HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Manitoba & Saskatchewan


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1861  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 6:30 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ When I was a kid I remember walking into Goldeyes games for free if you got there before they started manning the gates. Of course the rush was mitigated by the fact that Warehouse One used to sell cheap tickets in the outfield for like $1 or $2 or something like that.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1862  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 7:02 PM
cheswick's Avatar
cheswick cheswick is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: South Kildonan
Posts: 2,756
Quote:
Originally Posted by snowmobile View Post
read a story on nlfan that one time during a thunderstorm the dugouts filled up with water since the turf had poor drainage and the players swam laps .

What was the buzz around Winnipeg about the Winnipeg Fury? Did they ever play at Winnipeg Stadium or only at the university?

What about the Cyclone or Thunder? The atmosphere at those must have been similar to goldeyes games i.e families .
As a youth soccer player I received free Fury tickets on year. I think it may have been a full seasons worth. I remember watching the games at the Winnipeg stadium.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1863  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 7:31 PM
oftheMoon's Avatar
oftheMoon oftheMoon is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: East Exchanger
Posts: 675
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire View Post
^ The Fury actually had a pretty decent following considering the newness of the team. The lack of a properly-sized venue didn't help much... University Stadium was pretty lame for a pro venue, and Winnipeg Stadium was way too big... as I recall, the only time the Fury managed to draw decent sized crowds at Winnipeg Stadium was when their sponsor Superstore gave away tickets. I think their last season or two they played at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex. Fun fact: Troy Westwood briefly played for the Fury.

The Thunder was actually a pretty big attraction for the first season, but then the WBL sort of collapsed around it. I remember going to games and there were some pretty respectable crowds... it started off around the 6-7 thousand range in 1992 before dropping off to about 4 thousand. Then in 1994 the league was on life support and the Goldeyes had started up and interest in the Thunder evaporated... no one wanted to sit inside the arena on a warm summer night anymore when you could watch baseball outdoors instead. I remember going to a Thunder game in the summer of 94... there couldn't have been more than 2,000 people there and meanwhile across the street at the stadium, there must have been around 6 or 7 thousand people watching the Goldeyes. If the WBL hadn't collapsed I'm sure the Thunder could have stuck it out longer.

The Cyclone lasted longer than the Thunder even though no one remembers them (they played six seasons from 1995-2001). They never had the honeymoon that the Thunder briefly enjoyed. And the Winnipeg Convention Centre was terrible as a basketball venue. Unlike the Thunder which was actually kind of a cool attraction for a year or two, the Cyclone were pretty well always playing in front of families and hardcore basketball freaks who just wanted to watch live ball. I recall there being some animosity with the university teams because the Cyclone tended to steal the type of fans who'd otherwise go watch the Bisons or Wesmen live.
I attended dozens of Winnipeg Thunder games. It was my first chance at watching pro hoop and I was hooked from the get-go!

The atmosphere at some of those games was amazing. They once set an attendance record for semi-pro ball somewhere around 11 or 12,000 at the old barn. It was something.

I have a box full of programs and schedules kicking around with my collection of "important" stuff.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1864  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 7:58 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
Quote:
Originally Posted by oftheMoon View Post
I attended dozens of Winnipeg Thunder games. It was my first chance at watching pro hoop and I was hooked from the get-go!

The atmosphere at some of those games was amazing. They once set an attendance record for semi-pro ball somewhere around 11 or 12,000 at the old barn. It was something.
Yeah, they were a fairly big deal back in their first season of 1992. At least as big a deal as the Manitoba Moose ever were... there was a fair bit of excitement that season and it wasn't just the usual minor league fan mix of seniors and families. Plenty of young adults in the stands.

