300 Memorial Boulevard - The Winnipeg Art Gallery

Place: Winnipeg Art Gallery

Address: 300 Memorial Boulevard (Map)
Architect: Gustavo da Roza
Cost: $4.5 m
Opened: September 25, 1971

Background:

(Source)

Established in 1912 as the Winnipeg Museum of Fine Arts, the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) had a number homes including the Federal Building and the Industrial Bureau on Main Street. On April 24, 1933, it opened on the fourth floor of the newly constructed Civic Auditorium, now the Provincial Archives Building, on Vaughan Street.

As the city grew, so did the gallery's collection and space at the auditorium became tight. It also had to compete with public events such as fairs and concerts that restricted its hours of operation. By the 1950s the gallery was hosting shows at other venues around the city.

In the mid 1960s the province and city were putting together the final plans for the Centennial Centre District which would include a new museum, concert hall and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. The WAG was slated to be part of the district but the gallery's board protested that the Main Street site was "too far off the beaten track" and preferred a location near the Civic Auditorium, perhaps even the Auditorium building itself.

(Source)

A search committee was set up to find a permanent site in 1966. One proposal it presented was the triangle of land at Memorial Boulevard and Colony Street. It was home to a closed gas station, the Cinema Centre building, the Mall Medical Building and a Sam the Cameraman store. A developer owned most of the land with plans to build an apartment complex but agreed to hold off to see if the art gallery wanted it.

The gallery was interested and put together a multi-million dollar construction fund made up of $1 million from the Centennial Committee , $500,000 from the federal government, and $1.25 million form the province. Another $854,000 came from private donations.


An international design competition fro the building was held and 34-year-old University of Manitoba architecture professor and member of Number 10 Architecture Group Gustavo da Roza won.

Da Roza, who was born in Hong Kong, received his architecture degree at the U of M. He said that the design was inspired by an iceberg, a tribute to our cold winters: "Our particular Canadian prairie environment deserves a regional quality."


In July 1971, the WAG's office staff moved across the street to the new building and director Ferdinand Eckhardt announced that the official opening would take place on September 25th by HRH Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowdon.

That summer was notable for labour strife in the construction industry. Strikes by both bricklayers and electricians meant that the building's completion fell three months behind schedule.

September 24, 1971, Winnipeg Free Press

In the end, the opening went ahead as planned.

On Friday, September 24, 1971, the Royal couple had a private tour of the gallery. Strikers from both the electrical workers union and CJAY TV tried to block the entrance but members of the public who showed up to catch a glimpse of the royal couple or had passes to enter formed a barrier to keep strikers from the doors.

The following morning at 11:00 a.m. the Royal couple arrived to a crowd of 3,000 people on Memorial Boulevard to declare the building officially open.

Restricted tours of the building took place through the weekend and then the gallery closed again so that work on the interior could be completed. It wasn't until January 18, 1972 that the gallery opened to the general public.

In 1993 the Winnipeg Art Gallery purchased the Mall Medical building to its north. A $750,000 infrastructure grant helped convert it into the Winnipeg Art Gallery Studio.

In September 2010 plans were announced for a $30 m Inuit Art and Learning Centre (IALC) to be built on the site of the studio building. Originally intended to be open for its centennial celebrations in 2012, the call for proposals for an architect for the three storey, 45,000 sq. ft. centre was not issued until July 30, 2012. The IALC is expected to open in 2014.

Related:  
WAG Timeline Winnipeg Art Gallery 
Ahead by a century Winnipeg Free Press (Sept. 2012)
Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg Architecture Foundation
Winnipeg Art Gallery U of M Building Index  
Winnipeg Art Gallery History WAG  
The Winnipeg Art Gallery Manitoba Calling (1937)  
The Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1912 and 1987 MHS

Downtown Places: 55 Donald Street

Project: 55 Donald Street
Address: 55 Donald Street Map
Status: Completed 2008
Cost: Unknown
Size: 22,000 sq ft

Background 55 Donald Street was built in 1963 for real estate and insurance firm Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner to house their expanding company. Moody, Moore and Partners were the architects. At the time it was just off of Winnipeg's new financial district located along Broadway.

