Historical Winnipeg discussion

[rgalston]

Is that the same Starland in the 1910 listings as the doomed Starland on Main today? I didn't think the Starland was that old, or originally was a vaudeville house...

Anyway, here are the movie theatres in greater Winnipeg in 1946, taken from the Hendersons:
Downtown--
1. Bijou
498 Main at William
2. Capitol
Portage at Donald
3. Dominion
175 Portage Ave E.
4. Garrick
330 Garry at Ellice
5. Lyceum
292 Portage at Smith
6. Metropolitan
283 Donald at Portage
7. Odeon
364 Smith at Ellice
8. Rialto
363 Portage at Carlton
9. Rito
209 Notre Dame at Portage

North Main--
1. Beacon
559 Main at Rupert
2. Colonial
634 Main at Logan
3. Fox
606 Main at Logan
4. Oak
Main at Logan
5. Starland
630 Main at Logan
6. Regent
644 Main at Henry
7. Playhouse
180 Market at Main

West End--
1. Arlington
863 Portage at Arlington
2. Furby
599 Portage at Furby
3. Gaiety
457 Portage at Balmoral
4. Mac's
525 Ellice at Sherborook
5. Rose
801 Sargent at Arlington
6. Tivoli
115 Maryland at Westminster
7. Valour
Portage at Valour
8. Wonderland
595 Sargent at Sherbrook

North End--
1. College
1296 Main at Church
2. De Luxe
1525 Main at Lansdowne
3. Palace
501 Selkirk at Andrews
4. State
572 Selkirk at McGregor
5. Tower
580 Mountain at McGregor
6. Times
959 Main at Selkirk

South End--
1. Crescent
654 Corydon at Hugo
2. Osborne
108 Osborne at River
3. Park
698 Osborne at Rathgar
4. Uptown
394 Academy at Ash

Elmwood--
1. Elm
392 Talbot at Allan
2. Roxy
Henderson at Montrose

Weston--
1. Corona
1433 Logan at Quelch

St. Boniface--
1. Paris
218 Provencher at Aulneau
2. Plaza
104 Marion at Tache
3. Rex
322 Tache Goulet

St. James--
1. Classic
1837 1/2 Portage at Parkview
2. King's
1771 Portage at Berry

St. Vital--
1. Vouge
570 St. Mary's at Harrowby
2. Windsor
592 St. Mary's at St. Anne's

[drew]

I wonder where the Arlington theatre was?
I guess it was located where that small strip of stores is currently on the north side of Portage between Arlington and Home St...

[flatlander]

Tivoli is now a Food Fare, Uptown is a a bowling alley ...

[Andy6]

The Windsor, which was still around when I was a kid, became the Miracle Temple (or some such thing) and is now partly occupied by Miller's meat store.

The Starland is visible in the 1911 panoramic shot of Main Street that was made into a large-scale poster a few years ago and sold in the Exchange. [EDIT: actually, it isn't now that I look -- I know I've seen it in an old pic but can't remember where]

[BubberMiley]

Mini golf course, 1930. Guess the neighborhood.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2320/2309546041_45582c5b39_o.jpg

My mother grew up in Elmwood in the 1920s and 30s and doesn't recognize that mini-golf course at all. The boulevard on the street behind it doesn't look like anything in Elmwood either (except maybe Kildonan Drive?). Are you sure it wasn't in Elm Park?

[Biff]

I'm with BubberMiley on this one. I know that streets can change over time but i can't think of a single place in all of the Kildonans where there is a boulevard like that. The Kildonan Drive area has a really narrow strip for a boulevard and even if it was narrowed over the years i don't think it could ever have been that big.

[flatlander]

There was an amusement park at the end of Osborne/Jubilee, wasn't there? I don't recognize the boulevard though.

[rgalston]

According to the Manitoba Historical Society, it was Elmwood, not Elm Park. They could have been wrong, though. I see streetcar tracks running across the view--Henderson? Osborne?


My wife used to go to shows at King's in St. James, and that was probably the mid-'90s.

[drew]

I can remember seeing "Uncle Buck" and "The Burbs" at Kings when I was much younger...

I also remember watching "Dead Calm" in the upper theatre at the Capitol...

[Archiseek]

Would love to see a picture of the Crescent on Corydon and Hugo.
Must have been quite the block or two - Corydon and Daly had a Safeway - where Scotiabank is now - there's a nice photo of it inside the branch

[Andy6]

Here is an architect's drawing of the Imperial Bank building at Main and Bannatyne with some interesting construction details.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2313245337_b48676abfc_b.jpg

[Andy6]

Here are some more subdivision ads, all July 28, 1906:

Marlborough Place (this is Roseberry, Parkview and Collegiate Sts. in St. James and was actually built):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2313244649_a6dcf96b30.jpg

Homedale never existed at all; it is in the Airport property; Lakeview wasn't really developed for decades -- it is Ronald Street near Sturgeon Creek:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2306/2314058624_f1d3fd0468_b.jpg

This one is completely pie-in-the-sky. Sheffield Place is Beecher Street in West Kildonan near Kildonan Park. Even the ad is unclear as to exactly where "Killarney Park" was but obviously this was getting very speculative given the price:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2246/2313234395_a9a7edd779_b.jpg

"Industrial Centre" is especially interesting, since it goes into a lot of detail about a kind of neighbourhood that was meant to appeal to working-class men by being close to factories etc. The neighbourhood was never developed and is now part of Tyndall Park SW of Keewatin and Inkster. Another subdivision called "Manufacturing Centre" was proposed on the north side of Inkster. (At the time, Inkster was planned to be a very grand road that would connect with Sharpe Boulevard in St James and eventually turn into a ring road for the entire city.)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/2313233195_8b979f81b4_b.jpg

[flatlander]

So I was walking past 110 James Ave this morning and the building had "110 Damen Ave" painted on it. Was James originally named Damen at some point? My old maps all show James.

[Andy6]

So I was walking past 110 James Ave this morning and the building had "110 Damen Ave" painted on it. Was James originally named Damen at some point? My old maps all show James.

Yes, we've discussed that before. It might have been done for a movie shoot or something. To my knowledge there was never a street by that name.

[Archiseek]

more on the crescent on corydon
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/9317/

[flatlander]

Yes, we've discussed that before. It might have been done for a movie shoot or something. To my knowledge there was never a street by that name.

Well that sure wasn't worth enduring frostbite over.