The Thunder weren't really merchandising whiz kids but for a couple years you did see a lot of this logo around town...


source: adanancantiques.com

Now here's a pub game for you... how many Thunder players can you remember? For me the list begins and ends with J.J. Eubanks, although I'm sure if I dug up my old programs it would all flood back to me.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1865  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 8:18 PM
bomberjet bomberjet is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 13,708
I had a favourite black t-shirt with that logo on it. I still really like it actually. The colours worked too. Also seem to remember it being on a basketball as well. But that might have been the Shaq hand ball.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1866  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 8:22 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ I didn't see it at the time, but it sort of looks like the Thunder just ripped off the San Jose Sharks, whose logo was an uber-hot seller at the time. Black triangle on teal, they just swapped out one menacing animal for another one
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1867  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 8:31 PM
oftheMoon's Avatar
oftheMoon oftheMoon is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: East Exchanger
Posts: 675
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire View Post
Yeah, they were a fairly big deal back in their first season of 1992. At least as big a deal as the Manitoba Moose ever were... there was a fair bit of excitement that season and it wasn't just the usual minor league fan mix of seniors and families. Plenty of young adults in the stands.

The Thunder weren't really merchandising whiz kids but for a couple years you did see a lot of this logo around town...


source: adanancantiques.com

Now here's a pub game for you... how many Thunder players can you remember? For me the list begins and ends with J.J. Eubanks, although I'm sure if I dug up my old programs it would all flood back to me.

Would be cheating if I checked out the old programs and player card I suppose lol. But off hand I recall Wally Bland, coach Tom Nissalke and mascot Kaboom the mascot.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1868  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 8:37 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ Forgot about Nissalke... he was the NBA coach of the year at one point in the 70s.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1869  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 8:49 PM
oftheMoon's Avatar
oftheMoon oftheMoon is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: East Exchanger
Posts: 675
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire View Post
^ Forgot about Nissalke... he was the NBA coach of the year at one point in the 70s.
He won a championship as a coach in 1971 or 1972 I believe. I had a chance to hold that championship ring when I ran into him in the Winnipeg Airport once.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1870  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 9:02 PM
Cyro's Avatar
Cyro Cyro is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 5,197
We need more historical images for the thread..lol




Adanac Antiques and Collectibles..
http://www.adanacantiques.com/basketball-posters.html

winnipeg thunder mini basketball has name in marker on back

kijiji..
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1871  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 9:05 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ I like how the word antiques used to mean things like the Parthenon Marbles but now includes buttons and hats from the '93 Winnipeg Thunder
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1872  
Old Posted May 10, 2016, 11:22 PM
bogdog's Avatar
bogdog bogdog is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 30
Dumptrucks Full of old Furniture and Appliances.

Being hauled out of the Fortune Block, that is. I haven't seen much interest on this site, but I saw this last week, and am wondering if anyone has any hot, insider info re: what exactly they are planning.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1873  
Old Posted May 11, 2016, 5:06 AM
1ajs's Avatar
1ajs 1ajs is offline
ʇɥƃıuʞ -*ʞpʇ*-
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: lynn lake
Posts: 25,833
witch ones that again?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1874  
Old Posted May 11, 2016, 2:20 PM
bogdog's Avatar
bogdog bogdog is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 30
A response to 1Ajs (if you were talking to me).

Times Change(d) Hi and Lonesome Club.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1875  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 2:26 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
Interesting story about the Millennium Centre (previously CIBC, 389 Main Street) in today's Free Press.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...381010871.html

What's particularly encouraging about the story is that Heritage Winnipeg is doing some upgrades with some intention of attracting potential tenants:

Quote:
"We’d like to look at who would like to be tenants in this building and slowly redevelop and have this be a fully occupied and functional building because, as I often say at Heritage Winnipeg, you don’t truly save a heritage building until it’s completely occupied, because that is what’s going to protect it," says Tugwell.
I agree completely. It's a little sad that one of the greatest buildings in Winnipeg essentially just performs spot duty as a banquet hall. There is a desperate need to get some firm or organization in there, ideally one with the means to preserve and enhance the space.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1876  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 4:01 PM
Ando Ando is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,723
This passage shocked me, such a magnificent building and they were considering demolishing it for a parking lot (from the same article):

In 2000, the building was donated to 389 Main Street Heritage Corporation, a non-profit, registered charity, by the MarWest Group of Companies. MarWest had already invested about $1 million in maintenance after the structure was vacated in 1969 when bank employees moved into the more modern Richardson Building.

