© 2012, 2020, Christian Cassidy
Place: Former Winnipeg Builders Exchange building
Address: 290 Burnell Street
Constructed: 1956
Architect: Waisman, Ross
Cost: $60,000
The Winnipeg Builders Exchange was created in 1904 as a trade association representing construction-related tradesmen, suppliers, contractors and builders in the Winnipeg area. Its main purpose was to act as a central access point for construction tenders from across the province and beyond.
The exchange had long rented offices in the Confederation Life Building on Main Street, but the post-war construction boom sent them in search of a larger premises.
The Builders' Exchange purchased the lot at 290 Burnell Street, likely part of the parking area of the Valour Road Legion Curling Club next door. Prior to that, it would have been part of the Canada Bread Field baseball diamond.
The ground breaking took place on June 5, 1956. A. Turner Bone, president of the Canadian Construction Association, and J. J. Bernard, president of the Winnipeg Builders' Exchange, presided over the ceremony.
Architectural firm Waisman, Ross was hired to design the building, which an official of the exchange said "incorporates many new ideas in planning, design and methods of construction."
Three years earlier, Allan Waisman co-designed the Northern Sales Building on Lombard Avenue which this building shares much of its DNA.
Like Northern Sales, it is a single-storey structure with a recessed entrance. It is finished in blonde brick, black trim and floor to ceiling window openings. The Winnipeg Architecture Foundations says of 290 Burnell that "... the structure demonstrates a remarkable formal clarity and showcasing the essence of the structure and materials employed."
The building also features a glassed in, open air courtyard at the centre of the building.
The most unique feature of the building is an 11 foot by 13 foot mosaic by Takao Tanabe.
Born near Prince George B.C. in 1926, the Tenake family spent four years
in a British Columbia internment camp during World War II. Tenake then came to Winnipeg and studied at the Winnipeg School of Art
at the University of Manitoba. He graduated in 1949 and for a couple of
years based himself here as his art was exhibited
across the continent and Europe.
The mosaic depicts, from left to right, the evolution of the building industry over the decade, from Egyptian pyramids and Roman aqueducts a modern apartment building and grain elevator.
The $60,000 building was formally opened on December 5, 1956. Premier Douglas Campbell, J. J. Bernard, president of the Builders Exchange, W. H. Carter, the first president
of the exchange from 1911, and W. G. Malcolm, past president of the Canadian
Construction Association all spoke.
At th event, Bernard and Dr. Ferdinand Eckhart of the Winnipeg Art Gallery unveiled the mural.
Though it was constructed so that another storey could be added, it was instead expanded to the rear to nearly double its size to over 8,000 square feet. The recessed entrance was enclosed. Also, the courtyard has been covered over to create additional office space, (the mural is still there behind a bank of file cabinets.)
The Winnipeg Builders Exchange changed its name to the Winnipeg Construction Association in 1978 and still operates today. The organization relocated to Waverley Street in early 2011. that March, it sold
the building to Commissionaires - Manitoba Division.
As of September 2020 the building is for sale as Commissionaires is relocating to larger premises on Portage Avenue at Home Street.
Related:
290 Burnell Street Winnipeg Building Index (includes construction photos)
290 Burnell Street Winnipeg Architecture Foundation
Winnipeg Builders Exchange Fonds Archives of Manitoba
Thank you for this article Christian! I live just a stone's throw away on Banning and Einarson, and always love to see pictures of this area from the past. I sure hope the renovators kept some of the key interior elements of this building. Very midcentury indeed.
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