© 2020, Christian Cassidy
Address: 1023 Main Street (Map)
Constructed: ca. 1901 and 1933
Architect: Max Zev Blankstein (1933)
Contractor: H. Zelbrovity (1933)
This building is a converted was a two-storey home constructed around 1901* for Matthew Ruckle, a druggist who had a shop at 962 Main Street at Selkirk. He and his family relocated to College Avenue around 1908.
(The city says the house was built in 1905, though street directories list Ruckle as living there starting in the 1902 edition which suggests the house was likely there in late 1901. He is still listed as living there in the 1907 directory making it unlikely that the house was built in 1905.)
After Ruckle, the house operated a four suite rooming house for the next 15 years. The main floor was renovated in 1913 to include a small retail space that at times was home to a hat shop and a tailor.
In the 1920s, the house became owner-occupied again. The retailer also disappears, though the space may have remained intact as 1023 Main Street was a polling station location of a polling station for three elections that decade.
Margaret Flanagan, a lodger of CPR porter William Cochrane who owned the home from 1927 to 1930, made front page news in 1928.
On the night of Saturday, February 25, 1928, the 22-year-old was waiting for a street car on Main Street at Manitoba Avenue when she was struck by a speeding car. The driver did not stop. Police tracked down the car and its driver and he was charged with manslaughter. A jury found him not guilty which created a public uproar. (More about Flanagan's death in a future post.)
In 1930, the house was went back on the market advertised as a 7-room house. The final owners appear to be the Barak family. Harry was a brickayer, wife Bertha was a dressmaker and daughter Rachel was also a dressmaker. Philip Katz, a labourer, was their lodger.
June 15, 1933, Winnipeg Tribune
Chesed Shel Emes, “true loving kindness” in Hebrew, was created in 1930 with the intention of opening a non-profit Jewish funeral chapel and mortuary. By the spring of 1932 the organization purchased 1023 Main Street.
The funds needed to convert the building were in place by by June 1933 as that is when it applied for, and received, a licence to operate a funeral chapel from the city. Some residents backing onto the building's back lane and along Magnus Avenue protested that they didn't want such an establishment in their neighbourhood.
They appealed to the city's health committee, but councillors told them that as long as the owners complied with regulations there was little that could be done. Even though the area east of Main Street may have been a residential neighbourhood the subject property was zoned commercial which allowed funeral parlours.
That same month, H. Zelbrovity took out a $500 building permit to make renovations based on a design by architect Max Zev Blankstein.
Chesed Shel Emes opened on October 6, 1933.
Initially, the funeral chapel operated on the main floor and the upstairs remained residential streets often for staff. Max Duboff, Chesed Shel Emes' caretaker, and family lived there in the late 1930s followed by Idel Okell. Through the 1950s it was home to Jack Manusovitch, caretaker, and his wife, Rita.
November 10, 1941, Winnipeg Free Press
As a community non-profit group, Chesed Shel Emes covered the cost of funerals whenever necessary. In 1938, for instance, 38 funeral were held there of which 75% were free of charge. In order to make this possible there was a constant fundraising campaign by the board, its women's auxiliary, and community groups such as drama clubs that would donate the proceeds of a show.
The Jewish community celebrated the burning of the chapel's mortgage in March 1939 at a dinner held in the Tolmud Tora hall on Flora Avenue at Charles Street. Mayor John Queen and councilor John Blumberg were guest speakers. Rabbi J. Horowitz said he hoped that the burning of the mortgage was symbolic of freeing Jews around the world from the “mortgage of persecution” they were currently facing.
In 1941, the chapel was closed so that it could be extensively renovated and expanded. At its reopening celebration on November 9, speakers paid tribute to Abraham Cohen. The community worker had been president of Chesed Shel Emes since its inception and was also a founding member of the Hebrew Sick Benefit Society and B'nai Jcaob Free Loan Association.
It was likely during this expansion that the current facade was built. It is actually a false wall tall enough to hide the gabled roof of the original house, which is still there, and wide enough to cover the width of the original house plus the extension to the south. The same architect likely also renovated the Hebrew Sick Benefit Society building in 1941 after suffering a major fire as its facade and that of Chesed Shel Emes are striking similar.
A new era for Chesed Shel Emes began in 1946 when construction began on a new, much larger chapel on the adjoining land to the north. The $60,000 building opened on November 23, 1947.
The original building was then converted to offices, a board room and cold room for the storage of bodies.
Chesed Shel Emes had a condition report done on the original building in 2016. While it showed no immediate structural problems, there were multiple issues from the foundation up to the roof that had to be addressed to ensure the building's survival. There were also numerous building code infractions that had to be addressed, from replacing the electrical system to adding washrooms.
Instead of pursuing renovations, the organization decided to make a fresh start and build a new wing. The two-storey building will contain office space, washrooms, an expanded cold room and a staff kitchen.
The cost of the new wing is expected to be $3.18 million. Work begins in spring 2020 with the demolition of the original building.
Related:
Chesed Shel Emes website
Chesed Shel Emes Facebook page
New era about to begin for Chesed Shel Emes Jewish Post and News
My photo album of 1023 Main Street
1023 Main Street City of Winnipeg Historic Buildings Committee
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