Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 10, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba sunday Winnipeg free press safety experts warn parents that school age children be left alone without supervision a direct or indirect /b3 we can thank neglect for the classic Exchange District buildings we still enjoy today last ones standing by Kevin Rollason lame it on a downturn in Winnipeg a Economy decades ago or the lure of cheap land elsewhere. Any Way you look at it the City a Exchange District is a time capsule of the years when Winnipeg was one of the fastest growing cities in North America and the third largest City in the country. For years it existed in suspended animation awaiting rebirth a or the wrecking Ball. Now with a Federal government National historic site designation in place and plans to ask the United nations educational scientific and cultural organization to list it As a world heritage site saving the area for generations to come May be getting easier. Many believe these buildings could one Day be a major drawing card in attracting tourists from around the world. But How Many of us have really seen the buildings in this heritage site other than from the windows of our cars How Many can name the top five the old Spaghetti factory does no to count by the Way. Besides its moved to the Forks closeup look the free press decided to step out of the car recently for a closeup look at the area and its Tum of the Century buildings. The Federal historic site covers a 30-Block area squatting on both sides of main Street North of Portage Avenue to the civic Centre Complex. Within the area Are 149 buildings 117 built before 1914, with 62 of them considered heritage structures. Architectural styles from a bygone Era abound. Nowhere else can you see in one place aside from fading photographs so Many extant examples of buildings in the styles of the Chicago school Union this Tower 387 main St american romanesque revival Galt building 103 Princess St victorian 146 to 166 Princess St edwardian travellers building 283 Bannatyne ave and beaux arts great West life building 177 Lombard ave among others. What Many people wonder when they first see the buildings is How did they All survive from the 19th and Early 20th centuries to the beginning of the 21st? a a there a much to be said about neglect a says David Mcdowell heritage Winnipeg president. A a that a Why these buildings have lasted so Long. Its such a terrific collection of turn of the Century construction that talks to us about Western expansion pre Panama no tour of the area is Complete without visiting the City Hall a but unfortunately ifs not the 1960s-Era fortress it the no. I fire Hall used to stand where the old Market Square Park is today. The Leland hotel was lost to fire Ross House was moved to another location and Victoria Park gardens one of the City a first Public Parks was taken Over by turn of the Century development. The Good news is that the last notable building deliberately torn Down a the 1898 Mcintyre Block at 416 Vylain St., demolished in 1978 a galvanized a Broad coalition of citizens into saving the rest of the Exchange District. More than 20 years later the Mcintyre site remains a vacant lot hidden behind the pub on Princess Street is an extraordinary Street scape considered by the City a historical buildings Branch to be one of the top five notable Sites in the District. Among the oldest buildings of the 1. Princess Street intact Street scape /146-166 Princess St. Confederation life 457 main St. Massey Harris co. Looking up you can see on the exterior of that building details of sheaves of wheat and an Arch in the Cornice above the Street where a statue of Ceres a roman goddess carrying a sheaf of wheat used to be. Nearby Are three buildings on the Exchange endangered list. The maw garage at 112-114 King St. And 109 Princess St., was built in 1906 and some have said that at the time it was the largest free Span building in the world the forerunner of today a Large stadiums. It could display and service 140 cars at a time but until recently part of it was used to House the old Spaghetti factory. But the garage just in View of the vacant lot where the Leland hotel was is further evidence of How fragile these buildings can be and How close we Are to losing them. Continued please see Exchange b2 2. Criterion hotel / 214 Mcdermot ave. Exchange District 146 to 166 Princess St. Have been vacant for years. But their facades at least Are destined to be preserved for posterity due to a recent decision to turn them into the new downtown Campus of red River College. A Best proposal a a it a probably the Best proposal you re going to get for them because of the amount of time they be been vacant a Rostecki says. Even individually the buildings have Merit being both the second and third Winnipeg Homes of the Winnipeg Grain and produce Exchange. These buildings were the Centre of the country a Grain Industry until the next Grain Exchange building was built on Lombard Avenue in 1908. The Harris building is the oldest agricultural warehouse in the District and was built for a. Harris son and co., before it merged to become 5. Union Bank Tower and Annex Royal Bank / 500-504 main St. 3. Electric railway Chambers / 213 notre Dame ave. Photos by Marc Gallant / Winnipeg free press people want to see but the historic red a a Gingerbread style building and the adjacent 1890-Era civic Market which fell to the wrecking Ball in 1962 to make Way for the current civic Centre and Public safety building pub. To get a glimpse of the 1886 City Hall building we lost take a look at the traffic signal Box in front of the current City Hall on main Street or go inside to see a reconstruction on the second floor just outside the mayors office. A a they re still the two greatest losses in the area because it also destroyed the whole North end of the area a sadly muses Randy Rostecki a former co chairman of the civic historic buildings committee and one of Many Winni Eggers who have spent years trying to save the rest of the area from demolition. They re not the Only notable ghosts. It ;