[Andy6]

Here are some random moments from Winnipeg's past:

The story of Manitoba's long-forgotten Senate:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2320299026_6fb4128098_b.jpg

Production of "Charley's Aunt" at the Walker, Jan. 1907, starring Etienne Girardot:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2097/2320263200_b8d3e42ea2.jpg

City's campaign to get rid of outhouses is gaining traction and houses on Elgin and Ross Avenues condemned as unsanitary, 1907:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2320262212_8f225704fb_b.jpg

West-coast design comes to Winnipeg's building apartment construction market, 1907 (wonder how many of these fixtures are still functioning in old buildings from the era):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/2320261958_3d80d6e2fa_b.jpg

[rgalston]

The corner of Gunnel and Henry Avenue was probably the nexus of Sandor Hunyadi's neighborhood in "Under the Ribs of Death", and in real life was a notorious slum district from probably shortly after it was built, until the neighborhood was demolished in the 1960s. Sel Burrows told me the houses on Gunnel Street in the 1950s were nick-named the "Gunnel Mansions"--which probably included the same terrace that had it's outhouses removed in 1907.

I don't know if this is that specific terrace, but this would be one of many that would have dotted the city's oldest residential neighborhoods.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/2321364559_aafb7eea9e_o.jpg

[1ajs]

odd that bike looks just like mine i wonder?

[flatlander]

Are box closets outhouses?

I quite like rowhouses. Too bad we've lost so many.

[1ajs]

gues what street this is
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2186/2213382282_b3480ef748.jpg

[thegreattait]

Wasn't the capital on donald

[1ajs]

Wasn't the capital on donald
yes but.....

[thegreattait]

but what..... ?

[Andy6]

but what..... ?

Maybe that's not the only street it was on...

[1ajs]

OMG even andy does not know...

recognize the tall building?

[rgalston]

I'll guess that that is the north side of Portage between Smith and Donald streets. The tall building on the right is the Sterling building, where Conrad Black's father and grandfather's company occupied the second floor.

I didn't know the Capitol was once on Portage Avenue?

[Andy6]

I'll guess that that is the north side of Portage between Smith and Donald streets. The tall building on the right is the Sterling building, where Conrad Black's father and grandfather's company occupied the second floor.

I didn't know the Capitol was once on Portage Avenue?

That was the main entrance until the 60s.

[trueviking]

i thought you guys would get that right away...thats why i didnt answer....the capitol used to have its main entrance on portage...you came in and went up a flight of grand stairs....there used to be a skywalk across the back lane that took you to into the theatre...the bridge was there until MEC was built.

there is a huge picture of the portage avenue facade on the wall at the main entrance to the library.....it shows the streetscape.

[1ajs]

That was the main entrance until the 60s.
correct i just found this out my self today had to share it

and conrad black is from pegcity huh? :sly:

[Archiseek]

i must say am very surprised that no-one knew this....
if you read the Portage Avenue book - it's all there

[1ajs]

i was surprized to find this myself
witch is why i posted it

[thegreattait]

Wow I definately had no clue.

Thanks for posting it, its an interesting bit of information

[1ajs]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2034/2213382272_1e219e7067.jpg


another pic after it was refinished :(

[newflyer]

I can remember seeing "Uncle Buck" and "The Burbs" at Kings when I was much younger...

I also remember watching "Dead Calm" in the upper theatre at the Capitol...

I remember seeing Empire Strikes back at the Kings Theater... it was smallish , but had some character. I also saw Empire (one of my favorites as a kid) at the Northstar Theater (first Dolby Sound theater in the city).. in what is now the Raddison Hotel on Portage.

I saw a few movies at the Cap .. the last being Robocop... and I saw one of the Rocky (RockyII I think) movies in the old Met.

There was also a movie theater on the airforce base in St.James.

[fengshui]

The recommendation is to deny a heritage tax credit for renovations to 242 Princess. Reasons are posted on this pdf summary (http://www.mts.net/%7Efengshui/images/242%20princess.pdf) from the City's web site.

The owner wants to condo the building, but the reason for rejecting the grant is that "the assessed value and municipal taxes will not be positively influenced following conservation".

The criteria for the grants are to increase assessed values, and "be used primarily for vacant or underutilized heritage buildings" However, looking at the list of grants, very few were used in that capacity. Buildings like Roslyn Court qualified for grants, and it is hardly "underutilized".

Anyway, seems to be not a very forward-looking decision. Supporting conservation on the periphery of the established Exchange area would be a good thing.

[Only The Lonely..]

I have a question for the panel.

Can anyone tell me more about that really old house from 1882 on Adelaide?

It looks like at one time it coulda been a small museum like Ross House but today it is all boarded up.

Any info would be much appreciated.

[rgalston]

I have a question for the panel.

Can anyone tell me more about that really old house from 1882 on Adelaide?

It looks like at one time it coulda been a small museum like Ross House but today it is all boarded up.

Any info would be much appreciated.

That's called the Kelley house, after an early owner (who resided there around 1900) Thomas Kelley, who was involved in the Legislature building scandal.

I think it's on the heritage building list mainly by virtue of the fact that it's the last house to be standing in the modern-day Exchange District (besides the 1878 house on Albert), and because it managed to have retained it's Queen Anne style character so well.

I don't think it has ever been a museum or accessable to the public, but it doesn't look like anyone's lived there in a long time, either.

[1ajs]

That's called the Kelley house, after an early owner (who resided there around 1900) Thomas Kelley, who was involved in the Legislature building scandal.

I think it's on the heritage building list mainly by virtue of the fact that it's the last house to be standing in the modern-day Exchange District (besides the 1878 house on Albert), and because it managed to have retained it's Queen Anne style character so well.

I don't think it has ever been a museum or accessable to the public, but it doesn't look like anyone's lived there in a long time, either.
its a beutifull house yea it still has some of the origonal features inside but its in dire need of some TLC

[Only The Lonely..]

That's called the Kelley house, after an early owner (who resided there around 1900) Thomas Kelley, who was involved in the Legislature building scandal.

I think it's on the heritage building list mainly by virtue of the fact that it's the last house to be standing in the modern-day Exchange District (besides the 1878 house on Albert), and because it managed to have retained it's Queen Anne style character so well.

I don't think it has ever been a museum or accessable to the public, but it doesn't look like anyone's lived there in a long time, either.

Thanks I appreciate that Rob.

I didn't even know the house existed till I went looking for a place to park on Sunday night.

It's too bad about the home's current condition.

On the topic of buildings in bad condition, I was in Walker recently. Boy, that place is a lot more run down than I remembered.

Paint peeling, burnt out light bulbs, torn carpet from 1920 something. I know its a non-profit theatre, but it was kind of disheartening to see.

[1ajs]

Thanks I appreciate that Rob.