In 2006 the building was sold and and a major interior and exterior renovation took place through 2007.

Other longer term tenants included the Kidney Foundation of Manitoba (now relocated), The Salvation Army.

Update:
55 Donald was sold in Summer 09 for a price of $1.1m

Downtown Places - The Raleigh Apartments

Place: The Raleigh Apartments
Address: 340 Vaughan Street Map
Architect: James W. Hawker
Cost: $100,000
Opened:

Background: 

In 1930 - 31 a business consortium built a number of similar-looking apartment blocks in the city. The owners varied, but two common partners were James W. Hawker as architect and the Smith Agency, a rental agency. The buildings included The Wiltshire on Spence, The Wakefield on Stradbrook, The Layton on Corydon Avenue and The Bessbourough on Assiniboine.

The consortium gambled that despite the Depression, there was a place in the markey for quality, middle-class accommodations. And they were right.

August 31, 1931, Winnipeg Free Press

In February 1931 the Smith Agency took out a $100,000 building permit for the 37-suite The Raleigh. They also acted as the general contractor, while subcontracts for brick, stone and masonry went to R Sigurdson Co., Vulcan Iron Works supplied the iron and steel and S. Benjamin Construction did the carpentry work. 

The building's construction went smoothly and The Raleigh began leasing in August 1931.

By all accounts the building was a success. The 1932 Henderson Directory shows all apartments full, many with families. Examples of the heads of households:

Suite 10 - Charles Lamson, salesman for Arctic Ice
Suite 12 - Mildred Faulkener, clerk at Monarch Insurance
Suite 12 - Chaarles Pye, engineer at Wesley College
Suite 17 - Mary Bell, nurse
Suite 21 - Austin Howell, office manager for Massey Harris
Suite 22 - L. Ingram, accountant at Jackson GrainCo.
Suite 26 - Austin Howell, stage manager at the Met Theatre
Suite 32 - Robert McDonald, druggist
Suite 35 - Stella Waugh, stenographer for Tourist and Convention bureau.
Suite 38 - V. Bray, assistant deputy store manager for HBC
Suite A - Bert Argent, building janitor

May 16, 1944, Winnipeg Tribune

For such a large block, the Raleigh had a quiet existence. I cold find no mention of major crimes or fires that took place. It is just the usual roll of, for the most part, natural deaths, wedding anniversaries and baby showers.

Wallace Bridges survived

Even during the war years, I could find only a few references to residetns serving. The one death was that of Private Earl John Mitchell who was killed in action in May 1944. His wife Grace lived at suite 26.

Wallace Bridges, (above), became a pilot instructor at Arnprior, Ontario. His wife and baby lived with his parents in Suite 2 during the war. It appears that he survived.

J. M. Lonie graduated as a navigator in September 1943. It appears that he survived as well. 

In the early 1980s the building was one of dozens of properties expropriated by the North Portage Development Corporation as they got set to build Portage Place Mall and Place Promenade apartments.

In 2001 it was provisionally sold to the Salvation Army, which wanted to use the land to expand Booth College located on the west end of the block. Residents and heritage advocates rallied and the sale did not go through.

In 2005 the Forks North portage Corporation applied to get Grade III Heritage Status for it. Once that was done, the building was put up for sale again. This time, it was purchased and renovated by Doug Snead in 2007 - 2008.

Related: 
The Raleigh Apartments Historic Buildings Committee
Back to the Future, Winnipeg Free Press, Jan 6, 2007

News: Skywalk Expasion Continues

Now I see why all the construction on St. Mary of late. The skyway extension project from City Place to the Convention Centre:

419 Graham Avenue - The Halter Building

Place: The Halter Building
Address: 419 Graham Avenue (Map)
Architect: Charles Herman
Opened: December 1960

The three-storey Halter Building was built in 1960 for Aubrey Halter.

