‘Just the way the future goes’ Longtime Pembina Highway fixture Cambridge Hotel to shutter Nov. 5 to make room for mixed-use complex By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:50 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024

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After decades of touting cold beer and VLTs, a Pembina Highway hotel will shutter, making room for more housing.

Egon Schneider joined a handful of long-timers Wednesday inside the dark, neon-lit Cambridge Hotel. The clock is ticking: Nov. 5 is the south-central Winnipeg site’s last day open.

“It’s kind of sad, because you’ve got a bunch of memories here,” Schneider said, looking around.

He’d visit along with his dad 30 years ago. Then, shuffleboards consumed the present video lottery terminals space. There was a dance floor, dart league and pool tables.

Now, customers come to 1022 Pembina Hwy. for the VLTs, sports bar, beer vendor and camaraderie. It’s been a mainstay near Jubilee Avenue for 86 years.

But the tables are emptier than decades past; longtime regulars are aging out, Schneider noted.

All of the hotel — from the sports bar and small café to its 11 rooms, holding two permanent tenants — is slated for demolition in preparation of a mixed-use complex.

Across Pembina, crews are building a 12-storey tower set for housing and business. The land held the Pembina Hotel for more than 67 years.

“(It’s) just the way the future goes,” said James Gresswell, Cambridge Hotel general manager.

“I understand the way it seems to go in the city. The hotels (are) being knocked down and there’s property being built.”

“The … old-style tavern has had its day in the sun … It’s time to move on from a bygone era.”–Scott Schriemer

It’s both sad and understandable, Gresswell shared. He and roughly 15 staff will be scouting for new jobs.

In 2021, Winnipeg’s city council received a development proposal to erect an apartment complex in the Cambridge Hotel space. The plan detailed a six-storey building with 87 residential suites.

Project leadership declined to provide updates Wednesday.

A wrecking ball likely won’t come right away: in February, developers asked the city for an extension to complete its rezoning and subdivision application.

The city granted an extension until Feb. 23, 2025.

“We won’t be able to provide any specifics on the project until after the plan approval is done with the city,” Jason van Rooy, Towers Realty Group director of marketing, wrote in an email.

Towers has been tapped to manage and lease 1022 Pembina Hwy.

Pre-Con Builders — a firm working on the former Pembina Hotel site — will develop the project.

Bryan Klein owns the Cambridge Hotel. He didn’t have “any public statements” to share Wednesday, he wrote via text.

The demolition is a long time coming, according to Scott Schriemer, whose family owns Vic’s Market. The grocer shared a parking lot with the Cambridge Hotel for 37 years. It moved across the street two years ago, after learning about the looming redevelopment.

“The … old-style tavern has had its day in the sun,” Schriemer said. “It’s time to move on from a bygone era.”

He called the change “great” for local businesses, residents and “the area in general.”

Coun. Sherri Rollins was unavailable for an interview Wednesday due to illness, her office said. Three years ago, the area councillor credited the Southwest Rapid Transitway for helping generate development interest nearby.

The Point on Pembina, a six-storey housing space near the Cambridge Hotel, opened to its first tenants in December. It and the former Pembina Hotel site will bring upwards of 300 housing units to market.

That means more customers for local businesses, said Harold Klause, who works at Contact Lens Services. The Cambridge Hotel demolition could be beneficial, he added.

“That’s a hell of a huge building they’re putting there,” said Nick Cormier, considering the proposed six-storey complex.

He’s cut many Cambridge Hotel customers’ hair at neighbouring Andy’s Barber Shop. He hears about the goings-on and friendships built.

“It sucks a bit to see history go,” Cormier added.

After the Pembina Hotel was torn down, Cormier said he witnessed fewer drunken fights outside the shop and on the street. The Cambridge didn’t seem to attract a violent crowd, he added.

“I like this place. I wish it weren’t getting closed,” said Yvonne Morris, inside the café she operates within the Cambridge Hotel.

She’s looking to rent a space in another hotel. Meantime, she’s worried about the regulars: “Where are they gonna go?”

Don Benson, who said he’s been a Cambridge Hotel patron for 50 years, expects regulars will have “nowhere” to go.

“This is where you would meet everybody,” he continued, pushing a button at the VLTs. “It’s so sad that they’re knocking it down — I just can’t believe it.”

Mike McKay, a customer many times at the Cambridge Hotel over the last 20 years, said he was “kind of glad” for the pending demolition.

“It’s in pretty rough shape,” he stated.

When things break down, they’re fixed, but there hasn’t been “extravagant” upgrades to the hotel in the recent past, general manager Gresswell noted.

City officials have prioritized increasing housing within Winnipeg. Mayor Scott Gillingham set a goal to approve 8,000 new units by December.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com