The ever-changing face of St. James

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/03/2018 (2745 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the late 1950s St. James Street was the boundary between Winnipeg and St. James.

The original St. James Bridge was built in 1936 at the end of Madison Street. By the late ’50s, it had become very congested and it was clear a new bridge was needed.

St. James wanted the new bridge built east of St. James Street but, in 1961, the newly formed Metro Government took over the planning for bridge construction in Greater Winnipeg. And Metro was determined to build the new bridge next to the existing bridge, west of St. James Street.

In October 1961, the bridge was a major factor in the defeat of St. James mayor Tom Findlay by Bill Hanks. On Dec. 6, 1961,St. James  City Council voted four to three to give up the fight to have the much-needed new bridge built east of St. James Street and construction soon began.

The new bridge opened to traffic on Dec. 15, 1962.  A cloverleaf, pedestrian underpass and the Portage Avenue underpass were all constructed. Ness Avenue was extended east to St. James Street. Bradford, Madison, and Kensington Streets were redesigned.  

Several businesses on the north side of Portage, including Carman-Ruttan Drugs, Chicken Delight , the Piano House, the St. John Ambulance Council, and the St. James Car Mart were expropriated to make way for the new bridge. Border Community Centre had to relocate. Some homes were demolished. This was the first of several events that drastically affect the area bordered by Queen Street, Ness, the now-abandoned rail line, and Portage Avenue.

In the 1970s, 30 homes on the east side of Queen Street were replaced by three apartment blocks. In the 1980s, the Kensington St. South Playground, small businesses, and the remaining homes on Madison Street and Kensington between Portage and Ness were demolished to make way for Madison Square. One business, the Sportsman Marine & Ski at 271 Madison St. remained, and it stayed in business until Sept. 2017.

Between 1975 and 1996, the Prairie Dog Central steam train operated out of the old St. James CN Station just west of St. James Street. When the rail line was decommissioned in 1996, the station’s building was moved to its current location at Inkster Boulevard and Sturgeon Road.

The face of the area changed again in 2013, when the City of Winnipeg built a fire hall inside the cloverleaf at the St. James Bridge and relocated the  Berry Street fire hall to it.

The 90-year-old St. James Hotel  has remained a constant in the area and it is currently being renovated. A new office building that will house Pearl Dental, among others, is nearing competition on the former gas station site at the northwest corner of Queen and Portage.

After it is done, this neighbourhood may be due for a period of very little change

Fred Morris is a community correspondent for St. James. Reach him at fredmorris@hotmail.com