I didn't even know the house existed till I went looking for a place to park on Sunday night.

It's too bad about the home's current condition.

On the topic of buildings in bad condition, I was in Walker recently. Boy, that place is a lot more run down than I remembered.

Paint peeling, burnt out light bulbs, torn carpet from 1920 something. I know its a non-profit theatre, but it was kind of disheartening to see.
you did no know it existed its been in my bike ride "threw" winnipeg threads at least twice

[Archiseek]

Owner won't demolish Village church

Updated: March 18, 2008 at 08:59 AM CDT

* Print Article
* E-mail Article

A 98-year-old former church in Osborne Village, slated for demolition by its owner, will live on.

The owner of the First Church of Christ Scientist at the corner of River Avenue and Nassau Street North has withdrawn his application to the city to demolish the building, according to an e-mail circulated on Monday by the area’s councillor.

The news is seen as a victory for preservationists of the city’s heritage architecture.

“As chair of the Historic Buildings Committee, I have officially notified the Property and Development (department) that the demolition request has been withdrawn and that the matter can be filed,” said Fort Rouge- East Fort Garry Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, in the e-mail.

Gerbasi had helped drum up public interest in a city hall committee meeting March 25 to deal with the church. Gerbasi’s committee had recommended last month that the city move to protect the building.

The First Church of Christ Scientist had been on the city’s inventory of historical buildings, awaiting evaluation as a site to be protected from demolition late last year when the property’s owner, businessman Ben Haber, applied to destroy the structure.

Haber furnished documents showing the building, used until five years ago by followers of the Church of Christ Scientist, was riddled with mold and could not be converted to apartments, as Haber had originally intended.

Gerbasi credited public opposition to the church’s owner’s plans as pivotal in saving the building.

[1ajs]

source http://winnipegtimemachine.blogspot.com/

THOMAS RUSS DEACON

He became Mayor to see the Aqueduct Built

by George Siamandas


Thomas Russ Deacon became Mayor of Winnipeg in order to ensure the aqueduct was built. Thomas Russ Deacon was born in Perth Ontario on January 3, 1865. He started work at age 11 at a country store and by age 12 Deacon was working in logging camps were he rose to foreman by age 20. Deacon realized the value of education and returned to school earning first his high school diploma and in 1891 a degree in civil engineering from the University of Toronto. His first job was as superintendent for the construction of the North Bay Ontario waterworks.

MINING ENGINEER
In 1892 he took a job in Kenora (previously known as Rat Portage) to work as a manager of the Ontario Gold Commission. Deacon stayed in Kenora a decade and served as an alderman and acting mayor. As the century turned Deacon was now working for the Mikado Gold Mine. He must have had limited success at finding gold because he got the nickname "Chief No Gold." Deacon left Ontario in 1902 and came to Winnipeg. Deacon went into partnership with HB Lyall in the founding of the Manitoba Bridge and Iron Works.

AN ADVOCATE FOR GOOD WATER
Deacon became an advocate of Shoal Lake in 1902. It was during his stint in the Lake of the Woods area that he became familiar with the Shoal lake region. In 1906 Deacon was appointed to the Water Supply Commission and soon let his preferences for the long term benefits of the Shoal Lake source be known.

For the next decade the issue was debated for years with most Winnipeg politicians preferring the less costly options of using the Winnipeg River. Only one man showed vision and was able to see through this political fog of uncertainty. It was Councillor Thomas Russ Deacon who argued strongly in favour of Shoal Lake. Despite the cost! He knew the water was of high quality, it was abundant, and its higher elevation meant it could flow simply and elegantly to Winnipeg by gravity alone. Winnipeg the city with a future deserved Shoal Lake over other proposals like the Winnipeg River.

MAYOR DEACON
The pivotal election was in 1912. Deacon was persuaded to run against Alderman JG Garvey at the last moment. The Telegram had supported Garvey on the basis of his 16 years of civic service. But Deacon knew that Garvey was against the Shoal Lake plan. Deacon felt it was Winnipeg's destiny to become a great city and the matter of high initial cost would be taken care of by future growth. If he believed in the aqueduct he had to become mayor. Deacon ran a series of newspaper ads each bearing a new message. Deacon was not just for good and abundant water, he was also for a larger civic health department, better civic staff, support to the Winnipeg General Hospital and workers compensation. His slogan became Winnipeg demands progress. Deacon's second mayoralty election was fought in the fall of 1913. In October of 1913 they voted in favour of the Shoal Lake Aqueduct expenditure of $13.5 million.

Deacon's leadership was well received, and at the same fall vote, Thomas Russ Deacon was re-elected mayor of Winnipeg. It was the culmination of a ten year effort of Deacon as a prominent citizen to see the Aqueduct built.

MANITOBA BRIDGE & IRON WORKS
Manitoba Bridge merged with Domminion Bridge in 1930 and became Canada's largest stocker of steel in Canada. Structural steel was fabricated and used in railway and highway bridges, buildings of all kinds, as well as hydro transmission poles and towers. The company had locations all across Canada.

Thomas Deacon died May 30 1955 at age 90 at 144 Yale Ave and is buried at St James Cemetery. Deacon had three sons and one daughter. Winnipeg's main water reservoir located east of the city is named in his honour.

[viperred88]

I was quite happy when I heard the great news.

I hope gas station theatre would consider moving in their and how about partner up with a condo developer who could build atop of it and right beside it.

Owner won't demolish Village church

Updated: March 18, 2008 at 08:59 AM CDT

* Print Article
* E-mail Article

A 98-year-old former church in Osborne Village, slated for demolition by its owner, will live on.

The owner of the First Church of Christ Scientist at the corner of River Avenue and Nassau Street North has withdrawn his application to the city to demolish the building, according to an e-mail circulated on Monday by the area’s councillor.

The news is seen as a victory for preservationists of the city’s heritage architecture.

“As chair of the Historic Buildings Committee, I have officially notified the Property and Development (department) that the demolition request has been withdrawn and that the matter can be filed,” said Fort Rouge- East Fort Garry Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, in the e-mail.

Gerbasi had helped drum up public interest in a city hall committee meeting March 25 to deal with the church. Gerbasi’s committee had recommended last month that the city move to protect the building.

The First Church of Christ Scientist had been on the city’s inventory of historical buildings, awaiting evaluation as a site to be protected from demolition late last year when the property’s owner, businessman Ben Haber, applied to destroy the structure.

Haber furnished documents showing the building, used until five years ago by followers of the Church of Christ Scientist, was riddled with mold and could not be converted to apartments, as Haber had originally intended.

