© 2013, Christian Cassidy
Place: Security Storage / John Howard Society Building
Address: 583 Ellice Avenue (Map)
Built: 1909
Architect: Unknown
Background:
The Security Storage and Warehouse Company was created in February 1909 by Irving M. Winslow. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, he ran the Winslow Furniture and Carpet Company of St. Paul, Minnesota for ten years before coming north. His local investors in the new firm included Neil MacMillan, William H. Carter, and Jabez B Hugg.
As the name suggests, Security Storage and Warehouse Company was in the moving and storage business and specialized in large loads - everything from pianos and vehicles to entire households and farm equipment.
The company first established itself at Vaughan Street and Graham Avenue. Plans were then made for a custom-built warehouse on a that was site purchased on Ellice Avenue at Sherbrook Street.
The architect of the building is unknown but the contractor was Carter - Halls - Aldinger which began construction in early 1909. The five-storey building was expected to cost around $50,000. By November, the exterior was complete and it opened for business on January 15, 1910.
This building served as Security Storage's main warehouse and head office. They retained their space at Vaughan and Graham as a secondary site and the following year took over W. R. Richardson's, a long-time moving and storage company. Through that merger, they inherited Richardson's warehouse at 83 Kate Street at McDermot which was used for the storage of vehicles.
Winnipeg Police Museum
The building had an uneventful life until the night of January 10, 1914 when dozens of law enforcement officials and hundreds of bystanders gathered at the intersection of Ellice and Sherbrook. Notorious robber and murderer John "Bloody Jack" Krafchenko had broken out of jail and was on the loose.
An informant told police that he fled to an apartment near Ellice and Sherbrook and the plan was to pack him in a storage container at Security Storage and whisk him out of town. Police converged on the intersection in full force to search the apartment block and every nook and cranny of the Security Storage building but there was no sign of Krafchenko. Word got out about the manhunt and it drew onlookers from around the city.
Krawchenko was captured later that evening at a suite in the Burris Block at 686 Toronto Street near Ellice Avenue. A staff member of Security Storage was arrested for being part of the escape plot.
Security Storage bought a 320-foot-long lot along McGee Street between Sargent and Wellington avenues in 1914 on which they built a stable for their 60 horses.
Like many company owners who required large numbers of horses for their business, Patrick Shea for example, Winslow began showing his best animals around the country and won many awards.
Eventually, all but the best show horses were put to pasture and the McGee Street location became a garage for their growing fleet of trucks.
Winslow died unexpectedly on November 29, 1925 while visiting his son in St. Paul, Minnesota. The new management of Security Storage consisted of George McKeag, president; Robert McKeag, vice president, and W. A. Johnston, secretary-treasurer.
Security Storage continued to grow and in 1929 built an even larger building at Portage and Huntleigh, (now the Kromar Printing Building.)
It appears that 583 Ellice Avenue sat mostly vacant for the next decade as the demand for office and warehouse space flattened during the Depression.
Address: 583 Ellice Avenue (Map)
Built: 1909
Architect: Unknown
Background:
The Security Storage and Warehouse Company was created in February 1909 by Irving M. Winslow. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, he ran the Winslow Furniture and Carpet Company of St. Paul, Minnesota for ten years before coming north. His local investors in the new firm included Neil MacMillan, William H. Carter, and Jabez B Hugg.
As the name suggests, Security Storage and Warehouse Company was in the moving and storage business and specialized in large loads - everything from pianos and vehicles to entire households and farm equipment.
The company first established itself at Vaughan Street and Graham Avenue. Plans were then made for a custom-built warehouse on a that was site purchased on Ellice Avenue at Sherbrook Street.
May 10, 1911 Winnipeg Tribune
The architect of the building is unknown but the contractor was Carter - Halls - Aldinger which began construction in early 1909. The five-storey building was expected to cost around $50,000. By November, the exterior was complete and it opened for business on January 15, 1910.
This building served as Security Storage's main warehouse and head office. They retained their space at Vaughan and Graham as a secondary site and the following year took over W. R. Richardson's, a long-time moving and storage company. Through that merger, they inherited Richardson's warehouse at 83 Kate Street at McDermot which was used for the storage of vehicles.
Winnipeg Police Museum
The building had an uneventful life until the night of January 10, 1914 when dozens of law enforcement officials and hundreds of bystanders gathered at the intersection of Ellice and Sherbrook. Notorious robber and murderer John "Bloody Jack" Krafchenko had broken out of jail and was on the loose.
An informant told police that he fled to an apartment near Ellice and Sherbrook and the plan was to pack him in a storage container at Security Storage and whisk him out of town. Police converged on the intersection in full force to search the apartment block and every nook and cranny of the Security Storage building but there was no sign of Krafchenko. Word got out about the manhunt and it drew onlookers from around the city.
Krawchenko was captured later that evening at a suite in the Burris Block at 686 Toronto Street near Ellice Avenue. A staff member of Security Storage was arrested for being part of the escape plot.
Ad ca. 1929 (left) and 1909
Security Storage bought a 320-foot-long lot along McGee Street between Sargent and Wellington avenues in 1914 on which they built a stable for their 60 horses.
Like many company owners who required large numbers of horses for their business, Patrick Shea for example, Winslow began showing his best animals around the country and won many awards.
Eventually, all but the best show horses were put to pasture and the McGee Street location became a garage for their growing fleet of trucks.
