 and 1910. I can't see how it was ever meant to be a "temporary structure" or why that would be relevant 100 years later even if true. As a "temporary structure" it lasted a lot better than most of today's "permanent structures" will.


The only related story similar to this, as far as being a temporary structure is the Eiffel Tower and i think the jury is still out if it is a success or not. ;)

[ILYR]

The only related story similar to this, as far as being a temporary structure is the Eiffel Tower and i think the jury is still out if it is a success or not. ;)

I thought Team America destroyed the Eiffel Tower a few years back.

[h0twired]

Sounding just a little bitter rgalston...

How was that ugly little box of a building doing before it was sold?

It was making Winnipeg look like the "Detroit of the north".

[Only The Lonely..]

Is it just my imagination or do we debate the demise of the Eatons building in regular 12 month cycles on here?

Anyways, I loved the hulking mass of a Chicago building that was our old Eatons store.

I vividly remember catching the bus outside of there in the middle of a classic Winnipeg winter, with that newsy standing on the corner of Donald and Portage slinging copies of the Free Press with a smoke in his mouth.

That experience for me at least, always gave me a big city feel in ways that the MTS Centre will never be able to imitate.

It's a shame they couldn't build the arena on one of the surface lots outside of the convention centre.

If we were going to build an arena on a small downtown lot, I think it would have been a lot more productive to team up with the Convention Centre so that we could expand our capacity to handle important trade shows and conferences.

[1ajs]

aww yes the news paper guy aww i miss talking to him shame hes not set up anymore

[newflyer]

It's a shame they couldn't build the arena on one of the surface lots outside of the convention centre.

If we were going to build an arena on a small downtown lot, I think it would have been a lot more productive to team up with the Convention Centre so that we could expand our capacity to handle important trade shows and conferences.

As we speak, work is happening behind the scenes. There will be an announcement regarding the upcoming expansion of the convension centre, including a new hotel.

FYI.. those surface lots are much too small for the arena, nor would it have fulfilled Murray's objective to revivng Portage Ave into some sort of party central. In addition there is a reason why convention centres don't double as arenas. The usable surface area of an arena is very limited and does not function well for conventions.

[1ajs]

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/6071/cprhigginssubway1904c06qi8.jpg

[rgalston]

Here's something I probably should know, but do not: what was the bridge that goes from Jubillee to Kingston Row (right at BDI) built for?

[1ajs]

it was built by a developer who used it as a means to sell his realistate

i have a great great uncle who drowned swiming in the river there somthing about he hit his head when he dove into the river playing as kids used to swim in the river back then

[Andy6]

Built by the developers of the Elm Park subdivision, as 1ajs said.

[rgalston]

Built by the developers of the Elm Park subdivision, as 1ajs said.

Right, that makes sense. Thanks.

[UBT1903]

Does anyone have any existing interior photos of the Union Bank Tower on Main Street? I have seen and taken photos during demolition and I have seen pictures of the restaurant that used to be attached to the back of the building but no one seems to have any photos before 1990. Thanks for your help.

[1ajs]

could u post these photos u have?

and i to would love to see stuff of the interior pre 1990

from october when they had that open house
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/4015400808_46dc72e49b_o.jpg


nice avitar ubt

[Devon]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/4015400808_46dc72e49b_o.jpg


Awesome!

[rgalston]

So this afternoon I was in a meeting in Wesley Hall at the U of W, and on the wall were three framed plans for a United College campus, built on the site of the main campus. I'm guessing these plans were drawn up in the 1930s, when Wesley College became United. They both would replace Wesley Hall with a new central building, and the blocks behind it would be lined with buildings, including, oddly, a large building that had the cross footprint facing the liturgical east. Church? One plan showed a conceptual drawing of the Portage Avenue elevation, with a Art Deco-cum-Elizabethan Ivy League building with a central tower.

Obviously this didn't happen, perhaps due to the Depression and later the War, or the fact that this was in the age before His Lloydship. Maybe Bryce Hall was the one componant of these plans that became reality?

[UBT1903]

Thank you 1ajs...that is a great photo. That is an amazing photo. Unfortunately, the only photos I have were taken on October 30, 2008 after some demolition had already started. I have never had the opportunity to get inside the building and the open house this year was an hour long (from 11am - 12 noon and I showed up at 12:10...Red River was supposed to call me back to let me gain entry but they never did).

[1ajs]

i was given a blanet no about trying to get acces to the upper floors

i know of some photos from the last 5yrs on uer but its hiden to the public

plzz do post ur stuff though it would be nice to see whats been done

[UBT1903]

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad243/UBT1903/DSCN0038.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad243/UBT1903/DSCN0039.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad243/UBT1903/DSCN0037.jpg

[Andy6]

Wow. To think that used to be my bank branch.

[1ajs]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/4015306014_804629ca05_o.jpg

[nordique]

i'm really glad that the building hasn't burned down or anything in all the years of neglect.

[1ajs]

agreed its quite amazing its survived i gues theres been a sertan amount of respect for it

[bomberguy]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EcJAQ0QTcMc/Stf2gTIxCeI/AAAAAAAAAIo/8OBQyeP_eCk/s1600/IMG_2915.jpg
http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2009/10/red-river-college-officially-begins.html

Look at the fine details.

[1ajs]

yea its a gem thats for sure

[Winnipegger@Heart]

I remember sneaking in there in the late 80s...the ground level anyway had the original black cage elevator doors, and I remember ugly green carpet in some of the upper floors.

[Winnipegger@Heart]

Eaton's significance was intangible; it was a very handsome building, but the history of the store was more profound than the building itself. I wish it was still standing of course...

[Andy6]

Eaton's significance was intangible; it was a very handsome building, but the history of the store was more profound than the building itself.

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/eatons-windows/pics/29446-letter-520.jpg

[rgalston]

Somehow, I doubt Superstore receives similar letters on a regular basis...

[drew]

^ just like no one uses the phrase "you're a damn fine concern" (?) anymore.

Or types letters for that matter.

[1ajs]

1880's
http://i.ebayimg.com/03/%21BfiPZRwBWk%7E$%28KGrHqYH-DoErgwiGhVKBLBs5t%21mvg%7E%7E_12.JPG


latest post card aquirement witch came with extra ones of paris and venice
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2578/4161866902_7a64542180_o.jpg

[rgalston]

Love that postcard, and how within a generation, all those balloom frame houses and stores on Portage Avenue E. and Lombard would be replaced by great buildings of stone, steel and brick.

[Winnipegger@Heart]

We all know what a great social spot Eaton's was...I miss being a kid at Christmas going to Eaton's.

It is still very sad that the company floundered.