Gerbasi credited public opposition to the church’s owner’s plans as pivotal in saving the building.

[trueviking]

a couple of interesting before and afters.

james street behind the pumping station

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5646/jamesparkingmn1.jpg

edmonton street

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2075/edmontonstreetod7.jpg

[fengshui]

What was the demographics for those James Avenue walk-ups? Is that lower income housing of the time?

[Andy6]

What was the demographics for those James Avenue walk-ups? Is that lower income housing of the time?

Yes. I'm not sure if these are exactly the same places, but in the 1911 census, 141-161 James Street were occupied by reasonably middle-class people but the places were almost all full of lodgers, often 5 or 10 or more to an address. See here. (http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/SplitView.jsp?id=33774) If you remember that tiny lodger's room with the little cot that's up on the second floor of one of the buildings at the Urban Gallery at the Manitoba Museum, that is the sort of accommodation that many men really did have in many of these places.

[nordique]

those both look really really great (pre parking lot)

[rgalston]

Quick question for Andy or anyone else who may know: Is the Manitoba Clubhouse (1904) the oldest building on Broadway east of Osborne?

[Archiseek]

Land Titles is 1903 I think

[rgalston]

I think you might be right. I had just sent out an article saying the Manitoba Club was the oldest--alas.


Those row-houses are some of the more tame examples of Winnipeg's positively wacky, Queen-Anne-on-mushrooms 1880s residential architecture...

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-153.jpg
S.H. Strevel house, location unknown

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-013.jpg
Pile of Bones Villa, location unknown

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-096.jpg
Wink's Terrace, location unknown

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-099.jpg
Hutchison's Terrace, location unknown

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-097.jpg
O'Brien's Terrace, location unknown

http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/photogallery/06Homes/06-093.jpg
Another shot of that terrace on Edmonton Street, nearing the end of its life in the 1950s

Sadly, none of these beauties are around today.

[drew]

Having done some structural inspections on a lot of older homes (large and small) and office type buildings around the city, it really seems to come down to blind luck depending on how well a structure holds up over the years.

The old strip footing foundations used back in the day for most smaller structures is woefully inadequate for our soil conditions here in the city (piles should be mandated here). The footings are usually too narrow and the drainage around the foundation collapsed or simply non-existent. Walking around these grand old houses today usually means cracking walls, useless foundations and shifty floors.

I would love to have a lot of these older row houses and homes around today, but just looking at that strip along Edmonton makes the structural engineer in me cringe. These type of buildings had they survived till today, would require a VERY substantial amount of TLC to make them even remotely viable.

[rgalston]

Having done some structural inspections on a lot of older homes (large and small) and office type buildings around the city, it really seems to come down to blind luck depending on how well a structure holds up over the years.

The old strip footing foundations used back in the day for most smaller structures is woefully inadequate for our soil conditions here in the city (piles should be mandated here). The footings are usually too narrow and the drainage around the foundation collapsed or simply non-existent. Walking around these grand old houses today usually means cracking walls, useless foundations and shifty floors.

I would love to have a lot of these older row houses and homes around today, but just looking at that strip along Edmonton makes the structural engineer in me cringe. These type of buildings had they survived till today, would require a VERY substantial amount of TLC to make them even remotely viable.

Many of these structures were put up in the real estate boom of 1881-'82, and would have been slapped together to simply turn a profit. Besides, long-term survival wouldn't have mattered to the average Winnipegger of that time, because I'm sure they were expecting those houses would be replaced by large tenements and business blocks within a generation.

That said, there are many houses built in this era that stand in good condition today. My house is one example of this, but I'm sure it didn't hurt that the builder/occupant was a lumber merchant.

[drew]

That said, there are many houses built in this era that stand in good condition today. My house is one example of this, but I'm sure it didn't hurt that the builder/occupant was a lumber merchant.

I think the actual builder of older houses in Winnipeg is the most important factor in determining how well a house has held up over the years. Actually, this fact probably hasn't changed, although modern building codes and permits will avoid the disparity in building quality that is obvious in certain pockets of this city.

For example some older pockets of houses in St. Boniface have some very questionable build quality in the homes, and the area around Mount Royal between Portage and Ness - a lot of these houses will not hit the century mark without major foundation and structural repairs. The builder in that particular area should have been arrested.

[1ajs]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/122285608_bad1fc7ba1_o.jpg
caption reads
Hare Krishnas chanting on Portage Avenue. Quite a common site on Portage Avneue and at the airport in the late 70's early 80's.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ext504/122285608/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/41/122891845_d2ba7396cf_o.jpg
North side of Portage looking east from Kennedy. I don't remember the Winnipeg Public library Branch on this corner. Must be late 70's or early 80's.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ext504/122891845/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/44/124436387_311339ee53_b.jpg
Selling Tribune newspapers on the corner of Donald and Portage on a snowy winter's day 1976. Disney's "No Deposit, No Return" playing at the Metropolitan Theatre.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ext504/124436387/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/134547937_fb8bb731a6_b.jpg
Portage Avenue looking east 1988
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ext504/134547937/

[Andy6]

Here's a new old Winnipeg street map (1910) that I scanned last night: link (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/2416797005_76e87caff4_o.jpg).

Also, one of my newest old Manitoba maps (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2401464073_0311f17274_o.jpg), showing the province in its original dimensions in 1876, just six years after it entered Confederation. There are hardly any settlements at this time outside of the longstanding settlements along the rivers, although a few post offices have sprung up and the Mennonite tracts have been designated, along with various other settler areas such as New Iceland and a "Danish Settlement" along the SW shore of Lake Manitoba.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2401464073_8d7fdece89.jpg

[bomberguy]

Cool, Postage Stamp Province.

Would it be better or worse if we switch back?

[flatlander]

Here's a new old Winnipeg street map (1910) that I scanned last night: link (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/2416797005_76e87caff4_o.jpg).

Complete with streetcar lines?!

[drew]

I remember seeing an older Winnipeg map in this forum showing streetcar lines running up Lipton and down Ruby street in Wolesley. (I think between Westminster and Portage)

Anyone remember seeing this map, and whether the streetcar system ever went down these streets?

I live on Lipton, and there is a strip of asphalt/concrete along the centre of the whole street that looks suspiciously like an area where rail lines were removed and filled in...

[trueviking]

bought this at antiques and funk.....still has the complete 1937 calendar attached...

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5406/20080415083357jp5.jpg

[Andy6]

I remember seeing an older Winnipeg map in this forum showing streetcar lines running up Lipton and down Ruby street in Wolesley. (I think between Westminster and Portage)

Anyone remember seeing this map, and whether the streetcar system ever went down these streets?

