Winnipeg Construction X

[cllew]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

What used to be on that block? for this young'n. It just an empty city block of parking lot, with random shitty fast food spread about. Sherbrook-Portage-Maryland-Broadway. Prime piece of land.

Going on memory it was Carter Motors which was a GM Dealer. I think they were bought out by Murray Chev in the mid 1990's with Murray being there for a few years before moving to the Waverly Auto Mall and selling the Portage ave land.

[esquire]

If that car dealership had held out for another ten or fifteen years we might have seen something decent go up there, but being the 90s it was practically inevitable that the site would become a horrendous mishmash of ugly retail surrounded by parking.

You can get an idea of what it looked like from Portage Avenue here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9513047@N05/50474468537/

[plrh]

I think the dealer in that photo was torn down in 2005 and replaced by the Gordon Bell playing field. It was a Chrysler dealership in the 2000s. I used to get my oil changed there when I worked at the Walter Weir building next door in the early 2000s.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by plrh

I think the dealer in that photo was torn down in 2005 and replaced by the Gordon Bell playing field. It was a Chrysler dealership in the 2000s. I used to get my oil changed there when I worked at the Walter Weir building next door in the early 2000s.

You're thinking of Midway Chrysler which was farther west along Portage.

[Jeff]

that pic is definitely showing the block in question as the SW corner of Portage and Maryland would he directly to the right with the three-storey brick building, where Hildegards is now, being just out of sight.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/951304...n/photostream/

[davequanbury]

Originally Posted by esquire

If that car dealership had held out for another ten or fifteen years we might have seen something decent go up there, but being the 90s it was practically inevitable that the site would become a horrendous mishmash of ugly retail surrounded by parking.

You can get an idea of what it looked like from Portage Avenue here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9513047@N05/50474468537/

Great find. The bank building at the Northeast corner of the site (McDonalds) was a decent looking building too. I think it was torn down in the 80s? 90s?

[esquire]

^ I don't remember that particular building at all... I would guess it was torn down in the 80s to expand the dealership's lot as I'm fairly sure it came right out to the corner of Portage and Sherbrook.

It's amazing how quickly the car dealerships decamped from downtown and the surrounding area... in 1985 there were several, and 20 years later I think only Midway was left although it was gone not long after that too.

[CoryB]

Something isn't adding up for me here. Did downtown Winnipeg have two GM dealerships? There was definitely one about two blocks east across from the old roller rink (now U of W sciences building). It even had a spinning car platform on the roof if I remember correctly. Always sort of wondered what magic they were doing to get cars up there.

Also calling as car dealership "under utilized" space is really overlooking the history of Winnipeg. Before the rise of the shopping malls, downtown was the focus on all things retail in the city, and that included selling automobiles. If before suburban malls came along you needed to say go to the Point West Autopark to buy your car the whole growth of the city likely would have taken on a different shape and could have focused around a different node point.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Something isn't adding up for me here. Did downtown Winnipeg have two GM dealerships? There was definitely one about two blocks east across from the old roller rink (now U of W sciences building). It even had a spinning car platform on the roof if I remember correctly. Always sort of wondered what magic they were doing to get cars up there.

Yeah, the one you're thinking of was McNaught Motors which was the Cadillac/Buick dealer, while Carter was the Chev/Olds dealer. McNaught had a ramp, like the kind you'd drive to get to the upper level of a parkade, to get cars on the roof.

What were some of the other downtown dealers? From the 80s, I can remember Midway Chrysler, Metro Motors (Fiat), the Jaguar dealership on Main Street, Dominion Motors (Ford)...

[cllew]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, the one you're thinking of was McNaught Motors which was the Cadillac/Buick dealer, while Carter was the Chev/Olds dealer. McNaught had a ramp, like the kind you'd drive to get to the upper level of a parkade, to get cars on the roof.

What were some of the other downtown dealers? From the 80s, I can remember Midway Chrysler, Metro Motors (Fiat), the Jaguar dealership on Main Street, Dominion Motors (Ford)...

Consolidated Mercury around Main and St. Mary's. They moved and rebranded as Midtown Ford on Pembina. My parents bough a car from the Main St. location in 1969

[LilZebra]

One day the 'Sherbrook Telephone Exchange' building can become 'affordable housing' apartments.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by cllew

Consolidated Mercury around Main and St. Mary's. They moved and rebranded as Midtown Ford on Pembina. My parents bough a car from the Main St. location in 1969

Our car around that time was from Century Motors, which was the Chrysler dealership at the same location, and then there was Inman Motors on the east side of Main at York Ave. It became Terry Balkan Chev Olds until that flamed out in the early 80s.

Fort Street and a portion of south Main Street were the centre of the automobile business.

[esquire]

^ I forgot about Terry Balkan Chev Olds… so to CoryB's earlier point, the downtown area had not two but three GM dealerships right up to the 1980s, two of which were Chev Olds dealerships. Of course only Terry Balkan was actually downtown, strictly speaking, but the two on Portage (McNaught and Carter) were certainly close enough to count.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Labroco

Tecumseh & Notre Dame parking lot has been sold for imminent development. This is a market driven transaction. The sale price and after tax proceeds far exceeded the lot’s existing cash flow for the foreseeable future. A win for seller and buyer it seems. A residential development was discussed during the transaction but I would not be surprised to see a grade level clinic with parking.

If there is a use for parking lots other than parking they will get developed. In this case subsidized hospital parking drove down income making a sale possible for a willing buyer and seller.

I’m hopeful it will be a nice building for this stretch of Notre Dame. If I was 20 years younger I might have developed it myself ...

neat

[BuildUpWpg]

I think there was a Keystone Ford at well? On Fort Street? I remember my dad buying his '85 Crown Vic there.

[Jeff]

anything that starts to chip away at the HSC area for renewal is a net-positive on the whole downtown.. i always think the core is capped at the knees in terms of revitalization as long as the Centennial area is down in the dumps.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Jeff

anything that starts to chip away at the HSC area for renewal is a net-positive on the whole downtown.. i always think the core is capped at the knees in terms of revitalization as long as the Centennial area is down in the dumps.

It certainly doesn't help the situation downtown having one of the most downtrodden and socially troubled neighbourhoods right next door.

I guess some might say I sound like a pro-gentrification snob and maybe there is some truth to that, but yeah, I wish that a neighbourhood like Centennial that has a great location and has such great bones wasn't so rough. I'd like to see it move a little in the direction of West Broadway where the area has improved to everyone's benefit, i.e. it's not like anyone lacking a 6 figure income has been removed from the area... there's still room for everyone.

[EdwardTH]

A little development might help spruce up the appearance a bit but as long as the city and province continue to do jack squat when it comes to addictions, housing & mental health not much is gonna change. Unfortunately we're stuck with the current provincial gov't for at least a few more years so we'll see how much more damage they can do in that time.

[1ajs]

if the city came down on code vilotations on rental properties it would help

[bomberjet]

The new women's hospital had nice grass themed windows lining the north side on the street. On Elgin. And a large number of them were instantly smashed. I think they just put blank ones back in. Sad.