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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Buildings that may soon go boom
I hope I am wrong, but the future does not look rosy for these properties
The Fortune Block. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
The Bathgate Block. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
The Sunset Manufacturing Building. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
The Vaughan Street Jail. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
Monte Cassino Court. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
The St. Charles Hotel. (CHRISTIAN CASSIDY)
I'm often asked what I think are Winnipeg's most endangered buildings. Here's my top five list.
Fortune Block
232 Main St.
(Built 1882-83, Willmot and Stewart)
BUILT by Mark Fortune but sold to Alex McDonald when it opened (it was McDonald who added the twin building to the south). This was home to the West's first school for the deaf and Winnipeg's (and likely Western Canada's) first female medical doctors in 1883.
With its decorative brickwork and prominent corner, it's a building that stands out, even in its rather sorry state. It has been sad to watch it decline over the decades. The upper stories were apparently vacated in the 1970s so it's been a long, slow neglect. It has been the subject of recent demolition speculation.
Bathgate Block
242 Princess St.
(Built 1882-83, Barber and Barber)
THE unfortunate paint job and many unsympathetic renovations mask many of this building's handsome features; they can be better observed from the unpainted side elevation.
It has sat empty since 2001. Around 2007, a plan to subdivide it into three buildings and convert them into condos did not materialize. It was cited last year by the city for foundation issues and loose brickwork on the facade.
Sunset Manufacturing Building
655 Logan Ave.
(Built 1914, J. H. G. Russell)
THE hum of sewing machines is likely embedded in the walls of this building. Built for a barrel-and-bag manufacturer, it has been the home to numerous bag and clothing manufacturers over the century.
Last year, the Ontario Wind Turbine building a couple of blocks east on Logan was torn down without anyone noticing or the city or heritage groups even knowing when the building was constructed. This building will likely meet the same fate. It is currently for sale or lease but has been empty or barely used for most of the past decade.
Vaughan Street Jail
444 York Ave.
(Built 1881, Charles O. Wickenden / Walter Chesterton)
THANKS to Doors Open and Friends of the Vaughan Street Jail, this building has won a place in the hearts of even many heritage-adverse Winnipeggers. That hasn't done anything to reverse its likely fate, though.
Unprotected by any heritage listing, the building is crumbling to the point Doors Open tours are no longer held due to concerns over safety. A bare minimum of repairs, such as recovering the roof, have been done to keep it from complete failure, (the province does, after all, have offices on part of the main floor), but nothing toward repairing or restoring the ongoing damage.
Monte Cassino Court
637 Portage Ave.
(1910)
THOUGH it is in a stretch of Portage that has transformed itself in the past couple of years with McFeetors Hall, Richardson Science Centre, Harvey's and Pop Soda's all filling in empty space, the Monte Cassino has stood defiantly vacant.
Last year, there was a request for a demolition permit in order to wedge a nine-storey building onto the site but the developer withdrew his offer to purchase before the application was finalized.
On watch:
I wouldn't call it in danger of demolition yet, but I have to say I would not be surprised to wake up one morning and find the St. Charles Hotel is no longer.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 17, 2012 A10
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