© 2026, Christian Cassidy
Place: Adanac Apartments
Address: 737 - 743 Sargent Avenue (Map)
Constructed: 1914
Builders: Genser Bros.
Architect: Unknown
The construction of middle-class apartment blocks took off in Winnipeg starting around 1910, just as the West End was filling in with residential development.
In 1914, there were 71 apartment block building permits issued with an estimated value of $3.75 million. (This was up from 49 such permits in 1913). The average block size was 20 units, which created nearly 1,500 new dwellings.
The West End received its fair share of these blocks, including ones larger than the city average. These included Acadia Court on Victor Street, and the massive Thelmo Mansions on Burnell Street, the largest apartment block built in the city at the time.
One of the permits issued in August 1914 was to Genser Bros. Construction for the 40-unit, $110,000 Adanac Apartments at the corner of Sargent Avenue and Beverley Street.
Adanac, Canada spelled backwards, was a very popular name at the time. In 1913 - 1914, newspapers had ads for Adanac Cigars, the odd article mentioning Adanac, Saskatchewan, coverage of the local Adanacs hockey team, the creation of the Adanac Publishing Company, and the Adanac Club, a businessman’s social club that opened a new three-storey building at Broadway and Hargrave.
Barely a month after the building permit was issued, the realty company that either managed or owned the Adanac was already marketing its three and four-room suites. This may have been rushed as Canada had just entered the First World War. Wartime was a period of upheaval in the housing market as many couples and families downsized to smaller residences when the "man of the house" went off to war.
The first rental ads for specific suites at the Adanac can be found in February 1915.
The first round of tenants shows a mix of middle-class residents. Often business owners and professionals were on the upper floors and drivers, retail clerks, etc. on the lower floors. (The directory only shows the head of household, not family members living with them.) They include:
Henry Bates, owner of H. Bates Dry Goods, unit 38; Robert C Higgins, proprietor of the Corona Theatre, unit 24; William J. Johnston, salesman with Rumley Products, unit 32; Edward Mallette, ass’t chief operator at CNR telegrams, unit 11; Noah Skippen, accountant, unit 16; James Lindsay, employee at John D Ivey fabric wholesalers, 3; Charles Lindsay, teamster at Security Storage and Warehouse, 3.
The second section of the residential block would not open until the following year. It's unclear if it was 739 or 743 that opened first. The suites in each block were numbered the same, so Adanac Apartments "A" or "B" were often used in early directories and ads.
Its popularity, especially amongst newlyweds and seniors, had to do with its location on the Sargent Avenue streetcar line, later a trolley bus line, that offered great connectivity to the rest of the city. It was also situated in a densely populated commercial street filled with a variety of shops and services.
One resident of the Adanac was Frank Murison of suite 29. He worked at Dominion Bridge, eventually becoming the traffic manager for the company. A well-known curler, he was part of the city championship team of 1927, and in 1932-33 skipped the team that won the T. Eaton trophy. The curling world was shocked when he died in December 1933 at the age of 41 after a brief illness.
Several men went off to fight during the two World Wars, leaving loved ones behind at the Adanac.
In the First World War there was Alexander Stewart, a fireman by trade, who left his wife Beatrice at suite 29. Railway conductor George Martelle's wife Blanche lived at suite 4B. Dairy worker Alexander Southwood was a dairy worker from suite 6 who left his wife Dorothy. All made it home safely.
In the Second World War, Grenville Ronald Singbush (above) was wounded but survived. Lance Corporal S. F. Spence returned home to suite 4 with 10,000 other troops in June 1945
In July 1941, Charles Thomas Ife married Florence Elizabeth Fraser, and the two moved into the Adanac before Charles went overseas. He was with the Royal Canadian Signal Corps in June 1944 when he was reported as injured, but he survived the war. Florence died in 1991 and Charles in 2005.
Mrs. H. M. Campbell, a widow, lived at suite 15. She had two sons, Robert and John, who both enlisted at the start of the war.