I live on Lipton, and there is a strip of asphalt/concrete along the centre of the whole street that looks suspiciously like an area where rail lines were removed and filled in...

One that I have shows the end of the Westminster bus route running up Lipton and Aubrey between Westminster and Portage (around 1940, I believe). If there was a streetcar it would have been short-lived since none of the World War I-era street maps shows it.

[flatlander]

I remember seeing an older Winnipeg map in this forum showing streetcar lines running up Lipton and down Ruby street in Wolesley. (I think between Westminster and Portage)

Anyone remember seeing this map, and whether the streetcar system ever went down these streets?

I live on Lipton, and there is a strip of asphalt/concrete along the centre of the whole street that looks suspiciously like an area where rail lines were removed and filled in...

Wasn't sprague the turnaround?

[rgalston]

That's an incredible find, Viking. By 1937, I doubt the Bijou was by any means the best theatre in the city--even the best theatre on Main Street, but they sure believed they were judging by that advert.

I don't think street railway ever ran down Westminster Avenue. Unless the Glenlivit is playing tricks on my mind, the first city bus diesel route ran down Westminster sometime in the 1920s.

Ellice Avenue was probably the most built up street in the city to never have car service, streetcars only crossed it in the West End at Sherbrook and Arlington.

Interesting how the West End was still labeled St. James on that and other maps of the time, even though St. James would have been incorporated as a town or city by 1910. Although I wouldn't expect it to have been on maps, I wonder if the term West End was used at this time.

[rgalston]

I found in the 1909 Henderson Directory, the Grand Opera House on Jarvis and Main (the building is still standing), which must have lived up to its name at the time, since they had a phone number as well as an "Up-town ticket office" at 228 Portage near Fort St.

This seems strange that at any time Portage and Fort would be called "uptown". If anything, Jarvis and Main would be.

Then there is Uptown Bowling Lanes on Academy Road, and the Midtown Bridge. So I wonder, where was/is Winnipeg's uptown, midtown, or were these terms ever even used regularly?

[thurmas]

I am just wondering does anyone have old arena proposal renderings for the jets when the arena debate raged in the 80's and 90's? I know there were several convention centre and forks proposals but I have never seen any renderings. It would be appreciated if anyone could post some.

[Andy6]

I found in the 1909 Henderson Directory, the Grand Opera House on Jarvis and Main (the building is still standing), which must have lived up to its name at the time, since they had a phone number as well as an "Up-town ticket office" at 228 Portage near Fort St.

This seems strange that at any time Portage and Fort would be called "uptown". If anything, Jarvis and Main would be.

Then there is Uptown Bowling Lanes on Academy Road, and the Midtown Bridge. So I wonder, where was/is Winnipeg's uptown, midtown, or were these terms ever even used regularly?

I don't really know. I assume from the Uptown Theatre that people must have thought that out along the Assiniboine was Uptown. Perhaps the North End didn't really count for much if the naming of things was done by the middle and upper classes. Our notions of geographical "up" and "down" clouded by the fact that today maps invariably put North at the top and that we no longer orient ourselves as pioneers did, by rivers (thus kids can't comprehend why Ontario, which is "lower" on the map than Quebec, was called "Upper Canada"). Many of the older Winnipeg maps I have put west at the top rather than north. If you think of a city expanding outward to the west, that use of Uptown might make some sense.

I guess midtown is the Midtown Bridge area, although that was named relatively recently (postwar, I guess). So perhaps our down-mid-up orientation is along the Assiniboine axis rather than the Red axis.

[JayM]

I am just wondering does anyone have old arena proposal renderings for the jets when the arena debate raged in the 80's and 90's? I know there were several convention centre and forks proposals but I have never seen any renderings. It would be appreciated if anyone could post some.

have you tried searching on youtube? they seem to have some old news footage of winnipeg stuff.

[thurmas]

all that's on youtube is an old discussion in 1989 of norie talking about an arena but no renders. Sadly classic winnipeg politicians talking out of their ass but getting nothing done!

[viperred88]

I am just wondering does anyone have old arena proposal renderings for the jets when the arena debate raged in the 80's and 90's? I know there were several convention centre and forks proposals but I have never seen any renderings. It would be appreciated if anyone could post some.

here is some

http://onemanitobaplace.homestead.com/recdntn.html

http://onemanitobaplace.homestead.com/thebuilding.html



http://www.members.shaw.ca/rbdyck/issues/Forum.html

[Andy6]

all that's on youtube is an old discussion in 1989 of norie talking about an arena but no renders. Sadly classic winnipeg politicians talking out of their ass but getting nothing done!

That was the Manitoba Gardens idea on the North American Life parking lot, I presume.

What would you rather have... a politician like Jean Drapeau in Montreal who "got the Olympic Stadium done" (except the tower, roof and the bits that fell off) despite the fact it was unaffordable, and crippled Montreal financially for 10-20 years as a result? The fact is that a sports arena is a very marginal proposition for a city as small as Winnipeg that has a lot of other priorities. Eventually something did get built, if not quite to NHL standards. Anything Winnipeg would have built in 1989 would be obsolete today anyway, and even if the Jets had survived there would be more threats about leaving if a new or expanded arena wasn't built again now. Pro sports is an extortion racket.

[thurmas]

I have to disagree with you andy6 an arena downtown would have brought 16000 people downtown 40-60 times a year for large gatherings and 5-10000 people say 20-40 times a year for smaller concerts. With a hockey crazed market, a strong canadian dollar now and a salary cap I beleive that nhl could still work today. A new arena would have reverted some of the dark days of 1990's downtown winnipeg. the arena would not have opened until probably 1993 even if proposed in 1989. With a small market like winnipeg you will always have hurdles to jump in keeping a pro sports team but the psychological impact has still not been healed to winnipegers. The pride in having a white out at the arena is worth more than dollars and cents.

[JayM]

here is some

http://onemanitobaplace.homestead.com/recdntn.html

http://onemanitobaplace.homestead.com/thebuilding.html



http://www.members.shaw.ca/rbdyck/issues/Forum.html

i don't know about anyone else but the eaton square would've been nice.

[rgalston]

I don't really know. I assume from the Uptown Theatre that people must have thought that out along the Assiniboine was Uptown. Perhaps the North End didn't really count for much if the naming of things was done by the middle and upper classes. Our notions of geographical "up" and "down" clouded by the fact that today maps invariably put North at the top and that we no longer orient ourselves as pioneers did, by rivers (thus kids can't comprehend why Ontario, which is "lower" on the map than Quebec, was called "Upper Canada"). Many of the older Winnipeg maps I have put west at the top rather than north. If you think of a city expanding outward to the west, that use of Uptown might make some sense.

