Fire damages historic Main Street building; residents, arts organizations displaced

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This article was published 13/12/2023 (686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Firefighters battled a blaze in a historic Main Street building for hours Wednesday, as arts organizations that operate out of 611 Main St. and residential tenants were displaced by the damage.

Crews were sent to the building, which has both commercial spaces and residential suites, at the corner of Main Street and the Disraeli Freeway shortly after 5 a.m.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said crews were met with smoke and flames outside when they arrived.The fire was declared under control at 7:20 a.m.

Everyone inside the building escaped without help from firefighters, the WFPS said. Several people were assessed by paramedics but no one was taken to hospital.

A Winnipeg Transit bus was sent to provide shelter, and the city’s emergency social services team was deployed to help displaced residents find temporary accommodations.

WFPS spokeswoman Erin Madden said 12 people were displaced and seven needed help finding a place to stay.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No estimate of the damage was provided.

Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art education centre and the Edge Gallery and Urban Art Centre — both non-profit operations — occupy the main floor, separated by a wall.

MAWA communications co-ordinator Alison Davis said no one had been able to go inside the building as of mid-afternoon Wednesday.

But as far as she knows, MAWA’s space was not significantly damaged, she said.

“We plan to remain closed this week and make an assessment once we are able to access the space,” she said, adding the Edge’s clay pottery centre at the rear of the building is where the majority of the fire damage occurred.

“We are devastated for them, it is a huge blow,” she said.

The Free Press was unable to immediately reach anyone at the Edge for comment.

Madden said both the residential and commercial areas of the building were affected by the fire, smoke and water, with some units more significantly damaged than others. She said decisions to re-occupy the building will likely be made by the owner and insurance firms.

The building, known as the Corbett Block, was added to the city’s list of historical resources in October 2016. It was built by Dr. Samuel C. Corbett in 1901 and designed by local builder James McDiarmid.

The two-storey brick building “is a good example of a two-part commercial structure, very common throughout the downtown regions of most North American cities,” said a city report from 2016.

The building’s main floor was converted into spaces for arts organisations, along with affordable housing on the second floor, after a new owner bought it in 2003, according to the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.

Main Street was closed to northbound traffic in the area of the Disraeli Freeway for a while but later reopened. The Disraeli remained closed to eastbound traffic into the late morning.

The WFPS advised caution in the area, as water used to fight the fire froze, creating slippery conditions. The fire service said city crews would be monitoring road and sidewalk conditions and applying sand and de-icing agents to improve traction as required.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca