235 Notre Dame Ave - St. Charles Hotel

Place: The St. Charles Hotel

Address: 235 Notre Dame Avenue (Map)
Opened: August 1, 1913
Architect: Carter, Halls and Aldinger

Cost: $122,000

Notre Dame and Albert, 1912 and 1913
November 29, 1913, Manitoba Free Press

Despite being a stone's throw from Portage and Main, the corner of Notre Dame and Albert didn't see much spillover from the frantic development that took place in the early 1900s. In 1912 the corner consisted of aging, single storey, wooden structures. That changed in 1913 when the St. Charles, Lindsay Building, Electric Railway Chambers and Royal Albert Arms Hotel all opened within months of each other.

The St. Charles Hotel was built in 1913 for hotelier Charles (Charley) M. McCarrey, the owner of the St. Regis and Inter Ocean Hotel. He was also president of Manitoba's chapter of the National Hotel Association. It appears that shortly after opening hotelier George Skinner became the owner, (source.)

The St. Charles Hotel officially opened on August 1, 1913, but was rushed into service before it was completed to house visitors to what many considered to be the city's most important conference to-date. The National Association of Real Estate Exchanges met from July 28 - 30, 1913, bringing moguls from across North America. Two of the largest delegations were from Minneapolis and Chicago and the St. Charles was slated to house 150 of them.

Later, it was said to be the hotel of choice for performers at the Orphium Theatre where people like Milton Berle and the Marx Brothers, among others, performed.

Empire Grill at the St. Charles (source)

The hotel offered elegant rooms, as well as fine dining at the Empire Grill and a coffee shop. The restaurant, and later their two conference rooms, the Rose Room and Blue Room, were the scene of hundreds of banquets, social club receptions and sportsmen's dinners into the 1950s.

December 7, 1963, Winnipeg Free Press

The last owners of the "old" St. Charles Hotel, from 1947 - 63, was the Rothstein Family. In late 1963 the 60 room hotel was purchased by Donald Stefanyk, whose family had run the Empire Hotel. They modernized the place into what was expected of a 1960s downtown hotel.

ca. 1965 ad

Gone was the Empire Grill in favour of a lounge called Big Al's Gas House and the Kodiak Beverage Room. The coffee shop and a banquet room remained.

July 20, 1967, Winnipeg Free Press

In 1967 a new owner took over. Harry Katz continued the renovations which included adding the white stone tile and modern, lit signage to the facade.

In the early 1970s the basement was renovated to hold a discotheque which by 1976 was Wellington's. The punk music club closed in 1989 after the death of Harry's son Abe, who ran the club for a number of years. In the mid 1990s the space was briefly The Crypt.

From 1984 to 1990 the Hotel was re-branded The Market Inn.

November 13, 2004, Winnipeg Free Press

By 1997 Harry Katz appears to be gone as owner and the St. Charles continued to experience crime, fires and the occasional closure due to health violations. These came to a head in 2004 when the hotel, now without a functioning restaurant or bar, was closed for good citing a list of health and safety concerns.

In 2005 purchased by St. Charles Enterprises and the following a plan was announced to renovate it into a boutique hotel. An application was made to tear down the neighbouring Albert Street block in 2006 to provide additional parking but it was rejected. Other applications in 2008 and 2010 were also rejected.

In April 2011 the owner announced that the development plan now includes a multi-storey addition to the existing hotel.

2012 Update for the St. Charles Hotel.

Related:
St. Charles Hotel Heritage Winnipeg
St. Charles Hotel Historic Building Report
Powerpoint Presentation by developer of St. Charles project