I guess midtown is the Midtown Bridge area, although that was named relatively recently (postwar, I guess). So perhaps our down-mid-up orientation is along the Assiniboine axis rather than the Red axis.

You're right, there were many maps that showed west at the top. At the time, Winnipeg still had some sort of working waterfront on the Red between The Forks and Point Douglas, and the central business district still very much ran in a north-south axis on either side of Main Street, in what was the old nucleus of the settlement of the days of Bannatyne, McDermot, Drever, McKenney, etc. So "uptown" Winnipeg would have been west on Portage Avenue, which would have been what Hennepin was to Minneapolis, or Broadway was to Manhattan. I have never read anything about the North End or St. John's, or even Fort Rouge being Up or Mid-town.

[Andy6]

I recently acquired a set of 50 stereoviews featuring scenes from or related to Eaton's Winnipeg department store. While undated, they appear to me to date from either 1909 or 1910 (Eaton's had expanded from 5 to 7 floors at that time, with the eighth floor still to be added). Thus the store would have been only about 4 years old. Of particular interest are photos of the store's displays and of the behind the scenes departments, such as the printing department, jewelry manufacturing section, harness-making section and hundreds of people involved in processing orders for the mail-order division. Somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 people were working at Eaton's at the time. The interior shots (of the store; the factories were in what is now Cityplace) look familiar, with the pillars and the pressed-tin ceiling that endured to the bitter end. The sprinkler system, which looks like the system that remained in place, was a marvel of its time, being fed by a 150,000 gallon water tank on the roof.

Here are a few of the shots (stereoscopic of course):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2464530285_00d4284216_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2208/2464474589_94ce5d213d_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2464414221_2e944ce6cc_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2052/2465227350_782299ccdc_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2464364999_a2022800f7_b.jpg

There are also a number of street shots. This is from the roof of Eaton's looking east. Note the new, yet to be expanded Grain Exchange Building and the half-finished dome of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2465217612_a0165768f3_b.jpg

[JayM]

I came across this interesting picture.. anyone have some info on it?
http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/tribune/photos/Winnipeg-PlanningandZoning4.jpg

[fengshui]

JayM, that photo is from the Tribune archives and was posted by Jim Jaworski on a web page a while ago (http://www.mts.net/%7Ejjaworsk/metro/) with some old planning reports for the city.

Andy, those photos are amazing. Are those trolley cars electric or horse drawn? I see some horses in front of the first car.

[rgalston]

By 1909, there were no longer horse-drawn streetcars in Winnipeg (I don't know when they were finally removed--I think 1904, so there would have been over a decade there, when Portage and Main had both tracks for horsecars and electric cars). It appears to just be a close encounter between a wagon and a streetcar. The streetcar would be travelling east, so it must have been stopped, and the wagon crossed right by it.

The two men in that photo are, if I'm correct, Bernie Wolfe and Earl Levin, who were top planners at the time when the neighborhood south of Portage Avenue was set to become a third-rate LeCorbusian "city of tomorrow".

Bernie Wolfe is still alive. I saw him at the Fort Garry Hotel not too long ago.

[Andy6]

By 1909, there were no longer horse-drawn streetcars in Winnipeg (I don't know when they were finally removed--I think 1904, so there would have been over a decade there, when Portage and Main had both tracks for horsecars and electric cars). It appears to just be a close encounter between a wagon and a streetcar. The streetcar would be travelling east, so it must have been stopped, and the wagon crossed right by it.

The two men in that photo are, if I'm correct, Bernie Wolfe and Earl Levin, who were top planners at the time when the neighborhood south of Portage Avenue was set to become a third-rate LeCorbusian "city of tomorrow".

Bernie Wolfe is still alive. I saw him at the Fort Garry Hotel not too long ago.

Yes, it's definitely Bernie Wolfe. He was the deputy mayor under Juba, I believe.

[cal-to-win]

Just stumbled across this thread, and have spent the past hour reading everything. Live in Calgary, grew up in Elmwood......we have a condo in Ashdown that we plan to live in when it is time to retire..still come there every year..family there.... But..the memories you have jigged!! Yes, the Capitol had two entrances - one on Portage, one on Donald..saw Dr. No/From Russia with Love there when they first came out. Pop machines were button operated - you could hit all the buttons at once and get a mixture of pop. Was on the Disraeli when the Queen opened it -- we walked from Lord Selkirk, stood at the centre of the bridge and froze. The Roxy Theatre was converted to the bowling alley like a few were. Also remember taking the streetcar as a young kid to Deer Lodge Hospital from Elmwood - this would have been early 50's - my Dad was sick a lot then and it was quite a trip to visit him.

Keep up the great work with pics etc......

[1ajs]

Just stumbled across this thread, and have spent the past hour reading everything. Live in Calgary, grew up in Elmwood......we have a condo in Ashdown that we plan to live in when it is time to retire..still come there every year..family there.... But..the memories you have jigged!! Yes, the Capitol had two entrances - one on Portage, one on Donald..saw Dr. No/From Russia with Love there when they first came out. Pop machines were button operated - you could hit all the buttons at once and get a mixture of pop. Was on the Disraeli when the Queen opened it -- we walked from Lord Selkirk, stood at the centre of the bridge and froze. The Roxy Theatre was converted to the bowling alley like a few were. Also remember taking the streetcar as a young kid to Deer Lodge Hospital from Elmwood - this would have been early 50's - my Dad was sick a lot then and it was quite a trip to visit him.

Keep up the great work with pics etc......

the queen opened the disrealie? :o

[1ajs]

stumbled across this pick of eations and noticed a forgoten building where the sane store was on the hydro site andy6 says its the steele block but can't find much els on it
http://www.uwto.org/photos/03.jpg

[fengshui]

Was doing some thinking about the notion of the urban square and how we don't really have any important vibrant squares any longer. Market Square is a shadow of its former glory, the old Victoria Park is gone. Maybe the greatest hope for an urban square is Central Park. Photos below are from MHS.

Early photograph (1881) of the north side of Market Avenue, looking west from Main Street.

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/18/marketsquare1.jpg

The north side of Market Avenue again, looking east towards Main Street from Princess

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/18/marketsquare2.jpg

Victoria Park, a gathering place during the General Strike. Located at the end of James Street, near the Old Labour Temple and two blocks from City Hall.

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/40/parkpolitics1.jpg

[Only The Lonely..]

