Winnipeg Fire and Winter Cold

Winnipeg emergency services in deadly winters cold is a pretty miserable task. And a deadly one as well. Over the years Winnipeg firefighters have been hurt or killed trying to do their jobs. In recent weeks we have seen several residential apartment hit by fire and in some cases the damage looks greater than the structure can withstand. The heavy ice on a burnt out building is something to behold.

And so it was in 1987 when the Young United Church kitty corner to Broadway and Sherbrook Street burned down a few days after Christmas services on December 27. Most of the church was destroyed save for one tower which remains to this day.

In the 1980s many of the residential buildings in this areas had been converted to rooming houses. It was a tough area and on the verge of collapse as crime and arson plagued the area. Violence was common. Young United served this community as poverty and despair looked to move further west into Wolsely and down Sherbrook and Maryland towards Misericordia Hospital.

Alcohol was a huge factor but ritalin mixed with other things became a problem as a street drug. Police were up and down Furby and Young Street near the church not to mention ambulances and fire trucks. It was not difficult to see the entire city at the cusp of failure as the 1980 recession dragged.

In this time money was poured in from the Core Area Inititative, The Forks was just about to kick off as well as North Portage with Portage Place, Investors Group etc. Still, it was easy to feel like it was putting one finger in a dike only to have something else happen and not being able to stop the flood.

I walked past Young United Church regularly from 1983 to 1988 and again in the 1990s. If you missed the Academy bus, it was possible to walk from the The Bay and into River Heights before the next one came. Many times I just walked back from University of Winnipeg to home as a matter of course.

The church was a beautiful building. A few churches in the area were like that though. You just took it for granted. When I started back to school in January in my final year at U of W, the icy remains of the church looked incredible. However, the loss of the church itself struck me even though it was never one I attended.

One tower was preserved and the re-built but there was no way to restore the glory of the old building. I miss it. The above picture is from 1966. As you can see there has been a Shell station on the corner for decades. The top picture from 1987 shows gas was 39.9 cent a litre.

At least there were no human fatalities in the fire at Young United. In so many other cases in winter fires, firefighters and citizens have lost their lives.

The Changes in Wolseley/West Broadway 5

Woodrow Place in Wolseley --- Priced at $595,00 to $695,000


Brother can you spare a dime? 


The first brownstone in Winnipeg and without doubt, the most expensive condos ever in to be built in Wolseley. Construction will start off Maryland along the Assiniboine River on Woodrow Place once pre-sales targets are met. Mulvey School sits across from the site. 

At the moment, five rental bungalow's sit on the site.


Fresh Projects Design Builders are the developers of the site and they say that there is demand for higher end condos in established neighbourhoods. Undoubtedly, this is true. I can imagine that someone selling a large riverside house in the Wolseley area might seriously consider such a condo rather than moving out of the area.


Some of the higher end prices we are seeing in Wolseley for homes are reaching $500,000., some up to $600,000. Thoughts that the granola belt was all lower priced homes, rooming houses and rentals should be dismissed out of hand.


There are some people deeply concerned with wealthy people moving into the neighbourhood. They shouldn't be. The best neighbourhoods are a mix of people and a mix of uses. A condo complex along this street raises the density over single family dwellings. It is a shame rental houses are lost but at the same time, it is important to constantly rehabilitate housing stock. We have seen what long term absentee ownership has done to some rental houses over time and it isn't pretty.


Ten years ago, we were very close to seeing some parts of the Sherbrook and Maryland Street areas becoming completely undesirable for housing or business. Some fires left gaps where houses once stood. There were rooming houses, rentals and massage parlours all along both streets. Violence was happening along the street around the hotel and some businesses. The prospects felt grim.


In 2007, a fire at Westminster and Sherbrook took out an older apartment block with some small businesses on the ground floor. It was rather sad and many thought the block would remain empty. It now has Stellla's and other restaurants on the site and that corner. 

Additional condos are all going up all along the street.

There is a new excitement in the area and it has built steadily over the last five or six years. 

No one be surprised if this area starts to bubble up and surpass Osborne Village in the next years. It is happening before our eyes.

The changes in Wolseley/West Broadway area Part 4

187 Balmoral Street converted house

I wrote about the West Broadway area some time ago. House prices in the area have risen dramatically. This has caused some people in the area to consider upgrades and investments that they might not have considered when prices were static or even in decline in the 1990s.

There were many streets for years that were outright dangerous and some properties that were dens of drug activity and violence. The streets between Portage Avenue and Broadway were plain scary at times.

There are still problem areas but some developers are trying to re-claim streets one house at a time. One such house is at 187 Balmoral Street. The Free Press reported this development being on the south side of Broadway when in fact it is on the northside.

The building was reclaimed from a fire in 2009. The prices for the one and two bedroom units are decidedly upscale but then the location is within walking distance of the legislature and Great West Life building.

Is it possible that this area might be transformed to the status it had in the 1920s? This isn't a bad assumption since it is one of the closest intact neighbourhoods to our downtown.

Look to see more of the house here being converted, restored, upgraded and re-claimed.

