© 2025, Christian Cassidy
Place: The Coliseum (Dec 1912-1917), Alhambra Dance Gardens (1917-1926), Diamond Taxi (1926-1931), Fort Market garden (1931), Moore's Taxi garage (1931- ca. 1972); various (ca, 1972 to ca. 1989)
Location: 225 Fort Street (map)
Constructed: 1912
Demolished: ca. 1989
Architect: Alexander Melville
December 14, 1912, Winnipeg Tribune
In August 1912, the Coliseum Amusement Company took out a $40,000 building permit to construct The Coliseum dance hall on the east side of Fort Street between St. Mary’s and Graham.
The president of the company was J. A. Schubert, the former owner of the Bijou Theatre (back when it was known as the Empress). Other principals included John Nash of the Province Theatre and John M. Cooke, former manager of the Bijou Theatre. Victor Josselyn would be the facility manager.
The Coliseum would be the city's only all-season venue dedicated to dancing that was not a hotel ballroom. The closest thing to it was arenas or covered rinks that offered summer dances. A Tribune reporter predicted that a year-round dance hall "...is something that Winnipeggers have vaguely wanted for a long time - something they have desired without really knowing what it was”.
225 Fort Street ca. 1912 to 1917 (full sized image here)
I cannot find detailed photos of the building, which in one newspaper article was described as "handsome". This is hardly a surprise as the man who designed it was Alex Melville whose work already included ten Winnipeg fire halls and the Startland Theatre on Main Street.
The building boasted a steel frame construction and red brick walls with stone accents. It measured 100 feet wide by 120 feet deep, and the ceiling height in the hall was nearly 30 feet. It featured the latest in ventilation and heating systems and was lit with 5,000 lights and 2,000 venetian lamps. There was a small stage and an orchestra stand at the front of house.
The dance floor had the capacity for 500 couples and the venue could seat 1,200 for banquets.
Early dance ads
The Coliseum opened on December 16, 1912, just in time for the Christmas season. Dances were held nightly until midnight, except for Sundays as per Lord's Day laws. In later years, weekend dances would go as late as 2 a.m..
For those worried that a dance hall might be a seedy place for women to be seen in, the hall was alcohol free, had a women's waiting area and was patrolled by chaperones headed by Miss Helen Buck, a former governess in England. They made sure that The Coliseum lived up to its billing as "The Home of Clean Dancing".
The Coliseum made the most of its lighting system in what it called its "electrical dances". All of the lights in the hall went to a central switchboard that could be operated by a single technician. Using the switches and a collection of well-placed mirrors around the hall, he could create light shows for the type of dance that was on offer.
The Coliseum's opening also coincided with the tango craze that was sweeping European ballrooms. The hall's local dance instructors, Mr. and Mrs. Wirth, would put on tango demonstrations and the venue would show short films of tango dancers in action to get Winnipeggers up to speed.
Early program ads
Like any independent theatre or hall, The Coliseum couldn't rely on just one activity to make money.
The management hosted a variety of activities during the daytime to bring people through the doors, ranging from a Kodak photo and moving picture exhibition, to baby shows, to live World Series score updates. Many dance nights began with short film reels or gimmicks like pillow fights or fake snowball fights.
The odd boxing match was advertised in 1914 and would become a much more regular occurrence as the years went on.
Newspaper ads for the regular dances dropped off in early 1915. They were still taking place on a nightly basis, but advertising that people could dance the night away while the war was raging may have been seen as in bad taste.
In the fall of 1915, the venue hosted many fundraising dances and other events for organizations like the Women's Volunteer Reserve, the Returned Soldiers' Association, and the Lonely Soldiers' Christmas Fund. Several battalions also had dances or dinners there. At a 44th Battalion public dance in September 1915, it managed to sign up 22 new recruits.
Promotional postcard ,undated
It made “elaborate improvements” to the décor and reduced the orchestra stand in favour of an expanded stage and increased occupancy. This could be confirmation that dancing would not be its sole focus going forward.
The first item on the winter 1916 schedule was Labour Day dance, followed by regular dances on Monday, Wednesdays and Saturdays. There were also more military-related fundraisers as well as semi-regular boxing matches.
Events in 1917
The action continued at The Coliseum until February 1917, then newspaper mentions of the dance hall disappear. There was one large boxing card in May, but the tickets were sold at the Royal Albert Hotel, not the venue.
It is unclear what happened to The Coliseum as the newspapers didn't report directly on its closure.
It could be that at the height of the war, there just weren't enough customers who wanted to go to nightly dances. As for boxing, as the war dragged on it likely would have been a challenge to find enough fit young men to put on a lengthy card. The constant fundraising events likely didn't pay the venue's bills.
It could also be that some or all of the investors in Coliseum Amusements Company wanted out. Some theatre men, like hoteliers, tended to invest in projects for the shorter term and then moved on to build their next big project.
Whatever the reasons, The Coliseum was no more. (Read more about Victor Josselyn here.)
September 27, 1917, Winnipeg Tribune
The next newspaper mention of 225 Fort Street comes in August 1917 when it was announced that new investors were renovating the building into the Alhambra dance hall. Victor Josselyn, an investor and manager of The Coliseum, would stay on.
The Alhambra would still offer dancing, though two nights a week at first, and promoted that it could be rented for banquets, conferences and concerts.
Its first big event in September 1917 was The Winnipeg Electric Show from September 3 to 8. It was a chance for utilities and companies to show off the latest in electrical lighting and home appliances. Trade shows and conferences were few and far between at the Alhambra and it was soon back to its dances and fundraising events.
At one Saturday night dance in November 1914, the police raided the venue looking for draft dodgers. After rounding up nine men, Josselyn announced from the stage that the dance would resume.
December 15, 1917, Winnipeg Tribune
Christmas 1917 was a busy time at Alhambra Hall. On December 21st, the Kiwanis Club hosted a party and presented gifts to 1,000 war widows and orphans. Dances were held on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.The following year carried on much the same way, with two dances a week and many charitable events mixed in.
During the summer 1917 closure, Josselyn went to New York to visit dance halls and ended up signing the New York Society Syncopated Orchestra, a black jazz band, to be the Alhambra's house band from September to the end of January 1918. It was replaced by the New York Jazz Orchestra through April 1919, then the Jazz Babies until the 1918 summer closure.
The Alhambra was a little too eager to provide entertainment to the masses. In late November 1918, it hosted a dance attended by about 80 couples. Unfortunately, it fell during the public gatherings ban for the "Spanish" flu pandemic. Manager Vic Josselyn and the band leader were the first two people in Winnipeg to be charged with violating the ban.
August 30, 1919, Winnipeg Tribune
After its usual summer closure, the Alhambra reopened in September 1919 with renewed vigour. With the war over, Winnipeggers seemed to be in the mood to dance and the Alhambra was happy to provide the entertainment.
The Broadway Syncopated Jazz Band was the main house band. There was a secondary house band which allowed for continuous music every eventing, (except Sundays, of course), from 8:30 pm to 12:30 am. On stage there were 16 "cabaret entertainers" to keep the mood strong throughout the night.
A change made to the venue over the summer was the addition of a "mission gardens", a more formal seating area by the kitchen.
It was announced in May 1920 that thanks to an improved ventilation system, the Alhambra would for the first time open during the summer months.
Also introduced that summer were free / pay by donation Sunday concerts. (Free/by donation was likely a way to get around Lord's Day Act laws.) Members of the house band were in attendance but local bands and singers were invited to come and perform to promote themselves or get experience working on professional stage. These concerts became so popular that they became part of the Alhambra's year-round programming.
In 1921, three house bands were on hand for the dances: the Alhambra Syncopated Orchestra, Hunt's Saxophone Band, and Soli's Marimba band. The Sunday night concerts grew into a big deal with shows featuring a dozen bands and singers. Some of the singers were local, others were professionals in town for their own show who would sing a number or two to promote it.