The Halters were a prominent family in Winnipeg. Aubrey was a noted lawyer and developer and wife, Nola Halter, was a businesswoman and media personality.

The family were long-time residents of Sures House at 1021 Wellington Crescent.

The building was initially marketed to medical practitioners and clinics due to its proximity to the Medical Arts Building, but when it opened in late 1960 its initial tenants were Macdonald's Book Store, a book and arts supply store owned by Nona Halter. Also, the Occidental Life Insurance Company of California, Ellerby and Hall Pharmacy, an optician, and CBC offices.

Other longer-term tenants have included the provincial government, Handley's Shoes and Tall Girl clothing store.

The Halters supported numerous charities and the arts. Aubrey, for instance, was an initial investor in the theatre group that would become the Manitoba Theatre Centre.

Another group that the couple supported was the Women's Health Clinic. Opened in 1981 elsewhere on Graham Avenue, the Clinic moved to the Halter Building in 1985.

Aubrey Halter donated the building to the clinic in 2004.

Nola died on March 25,1998. Aubrey died October 21, 2008.

Ciclovia Photos !

Winnipeg's FIRST Ciclovia hits the streets Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 !

I've read a fair bit about Ciclovia's origins in Bogata, Columbia and other street-friendly stuff the former mayor did there. See here and here about Bogata and for more on Winnipeg's.

Here are some photos. Not too shabby for a first annual ! It was perfect timing for this given that the summer festival weather has been held over !

Bike polo:Tablecloth dining at Memorial and Broadway !

234 Portage Avenue - Oldfield Kirby Gardner Building / The White House

Place: Oldfield, Kirby Gardner Building / The White House
Address: 234 Portage Avenue (Map)
Constructed: 1909
Architect: J. D. Acheson

This building was constructed in 1909 for Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner, now Oldfield, Kirby, Esau.

The company was created by John H. Oldfield, Walter T. Kirby and William Gardner, three men who came to Winnipeg at various points in the 1870s and began their own real estate and investment firms in the following decade. (The company officially traces its roots back to 1881.)

In 1905, Oldfield and Gardner joined forces with W. T. Kirby establish an instantly respected firm of real estate, insurance and investment brokers with a residential rental agent / building management division.

Initially, Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner operated from 391 Main Street but a larger, more opulent headquarters would soon be built.

Architect's drawing, Aug. 21, 1909, Winnipeg Free Press

It was announced in April 1909 that the firm had hired architect J D Atchison to design a five-storey headquarters just a block from Portage and Main adjoining the Dominion Post Office.

Atchison was one of the city's most prolific and popular architects, having designed hundreds of buildings here in the early 1900s. He began his practise in Chicago and this was his first high-profile commission since relocating it to Winnipeg.

When the building's design was finally released in August it was just two storeys in height with a mezzanine. It could be that it was designed so that additional storeys could be added at a later date.

The most impressive thing about the building, which cost around $40,000 to construct, is its facade.

It is in the Neo-classical design with its Greek columns and large pediment. Atchison's Chicago roots show by his choice to clad it entirely in intricately patterned, cream-coloured, terra cotta manufactured in his home city.

By the 1960s, Oldfield, Kirby, Gardner was primarily a real estate and insurance firm with a staff of about 60. In 1964, it relocated to modern premises at 55 Donald Street. In February 1979, its real estate wing merged with A. E. LePage - Melton Real Estate of Toronto. It was part of a national trend in the 1970s to create large, nation-wide real estate firms.

The company still exists as an insurance company, though it announced in 2020 that it would be changing its name to The Standard, one of its global insurance partners. Another old corporate name from Winnipeg's history is set to disappear.

Circa 1974, Winnipeg Building Index

In 1965, North West Trust moved into the main floor space and rented offices on the second floor to an architecture firm. It merged with Canadian Western Bank in 1994 and in 2003 moved to a more modern premises one building to the east. 

In April 2004, Michel Fillion and a partner purchased the building and applied for an historical listing to allow them to access heritage restoration funding. In October, the building was given a Grade II listing. 

The first job was to restore the cracking terra cotta facade. From there, it was a two-year renovation of the main floor banking hall and the upstairs office space. A 2007 Free Press article quotes the Fillion as estimating that the work could cost as much as $2 million. (The building was rechristened The White House for his former residence at Brandon University.)

In the summer of 2007, Fillion opened 234 on Portage an upscale spa on the main floor and mezzanine while the upper floor was converted into his personal office and residence. In 2018, the main floor became a laser surgery clinic.

In 2020, Fillion put 234 Portage up for sale for $3.5 million.

September 6, 1905, Winnipeg Tribune

Related:
My 2009 photo gallery of 234 Portage
234 Portage Historic Building Report City of Winnipeg
Inside The White House with Michel Fillion CBC News
A Terra Cotta Tour (pdf) Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

© 2009, 2020, Christian Cassidy

No. 1 Northern

Object: No. 1 Northern

Location: Canadian Grain Commission, 303 Main Street

Unveiled: June 1, 1976; April 1980 and September 1997

Artist: John Nugent

Background

Saskatchewan-based sculptor John Nugent won a $50,000 commission in 1976 to create a sculpture for the front lawn of a new Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) building. Described by Nugent as a "tribute to the accomplishments of the Western Canadian Grain Producers" he named it after the wheat variety that for decades was Canada's top grade wheat. "Nugent's inspiration was the fields of ripe golden wheat stretching across the rolling prairie. The sculture is a metaphor for those wheat fields" (quotes from site plaque).

Right from the start, the piece was controversial. Abstract, bright yellow and huge: 43 ft long by 24 ft wide and 8 ft tall. Before it was even officially unveiled Public Works Minister Charles Drury and Ag Minister Eugene Whelan declared it a waste of taxpayers money. The Executive Director of the CGG at the time said it would ruin the look of the building. (WFP May 31, 1976). Eventually, a petition was taken up by those worked for the CGC. Feeling that it wasn't representative of wheat, agriculture or anything, really, they wanted the sculpture gone.

At the Canadian Grains Commission Building
June 1, 1976 - August 31, 1978

The controversy bought up fresh debate over "what is art" and the matter of political interference in arts funding programs.

The sculpture was to be removed in July 1978 but Nugent came to Winnipeg to lobby for it to stay. He considered a court injunction and eventually took the Federal Government to court claiming breach of contract and damage to his integrity as an artist. While court proceedings were taking place, on the evening of August 31, 1978, the sculpture was cut into three pieces and moved off to storage at the federal public works yard in Lockport.

Two years later No. 1 Northern reappeared, this time outside the Winnipeg Taxation Centre on Stapon Road. In media interviews the artist claimed to be disinterested in the re-installation claiming that he was upset that Winnipeggers didn't support him the first time and that once the sculpture was cut into three it wasn't his original work anymore. (WFP April 12, 1980)

At the Taxation Centre
April 1980 - 199?

An expansion to the Tax Centre in the 1990s sent No 1 Northern back to storage in St. Andrews

In a final twist .... without fanfare, the sculpture was re-installed back in it's original site in September 1997 ! Morley Walker, in his WFP arts column at the time, said that it was rumoured that long-term lobbying from the artist himself finally brought the sculpture back to teh Grain Commission's front lawn ! (WFP Oct 25, 1997)

At the Canadian Grains Commission Building
September 1997 - Present

Portage and Main - First World War Soldier

 © 2009, updated 2024, Christian Cassidy

Object: First World War Soldier (Bank of Montreal Memorial)
Location: Portage Avenue and Main Street
Unveiled: December 5, 1923
Artist: James Earle Fraser

Background

The nine-foot tall bronze monument that has peered down on Portage and Main for nearly a century is unnamed, known as "First World War Soldier" or the Bank of Montreal memorial. It was commissioned by the bank to commemorate their employees who died in action in World War I.  In all 1,409 employees served and 230 never returned. In Winnipeg, the number was 53 served and nine 9 killed.