Winslow died unexpectedly on November 29, 1925 while visiting his son in St. Paul, Minnesota. The new management of Security Storage consisted of George McKeag, president; Robert McKeag, vice president, and W. A. Johnston, secretary-treasurer.
Security Storage continued to grow and in 1929 built an even larger building at Portage and Huntleigh, (now the Kromar Printing Building.)
It appears that 583 Ellice Avenue sat mostly vacant for the next decade as the demand for office and warehouse space flattened during the Depression.
November 15, 1941, Winnipeg Tribune
It was announced in August 1939 that the federal government leased 583 Ellice Avenue to be the new recruitment and training centre for the Winnipeg branch of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve under the command of Chief Petty Officer John Pegg. The unit had 154 members with 500 recruit applications on file.
To prepare it for the Navy, the building underwent several major changes. Malcolm Construction got the $5,000 contract to do the work.
Most notably, the top two storeys of the building were removed. It is not clear why this happened as there are no newspaper reports of a fire at 583 Ellice, the usual reason for lopping the top floors off of a building. It may have been due to structural issues. At this time the main elevator was was also removed and two steel beams added to the third floor, now the top floor of the building, to presumably support the roof.
Once the renovations were complete, the main floor contained the recruitment offices. The second floor held a 67 x 82 drill hall that included the ship's mast. Above that was a mezzanine overlooking the hall that contained officers' quarters. The top floor had classrooms, a band room, and the ship's stores. In the basement was the gunnery room, torpedo instruction room, and a rifle range.
Other newspaper stories mention the addition of a gymnasium and moving the old recruitment centre's two "12-pounder" guns into the building.
The building reopened on September 30, 1939 with an official ceremony held on Thursday, October 5th. At the event, 93 Sea Cadets and 95 new recruits watched Navy brass unfurl a British Navy battle ensign flown by the HMS Courageous during World War I. The flag had been in the possession of the Cadets since 1931 and never flown. Ironically, the Courageous was sunk by a German U-boat just three weeks before the Winnipeg ceremony.
It was all spit an polish in October 1940 when both Rear Admiral Percy Walker Nelles, chief of naval staff, and Hon. Angus Macdonald, the navy minister in the war cabinet, both came from Ottawa to inspect the facilitates.
The building was commissioned as HMCS Chippawa, an inland ship, in November 1941.
This was the recruitment centre that allowed Winnipegger Percy Haynes to enlist and become the first black person to join the Royal Canadian Navy.
When the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Reserve (WRENS) was established in 1942, 583 Ellice Avenue is where Manitoba Women went to enlist.
Source: May 13, 1943, Winnipeg Tribune
Within months of opening, the building was already overflowing as the need for new recruits continued to grow. The basement of St. Matthews Church (now the West End Cultural Centre) across the street was commandeered to house recruits who were new to town.
The federal government announced in May 1942 that the former Winter Club on Smith Street had been purchased and would be converted into the new HMCS Chippawa with a capacity to train 600 recruits versus the 250 that could be handled on Ellice Avenue. Services began to relocate from “The Old Freighter” to Smith Street in the fall of 1943.
The federal government announced in May 1942 that the former Winter Club on Smith Street had been purchased and would be converted into the new HMCS Chippawa with a capacity to train 600 recruits versus the 250 that could be handled on Ellice Avenue. Services began to relocate from “The Old Freighter” to Smith Street in the fall of 1943.
Between its two locations, HMCS Chippawa was Canada's third largest source of naval personnel in Canada during World War II despite being the furthest inland from either coast!
Source: November 22, 1943, Winnipeg Free Press
The Navy then announced that the building would become the new
home of the city's Sea Cadets. Over the course of the war its enrolment had grown to 870 members and they had to split their exercises over three locations, (Issac Brock,
Kelvin and St. Johns schools). This new home would bring them together under one roof.On March 1, 1944, Mayor Garnet Coulter and R. C. Stevenson, coordinator of Canada's Sea Cadet activities based in Montreal, watched a march past and officially opened the building.
The barracks were named for John Travers Cornwell VC, a Boy - First Class in the Royal Navy who was killed in the First World War at the age of 16.
After the war, 583 Ellice Avenue performed another type of military service.
Residential construction had come to a near standstill during the war years. When soldiers returned home and reunited with their families, many of which had relocated into small apartments or bunked with family members during the war years, they found a severe shortage of suitable housing.
The City of Winnipeg took over the building in September 1945 and it was converted into temporary lodging for 14 military families.
Above: October 1953. Below July 1970
It appears that the city sold the building in 1948 and the space was divided up in order to house several tenants.
The first larger-scale occupants were Zeida Dress Uniforms / Paul Edwards Manufacturing Ltd., which specialized in making nurses uniforms, and the Remis Sign Company which spent over 20 years at this address.
In the 1950s the main floor was home to the Famous Bazaar store. In the 1960s Fingold Advertising agency and ROZ-MAR Building Industries called it home. In the late 1970s it housed Warner Brothers' Manitoba film distribution office and in 1980 Roger Newman and IMC Ltd. launched a new, national magazine called The Canadian Micro-Systems Journal from this address.
The John Howard Society of Manitoba moved into the main floor in 1991. The organization eventually bought the building and it was named the Justice Resource Centre. In 2012, it was renovated and renamed the John Howard Society Building.
Related:
Secure Storage Building 2
An abbreviated version of this building history appeared in the Summer
2012 edition of Our West Central Times newspaper.
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