The Rise and Sprawl: 2010-06

Breaking news from 1969

April 1, 1969 - "If a major convention hall is built in Winnipeg, it seems elementary good sense that it be located within easy access of hotel accommodation. It also seems good sense to try to ensure that strong supporting services and facilities are developed in close relation to the convention centre, such as shopping, entertainment, etc."

June 26, 2010 - "The proposed development is part of a broader CentreVenture effort to have an area encompassing the MTS Centre, the Winnipeg Convention Centre, the Burton Cummings Theatre and the Metropolitan Theatre declared a "SHED," or sports, hospitality and entertainment district..."

And some say that I live in the past when it comes to downtown.

How has Portage Avenue fared since 1969?

The Manitoba Advantage

"The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

"Advanced Education Minister Diane McGifford has rejected 10 of 12 requests from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg for tuition cap exemptions."

Meanwhile, the President's office at the the University of Winnipeg has sent letters to every one of that school's departments, saying that they must cut their budget by 3.5% this year, to help deal with the paltry 2% increase in funding from the Province of Manitoba this upcoming year. Two per cent is a decrease from previous years, and does not cover inflation.

The Province apparently cannot afford to pay for universities, yet they are not allowing anyone who can afford them pay.

Winnipeg in Color, 1962

All photos courtesy of the Winnipeg Building Index at the University of Manitoba's Architecture and Fine Arts Library.

The downtown skyline from the Red River near The Forks

Portage and Main looking east, where the Richardson Building and Fairmont Hotel would be built by the end of the decade. On the left is the seven-storey Merchant's Bank building that was Winnipeg's first tall steel-frame building when it was constructed in 1900

Looking east on Portage Avenue toward Main

Great Western Building and the Allan Killam McKay Building on the west side of Main south of Portage. These treasures were relegated to the dustbin of history in 1973, to make way for an embarassing act of corporate welfare, the Trizec Development

Looking south on Main from near William Avenue

Looking north up Main from James Avenue. Most of the buildings in this view are now gone

Northwest corner of Logan and Main. The Royal Alexandra Hotel at Higgins is seen in the background. It would be demolished through the winter of 1971-2

A couple of old relics on Rupert Avenue east of Main, looking toward the Amy Street Hydro plant

Looking east on Henry Avenue from near Martha Street. On the right is Rosh Pina Synagogue, built in 1892

Gifford Hall, Martha Street and Logan Avenue. This house was the home of E.F. Hutchings, who by 1910 would be one of Winnipeg's 19 millionaires. The house was pulled down later in the 1960s to make way for the extension of the Disraeli 'freeway'

Dominion Immigration Building, Maple Street along the south side of the CP mainline. This would be demolished sometime in the late 1980s

Maple Street at Macdonald Avenue. The Maple All People's Mission building later became home to Pilgrim Baptist Church, a congregation made up of many of the blacks that lived in the Point Douglas area at mid-century. Pilgrim Baptist still exists at this site, though in a newer building. The large buildings in the background are the Dominion Immigration and Manitoba Cold Storage