John W. Campbell was with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, and on Christmas Day 1941, he was captured by the Japanese and sent to the Sendai POW camp. He and other detainees were released at the end of the war, and some of them returned to a hero's welcome at the CPR station on Higgins Avenue on September 18, 1945. There to meet him was Mrs. Campbell.
The detainees had stories of regular beatings, starvation and forced labour. Campbell, perhaps not wanting to upset his mother, told reporters, "You know what the other fellows have told you, well it was like that."
Campbell went on to marry Pauline after the war, but sadly died at Deer Lodge Hospital in August 1970 at the age of 51. His wife, brother, and mother all survived him.
Some of the Adanac's residents made the ultimate sacrifice.
William Cross Russell was one of six children of Mrs. Mina Russell of suite 12. She was a widow and lost a daughter, Dorothy, aged 29, in November 1941.
William attended Kelvin High School and enlisted shortly after graduation. In October, he went overseas with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and was accidentally shot during a training exercise in Britain in December 1942. He was 22 years old.
It wasn't just men from the Adanac who served.
Elsie Trann lived with her mother, Mrs. Jessie Trann, in suite 20 and was a clerk at a nearby Safeway store. She volunteered for the RCAF Women's Division and left for training at Rockliffe, Ontario, in October 1943. Over 17,000 women served with the RCAF-WD, which provided clerical and administrative support for the RCAF in Canada and overseas.
After the war, Elsie married John "Jack" Ryland in June 1946. He had been a corporal with the RCAF, so they likely met while on assignment. They had two daughters. Elsie died in 2017.
A feature of the Adanac was the two retail units on the main floor in between the entrances to each block. They had the addresses 739 and 741 Sargent.
The entire space was home to Adancac Grocery, which was initially owned by Harry Stone from 1916 to 1920, then by Max Sigel until the store closed in 1930.
The spaces were then rented separately.
739 Sargent Avenue became home to John Douglas Osborn's Sargent Florists in 1931.
Osborn came to Canada from his native Scotland in 1910 at the age of one. He worked for Manitoba Pool Elevators before opening the shop, which he ran until his death in 1974. It was then operated by Annie Ostop until 1979.
741 Sargent Avenue was he caretaker's office address through the 1930s, and by 1944, it was home to a confectionery store that had many owners over the years. They included Ben Meyerowitz of Alfred Avenue in the 1940s, Mrs. Ruth Rowland in the 1950s, and Jean Wazny and Ollie Gmiterick in the 1960s. The store closed in 1963.
In 1964, William Holland opened Adanac Lunch (restaurant), that operated until 1976.
There was a series of shorter-term stores, such as a t-shirt shop from 1976 to 1979, then a fish and exotic pet food store. In the 1980s and 1990s, it also housed the odd hair salon.
In 1997, both retail spaces were empty.
A 2013 renovation turned the retail spaces into additional residential units.
Recent years have not been kind to the Adanac Apartments.
In the 20-teens, the building gained a rough reputation for housing gang members who sold and used drugs from the building. From 2018 to August 2023, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to 623 fire and medical calls at the address (source).
In April 2020, a major fire broke out at the building. It destroyed several suites and sent two people to hospital. In 2022, Ira Disbrow was found shot to death at the front doorway of the building. Another major fire in January 2023 killed Star Thomas, 23, and led to murder charges against a man with several past convictions for drugs, weapons, and violent assault.
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After yet another fire on August 4, 2023, the WFPS inspected the building. It was something it had done dozens of times since 2018, but was now under increased pressure from neighbours and area politicians to do something.
The inspection found suites missing doors, many suites without power using electrical cords to hallway outlets, a "dysfunctional" fire alarm system, missing smoke detectors in many suites and missing fire extinguishers in the halls.
The building was ordered closed (also see) on August 16, 2023, and around 36 residents were displaced.
The owners of the building said they were working to fix up the building and address all of the concerns raised in the inspection, but in December 2023, the company was put into receivership and the building was seized. It was put up for sale in March 2024 with an asking price of $2.6 million.
The building was purchased and its sale approved by the courts in March 2025. Over the summer and fall of 2025, it is being significantly renovated.
Related:
My Flickr Album of 737-743 Sargent Avenue
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