Health hazard order shutters Windsor Hotel

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This article was published 22/03/2023 (947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 113-year-old downtown Winnipeg hotel where Charlie Chaplin once stayed, which later became a jazz and blues music hot spot, has been closed by the province’s health department.

Almost two dozen tenants had to be relocated after a health hazard order was issued last week due to numerous deficiencies found in the Windsor Hotel (187 Garry St.).

A provincial spokesperson said the health hazard order went into effect March 17, and tenants will not be allowed to return to the building until “minimum health and safety standards are met” and the new owner “meets all applicable building codes and occupancy requirements.”

“Tenants were relocated and social agencies, such as North End Community Renewal Corp., were on site finding relocation or shelter for all tenants, and working with EIA to provide income assistance for tenants having to relocate. Most found alternate accommodations and some had to go to a shelter until more permanent housing was found.”

Last month, the hotel was listed for sale by Colliers International at $2.5 million. The 22,800-square-foot building was called a “43-room full-service hotel, strategically located at Garry Street and St. Mary Avenue in downtown Winnipeg with 43 parking stalls… This prime downtown site offers prospective purchasers an exciting redevelopment opportunity.”

However, hotel tenants said it had already been sold and they had all been given eviction notices.

The building originally opened in 1903 as a boarding house.  It became a hotel in 1910 and took on the name Windsor Hotel in 1930.

In 1913, Chaplin was staying at the hotel (then called the LeClaire), when he decided to leave the British theatre company he was touring with and accept an offer from Keystone Studios to go to Hollywood. The future silent era film icon wrote to his brother, telling him about his plans, using hotel stationery.

The Chaplin connection is honoured with a large mural on the side of the building, depicting a scene from an early movie, and with a life-size cutout standing on an outdoor balcony.