Advocating for Heritage
The Manitoba Historical Society tracks historically-significant buildings around our province that deserve to be preserved and better known. For Canada Historic Places Days on mid-July each year, we announce our list of the ten most endangered buildings and other structures, in order from oldest to newest.
We remain concerned about structures identified on our past lists, some of which have been demolished. See the lists for 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023
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TOP 10
MOST THREATENED HISTORICAL STRUCTURES – 2024
1
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 1884
256 Smith Street, Winnipeg
Holy Trinity Anglican Church has been a Winnipeg landmark since the city was a muddy town of mostly wood shacks. There is no building like it in Manitoba, an example of High Victorian Gothic architecture. You can see this from the outside with the pointed arches, spires, pinnacles and carved ornamentation, mostly in stone. Inside, the long sanctuary roof has an open wooden structural system of curving supports and arched trusses, used to replace columns. The artistry and craftsmanship could hardly be replicated today.
In May 2024, it was announced that the foundations of the church are failing such that, without intervention, this magnificent structure will fail. Its tiny congregation is unable to finance the work and it does not need a large meeting space. They are looking to sell the building. The building has its supporters. Hopefully, they can work with different sources to find a viable future that could support preservation of the building and enable it to serve the community in a new way.
2
Melita School, 1893
41 Ash Street, Melita
This two-storey brick veneer building was constructed in two stages as a school for local children. The first part, built in 1893, had four classrooms. Four more classrooms were added in 1905. Through the years, one-room schoolhouses in the surrounding countryside closed and their students were bussed here. Eventually, a new school was constructed nearby and this building was converted into a museum, with each former classroom featuring a unique collection of artifacts.
The museum’s management committee has dealt with structural problems through the years but they have grown dire in the past decade, to the point where the committee is now considering the wisdom of committing further funds to repairs. An alternative is to demolish this building and construct a replacement. As the oldest, two-storey brick school building in rural Manitoba, this structure is an important reminder of the transition from small, country schools to larger, urban ones through the 20th century.
3
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 1898
St. Jean Baptiste, RM of Montcalm
Construction of this four-storey brick veneer building as a convent, school, and boarding facility was completed in 1898. A north wing was added in 1910. As demand grew through the years, the school expanded to the south with a major addition made in 1953.
In 1994, the original convent building was sold to private ownership and it was renovated into nine residential apartments. In 2023, a new owner attempted to create nine more apartments but is alleged to have not obtained building permits for the electrical and plumbing work. The municipal government was alerted and, after the issues were not resolved, all tenants were evicted and the power was disconnnected in May 2023. The longer the building remains vacant, the greater this provincially designated building—the oldest rural convent in Manitoba—is at risk.
4
Arlington Steel Through Truss Bridge, 1912
Arlington Street, Winnipeg
The Arlington Bridge is a 2,255-foot-long, steel through truss bridge, one of the few links across the Canadian Pacific Railway yards that, historically, has divided North End Winnipeg from the rest of the city, both physically and socially. In November 2023, the City of Winnipeg suddenly closed the bridge indefinitely. Reportedly this is because accelerating corrosion makes it structurally unsafe for traffic. The general sense is that the bridge will be replaced. However, dismantling it would cost millions.
Could the bridge be maintained as a viable route for pedestrians and cyclists? There are ample precedents: the Walnut Street Bridge at Chattanooga, Tennessee was developed into a successful pedestrian walkway after that truss bridge had sat disused for about a decade. The High Line in New York City was converted from an elevated railway spur into a popular greenway and public space. An example closer to home is Winnipeg’s Elm Street Bridge, between Jubilee and Kingston Row, used for promenading and ice cream-eating since it was closed in 1974.
5
Boyd Building, 1912
384-392 Portage Avenue / 270 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg
This nine-storey building, completed in 1912, was one of Manitoba’s earliest skyscrapers and a compelling illustration of the architectural link between Winnipeg and Chicago. Its architect, John D. Atchison, trained in Chicago under William Le Baron Jenney, the renowned “Father of the Skyscraper”.