When life was a beach

Tom Ford

Updated: May 20 at 12:25 AM CDT | Winnipeg Free Press Commentary

For a couple of days, I've been running around looking for things that can't be seen. I wanted to explore the places where our parents and grandparents had fun -- Winnipeg's nightclubs, dance halls, vaudeville houses and the boardwalks of Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg, about 80 kilometres north of the city.


Many of the hot spots have been torn down. All that's left are empty spaces, a few plaques and a lot of ghosts.

What got me going on this quixotic adventure was a new book by musician Owen Clark, Musical Ghosts, Manitoba's Jazz and Dance Bands 1914 to 1966 -- a compendium chockablock with facts and old photos.

Clark's book got me revved up because I've long had a theory that some people after the First World War had more fun -- at cheap prices -- than do many people today.

Downtown, for one thing, was crowded with people and colourful shops. Today, Fort Street south of Portage Avenue can be described as nondescript. In the days of the Charleston, the black bottom and the cakewalk, Clark says, Fort was Winnipeg's entertainment row with the Orpheum, (a major vaudeville house), the Victoria live theatre, the Coliseum, Alhambra and Old Fort dance halls, the Silver Slipper nightclub and a hotel.

But the beaches on Lake Winnipeg most clearly illustrate how far we haven't come.

In the good old days a businessperson could jump on a train after work, read the newspaper and, in less than an hour, be sitting on a wicker chair in a screened-in veranda, sipping a martini and savouring the lake breezes.

People didn't have to worry about uncertain lake levels or pollution.

Public transportation was efficient and cheap. One day in 1920, 13 trains brought 13,000 people to Winnipeg Beach, a record for the resort. The Winnipeg Beach run was the most profitable 80 kilometres of CPR tracks in Canada.

Sure, most people worked six days a week and many didn't make much money. But prices were low. At Winnipeg Beach's Empress hotel, which burned down in the 1930s, you could get a salmon sandwich for 10 cents and a sirloin steak for 50 cents in 1915. The four-storey hotel with big balconies boasted electric lights in every room, lawn bowling, tennis courts and a yacht for the use of guests.

And few teenagers whined about having nothing to do at the lake. Winnipeg Beach had a carousel, dodge 'em cars, Mrs. Swallow's Shetland pony rides, and concessions with features such as bows and arrows, air rifles, spicy movies and toy cranes that were supposed to dig up prizes. The 1919 roller-coaster was 300 feet high and had 12 death-defying dips. A ride cost a quarter; subsequent rides were 20 cents.

Or there was the joy of just strutting around on the boardwalk showing off your full beach regalia -- white belt and slacks and two-tone shoes.

Topping it all off were the dance halls at both beach resorts. The 1926 Winnipeg Beach hall had a clear, hardwood maple dance floor and, for a few seasons, Plant's orchestra was suspended above the dancers on a platform. Dances were held six nights a week. The Grand Beach pavilion was one of Canada's largest.

In the dirty '30s, says Clark, one dance cost a nickel or a "jit". After a jit dance, two men with a rope herded the dancers to an exit, while new dancers flooded in behind them.

The CPR's Sir William Whyte picked the site of Winnipeg Beach, the first of the big lake resorts, during a boat ride in 1900. In 1903, after 48 kilometres of track had been built through swamp and bush, the first 500 merrymakers surged into what became "the Coney Island of the north." Later, the CN developed Grand Beach across the lake. Its three-kilometre beach with white, soft sand and big dunes (a remnant of glacial Lake Agassiz) is one of North America's best.

Now the amusements at the beaches are gone. The beaches have become tidy provincial parks. The car, that symbol of individualism, helped kill the old amusement parks and rail lines, just as it did parts of Winnipeg's downtown.

The triumph of individualism means many people can go to their own cottage in their own car and sit alone on their own dock or watch satellite TV. Being part of a community, however, has its joys. There's nothing like a sunny boardwalk jumping with holidayers, the lake air mixed with the smell of spun sugar cones and greasy fries.

And wandering around a train filled with happy campers is a lot more fun than being imprisoned in the back seat of a car with a grumpy sister.


Tom Ford is managing editor of The Issues Network.

[1ajs]

nice find only.. they should get the prarie dog back on it feet and do daily runs to the beach maybe get a couple trains going now that would be cool...

[bomberguy]

life was great back in the day... sigh*

[Andy6]

Here are some sample pages from Waghorn's Guide, which was the pocket guide to Winnipeg and Western Canada that emigrants would pick up on their arrival in town. My copy is the edition for May, 1910. It contained information about the prairies, listings of hotels, train schedules, advertisements of available farmland, locations of courthouses, banks, post offices, etc., names of lawyers, leading merchants, real estate agents, etc.

At the front is a listing of Winnipeg's hotels, with rates (gives an idea of what were the first-class establishments prior to the opening of the Royal Alex, Fort Garry or Marlborough):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/2509389485_fc6ce1b7e7_b.jpg

The continuation of that page:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/2509390469_d7c8de0583_b.jpg

Populations of settlements and officials of the CPR (note William Whyte is VP):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2510223752_6bf74e7f7c_b.jpg

Finally, there are pages and pages of train schedules. Here is the one for Winnipeg Beach:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2509392245_83cf203e78_b.jpg

[viperred88]

yeah adrian is right it would be great to see if the Prairie dog in doing such run. hmmmm. Actually do the train tracks still exist by Grand Beach?

I remember seeing pics of a wooden rollercoaster. Anyway I don't see why they don't have tour bus that stops by there, I am sure they can do something with that.

When life was a beach

Tom Ford

Updated: May 20 at 12:25 AM CDT | Winnipeg Free Press Commentary

For a couple of days, I've been running around looking for things that can't be seen. I wanted to explore the places where our parents and grandparents had fun -- Winnipeg's nightclubs, dance halls, vaudeville houses and the boardwalks of Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg, about 80 kilometres north of the city.


Many of the hot spots have been torn down. All that's left are empty spaces, a few plaques and a lot of ghosts.

What got me going on this quixotic adventure was a new book by musician Owen Clark, Musical Ghosts, Manitoba's Jazz and Dance Bands 1914 to 1966 -- a compendium chockablock with facts and old photos.

Clark's book got me revved up because I've long had a theory that some people after the First World War had more fun -- at cheap prices -- than do many people today.

Downtown, for one thing, was crowded with people and colourful shops. Today, Fort Street south of Portage Avenue can be described as nondescript. In the days of the Charleston, the black bottom and the cakewalk, Clark says, Fort was Winnipeg's entertainment row with the Orpheum, (a major vaudeville house), the Victoria live theatre, the Coliseum, Alhambra and Old Fort dance halls, the Silver Slipper nightclub and a hotel.

But the beaches on Lake Winnipeg most clearly illustrate how far we haven't come.

In the good old days a businessperson could jump on a train after work, read the newspaper and, in less than an hour, be sitting on a wicker chair in a screened-in veranda, sipping a martini and savouring the lake breezes.

People didn't have to worry about uncertain lake levels or pollution.

Public transportation was efficient and cheap. One day in 1920, 13 trains brought 13,000 people to Winnipeg Beach, a record for the resort. The Winnipeg Beach run was the most profitable 80 kilometres of CPR tracks in Canada.

Sure, most people worked six days a week and many didn't make much money. But prices were low. At Winnipeg Beach's Empress hotel, which burned down in the 1930s, you could get a salmon sandwich for 10 cents and a sirloin steak for 50 cents in 1915. The four-storey hotel with big balconies boasted electric lights in every room, lawn bowling, tennis courts and a yacht for the use of guests.

And few teenagers whined about having nothing to do at the lake. Winnipeg Beach had a carousel, dodge 'em cars, Mrs. Swallow's Shetland pony rides, and concessions with features such as bows and arrows, air rifles, spicy movies and toy cranes that were supposed to dig up prizes. The 1919 roller-coaster was 300 feet high and had 12 death-defying dips. A ride cost a quarter; subsequent rides were 20 cents.

Or there was the joy of just strutting around on the boardwalk showing off your full beach regalia -- white belt and slacks and two-tone shoes.

Topping it all off were the dance halls at both beach resorts. The 1926 Winnipeg Beach hall had a clear, hardwood maple dance floor and, for a few seasons, Plant's orchestra was suspended above the dancers on a platform. Dances were held six nights a week. The Grand Beach pavilion was one of Canada's largest.

In the dirty '30s, says Clark, one dance cost a nickel or a "jit". After a jit dance, two men with a rope herded the dancers to an exit, while new dancers flooded in behind them.

The CPR's Sir William Whyte picked the site of Winnipeg Beach, the first of the big lake resorts, during a boat ride in 1900. In 1903, after 48 kilometres of track had been built through swamp and bush, the first 500 merrymakers surged into what became "the Coney Island of the north." Later, the CN developed Grand Beach across the lake. Its three-kilometre beach with white, soft sand and big dunes (a remnant of glacial Lake Agassiz) is one of North America's best.

Now the amusements at the beaches are gone. The beaches have become tidy provincial parks. The car, that symbol of individualism, helped kill the old amusement parks and rail lines, just as it did parts of Winnipeg's downtown.

The triumph of individualism means many people can go to their own cottage in their own car and sit alone on their own dock or watch satellite TV. Being part of a community, however, has its joys. There's nothing like a sunny boardwalk jumping with holidayers, the lake air mixed with the smell of spun sugar cones and greasy fries.

And wandering around a train filled with happy campers is a lot more fun than being imprisoned in the back seat of a car with a grumpy sister.


Tom Ford is managing editor of The Issues Network.

[Only The Lonely..]

In the good old days a businessperson could jump on a train after work, read the newspaper and, in less than an hour, be sitting on a wicker chair in a screened-in veranda, sipping a martini and savouring the lake breezes.


Sounds very cosmopolitan.

People sure knew how to live back then.

[JayM]

Sounds very cosmopolitan.

People sure knew how to live back then.

But i am sure hygiene wasn't a factor. lmao

[fengshui]

The City is asking the owner of this 100+ year old historically listed carriage house at 43 Boyle (South Point Douglas) to either demolish it or get a structural engineer to come up with the repairs required so that it doesn't fall down.

The owner appealed, but was denied. (http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=8345&SectionId=&InitUrl=) The owner's letter was quite touching, it sounds like they have done all they can to fix it up, but are in over their heads financially.

There is speculation it might be one of the last carriage houses left on the banks of the Red River.

http://www.mts.net/%7Efengshui/images/43%20boyle.jpg

[drew]

The City is asking the owner of this 100+ year old historically listed carriage house at 43 Boyle (South Point Douglas) to either demolish it or get a structural engineer to come up with the repairs required so that it doesn't fall down.
[/IMG]

Done. New Roof, new walls, new foundation and new siding. Inspect and replace all damaged floor joists and replace as required.

Once the are done "fixing" that place up, the only original thing left might be the windows, provided they can get them re-glazed...

[1ajs]

they sure picked the worst posible photo of it.... and the city sure is slowly demolishing that street.....

[rgalston]

Good on the City for getting after the crooks at 138 Lorne (http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=8345&SectionId=&InitUrl=). I can think of far worse offenders of local by-laws than 43 Boyle St., though. Maybe the City of Winnipeg should send repair orders to the owner of 99 Euclid...


Up to $4 to stay at the Mariaggi. Fancy. I read somewhere recently that that was the prefered hangout among the city's theatre/arts crowd a century ago, because it was the most sophisticated Europeanesque of all Winnipeg's establishments.

[IntotheWest]

When life was a beach

Tom Ford

Updated: May 20 at 12:25 AM CDT | Winnipeg Free Press Commentary

For a couple of days, I've been running around looking for things that can't be seen. I wanted to explore the places where our parents and grandparents had fun -- Winnipeg's nightclubs, dance halls, vaudeville houses and the boardwalks of Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg, about 80 kilometres north of the city.
....

Great write-up. I've always wondered too why this can't happen again for Winnipeg Beach.

Not sure the "300 feet" height for the original roller coaster are right, but the New Dips in the 60's did look big for the day. My grandma talked about taking the train all the time...would've been neat to see.

[JayM]

they sure picked the worst posible photo of it.... and the city sure is slowly demolishing that street.....

Oh i know.. When it came to getting rid of houses i guess they have a waiting period i believe to demolish them. Seriously though they could just plow those houses they are infested with mice and everything else not to mentione kids playing around them... oh yeah reeaaal safe.

[drew]

My grandma talked about taking the train all the time...would've been neat to see.

Ditto with my Grandmother as well.
She also told us about the "no Jews allowed" signs that were around Grand Beach at the time.

I guess that kind of reminiscing doesn't sound so good in editorials...

[IntotheWest]

^Interesting...didn't know about that. Some details are better left out :-)

[drew]

^ true. But is always good to know or remember that not everything was so magical back then...

[1ajs]

i beleave this silo is still in use
http://www.archiseek.com/gifs/winnipeg_grainsilos.jpg

[flatlander]

^^^ Is that the one out past the West End, maybe off Notre Dame or Dublin or Midland or ...