The Alhambra closed in the summer of 1921 for $18,000 in renovations that included a new dance floor, the relocation and expansion of the band stand, and a larger ladies' check room. The gardens seating area next to the kitchen was expanded, as were the kitchen's offerings, and you could book a table in advance.
The venue reopened on September 3, 1921, with a modified name: Alhambra Dance Gardens.
For the next three years, it was business as usual at the Alhambra with nightly dances, a Sunday concert, limited dancing during the summers, and various house bands.
September 3, 1921, Winnipeg Tribune
The Alhambra closed in the summer of 1921 for $18,000 in renovations that included a new dance floor, the relocation and expansion of the band stand, and a larger ladies' check room. The gardens seating area next to the kitchen was expanded, as were the kitchen's offerings, and you could book a table in advance.
The venue reopened on September 3, 1921, with a modified name: Alhambra Dance Gardens.
For the next three years, it was business as usual at the Alhambra with nightly dances, a Sunday concert, limited dancing during the summers, and various house bands.
Changes began to appear in late 1925. Regular advertising stopped, and the Alhambra hosted its first boxing match in December. Boxing and wrestling soon became a weekly event and by the end of January 1926, dancing was held on Wednesday and Saturday nights only.
The last sporting event at the hall was a night of wrestling and boxing matches on Tuesday, April 6, 1926. The last dance appears to be an I.O.O.F. ceremony and dance on Friday, April 9, 1926.
For 225 Fort Street, it's time as the city's first year-round dance hall was over. On the morning of Thursday, April 15, 1926, the contents of the building were auctioned off - everything from pianos to lights to the kitchen sinks.
February 26, 1930, Winnipeg Tribune
The building was purchased in March 1926 by Arthur T. Henderson for his Diamond Taxi Company. Created in 1922, it boasted Winnipeg's largest fleet of cars and desperately needed bigger space.
Diamond made extensive renovations to the building to hold its 45 taxis. It also had parking for a small rental car fleet and offered covered parking for tourists who wanted to leave their cars and take taxis while staying in the city. In all, the building had capacity for 125 cars.
Henderson kept the side rooms in place so that there was a ladies lounge, men's smoking room and a canteen for the drivers.
August 21, 1931, Winnipeg Tribune
Diamond Taxi moved to smaller premises at Fort and Graham in 1931 and in July, the building became a public market. the floor space was divided into 10-foot stalls for market gardeners, small producers and florists to sell their wares
The venture didn't take off, likely due to the huge number of stalls it needed to fill, and closed in November.
December 24, 1932, Winnipeg Tribune
The building returned to the taxi industry in December 1931 when it became one of Moore's Taxi Company's parking garages. Car owners could rent parking by the day, week or month and could get their car washed or minor maintenance done. By 1937, Moore's added bodywork repairs to the site and car sales in 1939.
The space was subdivided in 1935 and shared briefly with the Athletic Academy, a club featuring eight badminton courts and at times hosted basketball games and even a dance. It only lasted a year.
It remained a Moore's taxi garage, mainly for vehicle storage, until at least 1965. It was likely sold off by 1972 as that was when Morris Neman, the owner of Moore's, Grosvenor, and half-owner of Yellow, decided to get out of the taxi business and signed the agreement have the companies convert to a workers' co-op called Unicity Taxi.
Circa 1967
The building appears to have sat empty or was used as storage until 1978 when it became the Fort Auto Inn, a car repair shop. It went bankrupt before the year was over.
The building, by then vacant, was next mentioned in 1987 for a plan to convert it into a 400-seat celebrity dinner theatre. Construction was to begin on June 1, but the financing didn't come through and the project never got started.
In 1988, a rezoning application was made for 225 Fort Street to "permit the establishment of a parking facility" on the site. It is doubtful that this meant the conversion of the existing building, as construction of the neighbouring 200 Graham Avenue and its underground parkade was about to start.
The exact year of demolition for 225 Fort Street is unknown.
No comments:
Post a Comment