The Boyd Building is the most faithful example of a Chicago School commercial building in Manitoba. It reveals how a Chicago-style building is put together: you can clearly see the vertical piers and horizontal framing of the building instead of having a heavily ornamented façade that obscures it. This is achieved here using contrasting cream and green terra cotta, custom-made for the building in Chicago.
The building has been vacant for at least six years. We all know of the vulnerability of vacant structures. This solid, reinforced concrete-framed building would seem capable of continuing as an office building with storefront retail space. Or it could be repurposed—for example, as downtown housing.
6
Marlborough Hotel, 1913
331 Smith Street, Winnipeg
The Marlborough has been a Winnipeg institution for over 110 years, although it did a stint as army barracks during the First World War, changed name from the Olympia Hotel, grew another six floors in 1921, and welcomed an eight-storey next-door addition in 1956-1960. The building hosted a conference, in 1925, that led to the creation of the Royal Canadian Legion.
The original three-storey structure is Gothic in style, clad in custom-made grey terra cotta from Chicago made to look like the tracery on stained glass windows and like stone carving as you might see on a church. The main floor has stained glass windows made in England.
The Marlborough Hotel was closed abruptly after an incident in December 2023. There are reports that parts of the interior were damaged at that time. The building is now standing vacant and vulnerable. Hopefully, a way can be found for it to again serve the community.
7
St. Charles Hotel, 1913
235 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg
The St. Charles Hotel, in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, was built the same year as the Marlborough Hotel and both, in fact, had the same owner in the 1950s. The St. Charles was closed and has been vacant since 2008, when its current owner sought to have it demolished. The City of Winnipeg rejected that request. The owner required the City’s permission because it is a designated structure, a status the building held when he acquired it.
In the intervening years, the owner has talked publicly of different plans for repurposing the building. Most recently, he has spoken of holding off work on it to develop a surface parking lot immediately north of the hotel, which he also owns. Surely, there is a viable purpose for this building.
8
Gabel’s General Store, 1931
Ladywood, RM of Brokenhead
This wooden building, designed by Roy Millbrant of Beausejour, was constructed between 1929 and 1931 with the assistance of Steve Chipilski of Ladywood for storekeepers Henry and Mary Gabel. They operated it as a general store until closure in 1975. A provincially-designated historic site, the building was later used as a community museum. South-facing verandahs on the first and second floors were removed sometime between 2019 and 2023, leaving the facade looking bereft compared to its former glory.
9
Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, 1938
197 Euclid Avenue, Winnipeg
We say that vacant buildings are vulnerable, obviously to fire, burst pipes, vandalism and so on. In the case of Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, the congregation was still meeting in this historic building up to 11 June 2024, but it was empty when someone broke in and set fire to it. Recently, the building had sustained smoke and water damage from two separate fires at neighbouring structures and multiple break-ins, resulting in the loss of historic and irreplaceable religious items. With the June fire inside the church, the congregation has left and the building is now vacant.
The building is a rare example of Art Deco architecture in Winnipeg, with its angular massing and decorative lines, as seen from outside. Historically, it was built as the Point Douglas Ukrainian Labour Temple where it had a stage, projection room and buffet room. It was easily repurposed as a Greek Orthodox Church, in this case a congregation that does not use pews and has beautiful standing icon screens. We will have to see what happens to this building. Sadly, problems of addiction, crime and homelessness have been on the rise in the immediate area.
10
Bibliothèque Régionale Jolys Regional Library, 1964
505 Heber Street North, St-Pierre-Jolys
This unique, circular library building was designed by noted architect Etienne Gaboury and constructed around 1964. Through the years, it has been a gymasium, church, and classroom. Most recently, it is a library that has a unique configuration serving the surrounding community as well as the local high school to which it is connected.
Recently, the library staff has been advised that it will have to close during school hours, and therefore be open to the public only on evenings and weekends. This is not ideal for the operation of a public library, and we wonder about the motivation for the move. Will it threaten an important community cultural space and ultimately the library building itself?