West End BIZ hosts walking architecture tour

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/08/2021 (1512 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The West End BIZ hopes visitors will see the familiar in a new light after taking its architecture walking tour.

An unassuming apartment block once exemplified cutting-edge design and was one of the first of its kind in the city, and therefore, on the prairies. A pile of Tyndall stone rubble on a street corner once perched atop the Knox United Church as a Gothic spire. An ornate fountain was a clever lover’s bid to have her husband legally obliged to build a monument in her honour should he ever remarry.

Tourists can take in these landmarks without leaving Central Park. The walk explores the most eastern stretch of the West End, where most of the neighbourhood’s oldest buildings and statues stand.

“There’s a lot of apartment blocks­ — because that’s what a lot of what the older buildings are,” said Iris Dyck, a tour guide with the West End BIZ.

The group launched this tour, as well as its mural walking tour this summer, as a bid to get people out to explore the neighbourhood in a safe and engaging way.

The mural tour, which Dyck primarily hosts, stops at a number of large-scale pieces dotting the area. A self-guided audio mural tour is also available through the organization’s website.

Apart from housing the highest concentration of murals in the city, the West End is also one of the most historically significant regions, said Joe Kornelsen, West End BIZ executive director.

“Everything east of Maryland (Street) in the West End has always been a part of the city,” he said. “It isn’t always immediately apparent to folks how much heritage there is in the West End, so we really wanted to celebrate that.”

The West End BIZ partnered with a student and professor in the University of Winnipeg’s geography department to craft the tour. Kornelson expects that people who live in the area will get as much from the tour as those who are visiting for the first time.

The tour is oriented to people of all ages and will be running until Wed., Aug. 18. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $2 for children 12 and under.

The walk begins at the Waddell Fountain in Central Park, a slice of land that’s a piece of history itself. Founded in 1894, Central Park was one of the first four green spaces in Winnipeg that city officials expressly set aside for the public to enjoy.

The architecture tours run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and must be booked in advance at www.westendbiz.ca. Tour start times are flexible. To pick a different time slot, email tours@westendbiz.ca