Historical Winnipeg discussion

[JayM]

Originally Posted by flatlander

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

I think so.

[1ajs]

i think its in the south end no? boreslis books used to have a huge print of that shot of it tiped over

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by fengshui

The owner appealed, but was denied. 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.

If I ever have to write an appeal to the City I'm going to get this dude to do it.

My wife used to live on Nassau/Wardlaw with a fabulous carriage house in behind. Always wanted to get my hands on it. Unfortunately its now part of the portfolio of Ian ("maintenance? what maintenance?") Rentz.

[fengshui]

That's a photo of the Transcona Grain Elevator foundation failure. It's a famous landmark for geotechnical engineers, and it's been the subject of a lot of papers. It was designed before there was such a thing as soil mechanics to consider.

Failure was October, 1913 about one month after it was first loaded with grain.

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by fengshui

That's a photo of the Transcona Grain Elevator foundation failure. It's a famous landmark for geotechnical engineers, and it's been the subject of a lot of papers. It was designed before there was such a thing as soil mechanics to consider.

Failure was October, 1913 about one month after it was first loaded with grain.

Neat. The same engineer must have designed my house.

Does any of it remain?

[fengshui]

It's still in operation today. The silos were concrete, and didn't break, so they tilted it back up and repaired the foundation so that it wouldn't fail again.

[mrchristian]

Originally Posted by fengshui

It's still in operation today. The silos were concrete, and didn't break, so they tilted it back up and repaired the foundation so that it wouldn't fail again.

Gotta love that about stuff back then. Silos tipped ? Tip them back up. Had a nasty fire ? Lop off the top couple of floors and you're back in business !

[mrchristian]

I don't get on here that often so forgive me if this has been posted before but I read that the Curry Building was built to have 8 storey tower above it but it never got built.


Given the prominent location and lighter building materials of today I wonder why nobody ever looked into that again ? If you look down on it - I can't find the shots that I took of it other than the top one there - the building is like a doughnut with a clear space in the middle. Presumably for elevator lobby etc. I am wondering if anyone knows more about this ? A glass tower would be quite cool !


MB Archives Streets-Portage 1916 Collection Item 1 - N19413 from Heritage Winnipeg Website

[1ajs]

there was a rendering posted a while back of the origonal tower not sure were one could find a copy of it but it was a butiful building none the less


..... is it me or is the paris building alot shorter in that old shot?

[Andy6]

The Paris Building was built in two stages.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Andy6

The Paris Building was built in two stages.

man i am so happy they got to build the uper part of the paris buiding

but never knew it was built in 2 stages

[flatlander]

The Avenue Building looked darker as well. I know there was a fire there too - wonder if it lost floors as well. I'll check tomorrow ...

[1ajs]

it did? dam no wonder its foundation is so messed up

[mrchristian]

I've seen Paris building pics - it was brown brick originally.

This is c 1959 (UofM , Trib Archives, PC18 7121-18-6473-004)

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by flatlander

The Avenue Building looked darker as well. I know there was a fire there too - wonder if it lost floors as well. I'll check tomorrow ...

From the City report:

Originally built in 1904, designed by Cadham. 3 storeys, south facade was Menominee brick while the rest was clay brick. Not sure of the colour of Menominee brick, looks red in the drawings i've seen.

Gutted by fire in 1913, and rebuilt to present 6 storey structure. They were going to rebuild to 5 but added another during construction. Talk about optimism.

Vacant since about 2000. Original construction cost was $31k.

[rgalston]

This was in a letter to the editor today:
"A proposed expansion of Westgate School in Armstrong's (originally Pelletier's) Point has been in the news recently with a hearing in front of the zoning board..."

Who was Pelletier? (And while we're at it, who was Armstrong?) I've never read of Armstrong Point being called Pelletier's Point. Was he the original owner of this land? In a map from 1874, it shows Armstrong Point being owned by Francis Cornish, who was Winnipeg's first mayor.

Today, Armstrong Point is seldom used, it seems, most Winnipeggers know this neighborhood as either West Gate, East Gate, or just "The Gates." And why is it that houses seldom go up for sale there?

[flatlander]

I thought Armstrong was some military guy who came out from Ontario, and retired on that land. Here we go, from the MHS website:

Armstrong’s Point may be terra incognita to many residents of Winnipeg and Manitoba. A large bend in the Assiniboine River creates this relatively isolated residential district which was developed as a suburban haven for well-to-do families in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The land was granted by the Hudson’s Bay Company to Joseph Hill, who came to Red River in 1849 at the head of a group of pensioners. Five years later he returned to England and left his batman, James Armstrong, in charge of his property. Armstrong died in 1874. When in the early 1880s Hill heard that land values were escalating in the Canadian West, he returned to Winnipeg, reestablished his title to his property, and sold it to a syndicate headed by J. McDonald and E. Rothwell.

The first home was built on what is now Eastgate in about 1882. Between that year and 1920 most of the large, stately homes that give the district its distinctive atmosphere were built. This guide will hopefully enable you to imaginatively stroll up and down the streets of this lovely part of Winnipeg.

[drew]

Originally Posted by rgalston

And why is it that houses seldom go up for sale there?

If you got a house in there, would you want to move anywhere else? It's central, quiet, well kept, and up until recently, relatively affordable.

In terms of convenience, quality of neighbourhoods, and location, Armstrong Point and Wolesley are unsurpassed in this city.

Although I may be a little biased towards Wolesley...

[rgalston]

Originally Posted by drew

It's central, quiet, well kept, and up until recently, relatively affordable.

That's just it: long-time owners could make a huge profit on selling now. It's lovely, well-located, and full of pristine old houses, but so is Wolseley and Crescentwood, where houses do go up for sale regularly.


Hmm, no mention of a Pelletier... maybe that name was just added by the letter writer to give Armstrong Point some diversity cred...

[fengshui]

When I read about the Westgate expansion project on the Board of Adjustment agenda, the list of objectors contained doctors every second name. There was a long list objecting, too. Guess they don't want the high school to get any bigger or noisier or something.