"You had a gravitational pull in the late ’60s early ’70s where everyone wanted modern and these old buildings weren’t popular anymore," says Tugwell. "People thought (the buildings) had outlived their worth, so they moved out of the building and wanted to demolish it for a parking lot."
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1877  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 4:05 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ It was before my time but as I understand it, it came very close to happening. It's cited as one of the real moments of awakening in this city regarding the importance of heritage buildings.

It really is an amazing building. The only commercial building in Winnipeg that's on par with it is the Bank of Montreal at Portage and Main. CIBC/Millennium Centre isn't set quite as dramatically as BMO, but the building itself is just spectacular. I really hope that a company adopts it as their head office/regional HQ and gives it the full renovation that it needs.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1878  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 4:43 PM
drew's Avatar
drew drew is offline
the first stamp is free
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hippyville, Winnipeg
Posts: 7,985
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire View Post
^ It was before my time but as I understand it, it came very close to happening. It's cited as one of the real moments of awakening in this city regarding the importance of heritage buildings.

It really is an amazing building. The only commercial building in Winnipeg that's on par with it is the Bank of Montreal at Portage and Main. CIBC/Millennium Centre isn't set quite as dramatically as BMO, but the building itself is just spectacular. I really hope that a company adopts it as their head office/regional HQ and gives it the full renovation that it needs.
Went to a wedding there a few years ago. It was a spectacular venue.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1879  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 8:08 PM
TimeFadesAway TimeFadesAway is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 719
OK, I've got a detail-oriented question about Victoria Park (organizing and speech site for the General Strike that sat where Sky Condos is now on Waterfront).



In looking over old strike photos taken in Victoria Park, it quickly becomes evident that there is a huge pipe running through the middle of the park. I think, but am not 100% sure, that it runs east to west, basically bisecting the park. My question is, what is this pipe?

I know the aqueduct runs under Pacific Avenue (just slightly north of where I think this would have run) now and opened in 1919, so could it be that it originally ran above ground through the park? Some sort of temporary line before it could be buried below Pacific?

In reflecting on this admittedly minor issue, I began to think about the park in relation to the strike and some of the folklore that has been bandied about in the past few years. Namely, that the park was decommissioned and used as the site for the Amy St. Steam Plant in order to take away an important symbol of the strike. But perhaps the park was already well on its way out by the time the strike came around and the timing is more coincidence than anything else.



Clearly, the park was insignificant enough to the city at that point in time that a giant, ugly metal pipe could be run right through the middle of it. Could you imagine the outcry if that was proposed at any big park today? As well, if you look at the houses in the background in pictures like the one above, it's clear that they have seen better days. This picture is taken from the middle of the park looking towards the corner of Amy St and Pacific Ave (when that corner existed!). The houses on Amy were taken down when the steam plant was built, but don't look like they would have lasted long anyway. The area was already on full decline from a residential standpoint and on a full industrial upswing.

As well, there was no Waterfront Drive...what separated the park from the beautiful river vista just beyond it? A multi-track transfer railway. My how serene. The James Ave Pumping Station, which would have hardly been considered a park-like amenity was built next to the park a full 13 years before the strike.

The only reason why the strikers gathered in that space was not because it had any significance to them. It just that it was the closest large open space to the Labour Temple, which stood at 165 James Ave (between Main and what was then Louise and is now, sort of, Lily).

The Amy St Steam Plant was built on the site of Victoria Park from 1922-24. Given that it was to provide backup power generation and (as a side benefit) steam heat to downtown Winnipeg, where else could it have been built. Realistically, even if the strike didn't happen, the run down public park (no land acquisition needed) with a large pipe bisecting it, surrounded by dilapidated houses in an area that has essentially become industrial and sits beside a railway track sounds like an ideal site to me. No 'revenge' or 'desired to erase history' needed.

Anyway, just some ramblings for you to ponder during Doors Open weekend...
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #1880  
Old Posted May 27, 2016, 8:15 PM
esquire's Avatar
esquire esquire is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 37,483
^ I never put much stock in the conspiracy theory you mentioned. The area was evolving, and the old residential neighbourhood along the river north of downtown was inevitably going to disappear.

Victoria Park is dead and buried and there is no need to try bringing it back.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Manitoba & Saskatchewan
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:14 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.