This won't be happening for every neighbourhood close to the downtown but this particular area is ripe for change as it is close to Armstrong Point, Wolseley and the changes happening along Sherbrook and Maryland Streets.

The changes in Wolseley/West Broadway area Part 3

Pictures of the opening Nygard on Broadway and Sherbook on November 17, 2007. Pictures from Nygard's website.

Back in January, I wrote about the changes on Sherbook Street. The Free Press began to take notice themselves in in an article on September 29.

The part of the street the Free Press details is Sherbrook Street between Westminster and Broadway Avenues. On Broadway, as noted in the story, Nygard tore down a number of older buildings that housed their former retail outlet digs as well as some other retail and business operations. At one point in the late 1970s/early 1980s, a massage parlour graced the corner. The retail outlet itself back in the 1970s housed a disco.

Over time, a variety of businesses along Sherbrook succumbed to the deterioration in infrastructure or simply abandoned the area for better options. Salisbury House closed and was replaced by a police substation. That spoke volumes.

Nygard's store signified that something different was happening and although it has a big box look to it, there is no doubt that it has attracted people to its location.

Sherbrook and Maryland are mostly residential with mixed businesses located on the streets between the Assiniboine River and Portage. It has had its ups and downs over the years but the 1990s were years when it looked more down than up. Many of the houses in Winnipeg saw their value drop or remain static for a long time. Some of the streets such as Furby and Spence were in full decline in terms of safety due to crime.

In 2007, a fire burned an apartment/retail complex at Westminster and Sherbrook. The businesses didn't survive the fire. As I recall one of the businesses was a small massage therapy clinic and the other was a gift store on Westminster. I don't remember what faced on to Sherbrook.

The block was not salvaged and it fell to the wrecker in 2008. The Free Press says that Winpark Dorchester is reconstructing a 4,900 foot retail/office/apartment block on the site. A Subway restaurant will open on the spot and the apartments will be loft style affairs.

In April of 2008, Stellas Cafe opened their third location just down the street and opposite the Sherbrook Hotel. By all accounts, it has been a success and they are already building a patio. The building they renovated was a long since closed pharmacy.

It will be interesting to see what other developments happen over time. The downturn in the economy might delay further changes.

The changes in Wolseley/West Broadway area Part 1

Northern Crown Bank, Portage Avenue and Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, circa 1979, now demolished. Note Carter Motors next door. The site now occupied by McDonald's. Source.

The area I am talking about specifically is the Sherbrook/Maryland corridor between Portage Avenue and the Assiniboine River.

This particular strip is a mixture of houses, retail and other businesses and services.

On the south of Portage Avenue, Carter Motors occupied a choice spot for nearly 60 years. The company was eventually taken over by Murray Chev Olds and remained there until 1999 when it moved to the suburbs and Bishop Grandin.

The departure of the dealership opened up a large chunk of land on Portage. It seemed that this would be a rare opportunity to do something unique on a grand scale. Instead, the development plan was a page right out of suburbia. The focus became one that targeted commuters and had little curbside appeal for the pedestrians or people who actually lived in the neighborhood.

In short, the land was divvied up amongst big box stores.

The old Carter Motors site, which during it heyday had cars lined up facing Portage with streamers blowing across its open space, was one of a few car dealers on the southside.

So what eventually went up on the Carter Motors site?

Well, presently the old lot has a Pharma Plus built on it. This store replaces a smaller pharmacy nearer to Misercordia Hospital. The new store on Portage has a post office as well as a doctor's office attached to it. It represents an improvement in service to the area not withstanding the large parking lot which acts like a wind tunnel in around the building.

McDonald's Restaurants moved west from their location near the University of Winnipeg in favour of a smaller restaurant on the corner at Sherbrook and Portage. Behind it, a Winnipeg-based restaurant Palatal Express also along Sherbrook. A Tim Horton's occupied a space behind the Pharma Plus along Maryland.

The parking lot by all accounts is not easy to get in and out of. Many Tim Horton's customers cause traffic disruptions trying to access the drive-throughs. It probably doesn't help either that there seems to be a steady flow of student traffic jaywalking across the street from Gordon Bell School.

Gordon Bell is the main high school in the area and has a daycare center with students with children. There are numerous immigrant and aboriginal children who attend the school. The school has occupied the location on Borrowman street alongside Maryland since 1958. Older Winnipeg residents will know that the site is the former location of Mulvey school. Gordon Bell extends all the way back to Broadway.

Along the northside of Broadway is city office and police sub-station. The sub-station used to be a Salisbury House, The city office used to distribute social assistance checks. Heading back up Sherbrook on the west side was a few businesses. At one time, a gay social club occupied an unmarked building. A travel agency shared the same site. The east side of Sherbrook has had Thomson Funeral Chapel as its anchor for decades. Just north of that is West Region Child and Family Service offices.

So, has there been an improvement in this block with some of the recent changes?

The short answer is yes and no. For the commuter, another Tim Horton's on the way to and from work is a happy addition. Likewise, the new location for McDonald's is easier for cars to get in and out of as opposed to the one closer to the University of Winnipeg.

It is more a sideways move getting rid of a car lot for a big box paradise.

One again local people and pedestrians get the short stick.