Windsor Hotel Evicts Residents

One of the major causes of homelessness in Winnipeg was the closure of so many hotels that were affordable to many. While those in the city called a large part of Main Street skid row and reviled the violence and alcoholism, most people had a place to stay and there were no encampments of people on the streets. There were also several temporary job offices up and down Main. Now there are only social agencies or parking lots of displaced people with no where to go.

One recent report said that Winnipeg has lost over 45,000 units of housing the last few years that were $750 and under. The province itself has closed social housing and sold off buildings and has watched landlords convert huge amount of housing into condos. The cumulative effect is a loss of the affordable spaces. Older housing stock is reaching a point where there needs to be massive renovations or outright replacement. A lot of times now, it is simply being abandoned, sold off or demolished.

City and provincial officials know there is a massive problem on housing and while it seems self evident, the best way to way to end homelessness is to make sure people don't lose their homes. The sale of the Windsor Hotel and the eviction of 20 people from the 46 units building makes it clear that new owners have something in mind for the site. It is quite possible that whatever is coming surpasses what is there now. But there is no way to know as no plan has been presented. It could be that the building is slated for a parking lot although the city would resist that.

The Windsor Hotel has a quite a history and for a while during the 1990s was enjoying a good second life. Built in 1903 at 187 Garry Street, it soon was converted to a hotel called La Claire Hotel in 1910. A gentlemen's club was established. Men's only licensed establishments were common. The only women allowed being staff. This existed till the 1980s in some older hotels, often with veterans of the war, I still remember the TV story on the last one going co-ed and the old guys looked fragile, even scared, but resigned that there were fewer of them around each year.

In 1930, the hotel went through extensive renovations and became The Windsor Hotel. And that is how it remained till 2023. In the 1990s, the bar attached had a renaissance and jazz was the tonic. As a popular jazz joint more renovations and an expansion was done to accommodate the influx of fans. It is uncertain what led to that decline. The closure of Lo Pub and the Royal Albert left the Windsor as a music mecca in 2013. Ten years later, it was a place where the police regularly visited for major crimes and the music died.

It is hard enough for artists to survive in the marketplace with how expensive it is to tour and costs of venues. A less expensive venue is awesome. An unsafe one will hurt as surely as an expensive one, Perhaps literally. And now it is too late for The Windsor Hotel. The evictions certainly look like the building will not survive. What will come of it is extremely important. A sad time for the place where Charlie Chaplin once stayed at back in Winnipeg's heyday.