Kirkwood Block Burns Down

In April 11 of 2021, on one of my walks I took in the block in between the University of Winnipeg campus. It was the one time home of Club Morocco and formally known as the Kirkwood Block at Langside and Portage Avenue. From 1957 to 1989, Harry Smith's nightclub was was of the largest in Canada and only the swanky paying a cover charge could come to dinner and dance. At its height, the club might have 200 couples dancing the the likes of Duke Ellington himself.

In the picture above McFeetors Hall, the large campus residence stands opposite. It appears the entire 575 Portage address will be demolished as a result of the fire that appeared to start in a church on the premises. There were many businesses located in the building. The West End Biz also lost their offices. Keystone Hobbies was at one time a tenant of Kirkwood Block. A pharmacy was also located there for many years. And even before Club Morocco, apartments were on the second floor.

Some of the businesses were closed even before the fire such as Spades nightclub that had a few incidents of violence over the last few years. However, with university life set to return...sometime, it seemed the block would find small businesses that would benefit from the student traffic up and down the block. Over the years, students would always find their way to the building. Prior to 1989, university athletes were head to Club Morocco for their Friday all night all you can eat Chinese food buffet.

The 1912 building was designed by John D. Atchison and was a handsome building. In recent years minority owned businesses have been the lifeblood of business in the spaces on Langside as well as Portage. The University of Winnipeg has slowly surrounded the block as the campus expanded but the retail reflected the new immigrant community, particularly the black business owners.  It remains to be seen whether the building next door which has an Indian restaurant, a Thai restaurant and a minority-owned salon will survive the damage. It is a terrible day for all these small businesses for the terrible loss they must be feeling.

The University of Winnipeg is literally across the street from the Kirkwood and were the first to spot the fire. Across the street is the former Union Centre and the former McDonald's converted into three restaurants. The CBC headquarters is just down the street. All in all, it is a very busy area with houses up and down the streets.

After twenty-two hours, the fire fighters are still pouring water on the scene. Temperatures are -32 C. Not great for exhausted crews. And the heavily damaged building will probably have to be torn down before the end of the weekend as it will be simply too dangerous to leave up. It is unlikely anything similar will go up on the site and the biggest danger is that a parking lot goes up...forever.

Post pandemic, had the block survived, the businesses located in the building would have benefitted from a return of students as well as a new residential construction down the block. The city is likely to resist a parking lot being the permanent solution for the spot. However, an empty spot with a fence for a number of years is very much a possibility.

It is is very sad, devastating for the businesses involved in the fire. However, the loss for the city feels painful as well. What will happen to this block? It is hard to tell if the entire thing end to end might be bulldozed as two days later the trucks are still thing hitting it with water.

What we could without is another building setback from the curb like the University of Winnipeg building seen above. It is a waste of space. Full stop. The university never effectively uses it. Potentially, the space could be used as a patio in front of Elements but it seems to have only bike racks. Parking a bike out front is an invitation to lose it. Patio sets ups have worked at Brown's and Canada Life Centre because they are more secure for staff and customers.

Any new building should have retail and restaurants on first floor and some street presence. It should also be more than two floors and have a residential component. Given the number of apartments the University of Winnipeg has built, it doesn't seem beyond reason that students could see another residential tower on the site. It could be the only bright spot in this tragic fire. 

It has been a brutal time for fires this winter. There are so many ongoing investigations and a few indications of a surge in arsons and deaths. This could have been unrelated to the deliberate fires but there have been quite a few heritage buildings, houses and shops and constructions sites razed. It doesn't feel normal.