Above: Temporary cenotaph ca. 1922 (source)

Below: With "Soldier" ca. 1940 (source)

The bank held an international competition for the creation of two memorials - one for its Montreal headquarters and the other for Winnipeg. Some histories say that "Soldier" was originally envisioned for Montreal until the artist saw the interior of that bank and designed "Victory" in white marble to contrast its dark columns.

The spot chosen for the memorial was out front of the bank's imposing Winnipeg headquarters at Portage and Main. To prepare the space, the stairs and sidewalk needed to be rebuilt and Winnipeg's temporary cenotaph was removed.

Erected in 1920 by the Women's Canadian Club, the temporary cenotaph was modeled after the one unveiled in London earlier that year. The bank agreed to provide the space and raise and lower the flag each day, while the WCC looked after the flowers and overall care. 

It was only meant to last a couple of years until the city's permanent cenotaph was built. That project, however, got mired in controversy and delays so World War One Soldier ended up standing in as the city's main memorial for Armistice Day 1922. (The following year, the Soldiers' Relatives / Next of Kin Memorial was unveiled on the Legislative grounds and took over central memorial duties until the the city's permanent cenotaph was finally unveiled in 1928).

A 2001 biography of the American artist James Earle Fraser describes Solider this way: “Here is no giant warrior god on a high pedestal, but a man. He is tough, ready for the fight, his feet apart, arms held loosely by his sides ready. His helmet is just slightly at an angle, and, under its brim, his face reflects strength and determination”

On one side of the marble pedestal are the words: "To Our Men Who Fell in The Great War 1914 - 1919",  and on the other "Patria", or country.

Obviously meant to depict a Canadian, some have pointed out that the uniform and kit is more like that of an American First World War soldier.

December 5, 1923, Winnipeg Tribune

First World War Soldier / the Bank of Montreal memorial was unveiled at 4 pm on December 5, 1923. 

It was a simple, intimate ceremony as the bank's management, including branch manager A. F. D. MacGachen, wanted it to be for the bank's staff and the families of the fallen employees rather than the city as a whole. He said of the memorial:

"...it typifies the heroic spirit which actuated all the soldiers of Western Canada - not merely those whose civilian service was with the Bank of Montréal"

December 5, 1923, Manitoba Free Press

April 6, 1977, Winnipeg Free Press

The soldier has missed only a couple of years of duty. In April 1977 it was removed for safekeeping while the Portage and Main Concourse was constructed. 

The time capsule in the marble base was opened to reveal newspapers, coins and bank memorabilia from 1923. New material was added to the old when the box was resealed.

The Artist



The artist is celebrated American sculptor James Earl Fraser who won an international competition for this memorial.  

Fraser created some very celebrated U.S. statues including The End of the Trail (above) for the San Fransisco Exposition of 1915, the figures at the north and south base of the US Supreme Court, General Patton at West Point and the Benjamin Franklin for his National Memorial in Philadelphia.

The Model

(Source)

The model for the statue was Captain Wynn Bagnall, a Bank of Montréal employee likely from the bank's main branch in Montreal, (definitely not from a Winnipeg branch).

Bagnall was born February 10, 1890 in Northumberland, England and enlisted as a gunner in the 6th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery at Valcartier, Quebec on September 22, 1914.

According to a 1921 Bank of Montreal biography, he went to France in 1915 then, "In January, 1916, he was given his  commission as Lieutenant in the 23rd  Battery, C.F.A., and was later attached to the 5th Battery. During 1917 he acted as Orderly Officer and  Adjutant in the 2nd Brigade, C.F.A.  In March, 1918, he was promoted to Captain and transferred to the 58th  Battery, C.F.A. In October, 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous bravery in action."

Bagnall survived the war, 25 others from his branch did not, and returned to work for the bank briefly. It appears that after a return visit to England, he then immigrated to the U.S. in 1922.   He died on March 12, 1931 and is buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in New York.

2024 UPDATE:

It was announced in October 2024 that the memorial will be moved from Portage and Main to allow for the redevelopment at Portage and Main. It will not return to the intersection when the work is done as the Bank of Montreal sold its iconic banking hall to the Manitoba Metis Federation in 2020. 

"Soldier" will instead be relocated to the Brookside Cemetery Field of Honour, one of Canada's oldest and largest military cemeteries. Brookside was declared a national historic site in 2023.

Related
The Sculpture of James Earle Fraser (pdf)
The BMO Legacy BMO (pdf)
Bank of Montreal Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Historic Winnipeg Branch

Bagnall Sources
Memorial of the Great War, 1914-1918 : a record of service Bank of Montreal (1921)
Bagnall, Wynn Attestation Papers Library and Archives Canada
U.S. Veterans Honor Former CEF Veteran Edmonton Journal (1931)

303 Portage Avenue - Mountain Equipment Co-op

Project: Mountain Equipment Co-op (Website)
Address: 303 Portage Avenue (Map)
Status: Completed 2002
Architect: Prairie Architects
Size: 30,246 square feet
Cost: $ 3m

Background

The northeast corner of Portage and Donald has always boasted a strong retail component. Until the 1970's the block housed Genser's Furniture, one of the largest furniture stores in Western Canada. When Genser's closed the subdivided space was often filled with national retail outlets, fast food restaurants and even rehearsal space for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The Capitol Theatre around the corner was a source of constant foot traffic.

click for source

Beginning in the late 1980s the block was dealt a series of blows. The opening of Portage Place saw many of the national tenants in the Genser's building head for the mall. In 1990 the Capitol closed. The two businesses on the now-MEC site, Family Hamburger House and Shoppers Drug Mart, also closed - the latter moving a few metres east to a new structure. The three buildings at the corner were now vacant.

Mayor Susan Thompson publicly complained about the city's frustration dealing with the owners to keep the vacant properties maintained or make improvements. In 1995 the city had to step in and spend $15,000 to board them up. (WFP Aug 30,1995). The buildings would remain derelict for another half-decade.

source

In 2001, the Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op announced that they had chosen the Portage and Donald site for their Winnipeg retail location. This would be no ordinary development, though. MEC was known for it's corporate values of sustainability and environmentally-friendly building practices and wanted to keep as much of the existing buildings as possible.

A series of green practices, from a green roof to the composting toilets and the reclamation of 95% of the existing building materials, won the building numerous awards including a 2003 Canada Energy Efficiency Award. The award profile said of MEC's Winnipeg outlet:

"Industry analysts consider it the most energy-efficient commercial outlet ever built in Canada and one of most environmentally friendly in the world. The building is currently being considered as one of three highest-rated LEED Platinum buildings in North America".

Related:
Profile of Mountain Equipment Co-op The Canadian Encyclopedia
MEC Open for Business in Winnipeg MEC News Release 30 May 2002
Photo Gallery MEC Winnipeg University of Waterloo
Green Building Activities in Canada Report CMHC
Sustainable Building Design Case Study University of Waterloo

Downtown Places: Winnipeg Railway Museum

Place: Winnipeg Railway Museum
Address: 123 Main Street
Website

Background:
The Winnipeg Railway museum is located on the upper floor, tracks one and two, of the Union (VIA) Rail Station at Main and Broadway. There are dozens of pieces of rolling history. The jewel of the collection has to be the Countess of Dufferin (c 1877), the engine that helped build Manitoba.

You'll even find some local oddities like this Davenport Locomotive used by the city of Winnipeg !
The museum also has a great collection of rail-related memorabilia including a Women in Rail display, uniforms, communications devices and signage. Definitely worth checking out !

Related:
Video Tour of Winnipeg Rail Museum