Landmarks Unique and iconic Winnipeg locations

Landmarks is a monthly feature in which columnist Alison Gillmor explores unique and iconic Winnipeg buildings and locations.  

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Landmarks is a monthly feature in which columnist Alison Gillmor explores unique and iconic Winnipeg buildings and locations.  

 


 

Polo Park has weathered the whims of consumer culture

Winnipeg Free Press file
Polo Park reopened after a refurbishment on Aug. 13, 1986.

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In a strange twist of design history, the man who helped develop the North American shopping mall, Vienna-born architect and planner Victor Gruen, later repudiated it.

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Quirky Fort Garry neighbourhood combines urban planning and nature

Jodi Pratt cross country skiing in Wildwood Park, Sunday, April 14, 2013. (TREVOR HAGAN/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

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In popular culture, planned suburban subdivisions are often used as a kind of visual shorthand for conformity and rigidity, for the slow death of the soul. Suburbia, at least according to the movies and TV, is bland, beige and uniform.

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Circular condo building looks spacey, but shape is grounded in practicality

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
The 62M Condo is project located on MacDonald Avenue near the Disraeli Bridge.

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I’m always interested in buildings that get nicknames. Usually these monikers indicate affection, occasionally the opposite, but they always mean people are paying attention.

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Précieux-Sang church fuses together modernist design and religious renewal

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church in Winnipeg on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. This is the 50th year of worship inside the unusual building.

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On my way to visit l’ Eglise du Précieux-Sang in St. Boniface, I got lost. There was road construction, and I somehow missed my turn. I managed to find my way, though, when I glimpsed that distinctive spiralling roofline in the distance.

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WAG's angular architecture combines form, function in a building both timeless and of its time

ken gigliotti  winnipeg free press  dec4 2002 feature on wpg architecture- Winnipeg Art Gallery WAG ,(old beater cars parked  at base  could not get better shot as building is underconstruction )-kg

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Asked to talk about the Winnipeg Art Gallery building, Stephen Borys pauses for a moment.

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Luxuries, amenities put to many uses during life of Academy Road building

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Winnipeg architect Max Blankstein’s design for the Uptown Theatre referenced the Moorish style, using architectural elements from the western Islamic world mixed with some Spanish forms.

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The Uptown Lofts, once the Academy Uptown Lanes and before that the Uptown Theatre, remind us that buildings can have long, varied and sometimes unexpected lives. The recent mixed-use renovation, which combines commercial spaces and residential apartments, is sleek, clean and contemporary, but it rests on layers of local memory and architectural fantasy.

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The Fort Garry Hotel hearkens back to a more glamorous time

The Fort Garry Hotel was one of the tallest buildings in Winnipeg when it was constructed in 1913. (City of Winnipeg archives)

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When you’re wedged into a middle seat on a packed airplane, sustained only by bad coffee and a packet of pretzels, glamorous travel can seem like an impossible dream.

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Curvy, confident Winnipeg Clinic appears to be reaching for a better tomorrow

ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The Winnipeg Clinic with Its distinctive curved lines and layered canopies make it a familiar landmark in Winnipeg’s downtown.

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Nicknames can be a sign of fondness and familiarity, so it means something that people often affectionately call the Winnipeg Clinic “the Jetsons building.”

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Alison Gillmor

Alison Gillmor
Writer

Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.

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Ready to crack over late-night ‘snacks’

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My new love has a seriously annoying habit that could break us up now that we’re actually living together.

I’m not getting much sleep, and it has nothing to do with having too much sex!Every night at about 2 a.m., my man gets up and goes to the fridge, makes a giant sandwich and pours a huge glass of apple juice, then sits there scarfing it down, with music on for a bit of entertainment. This often wakes me up, and when I complain he just invites me to join him “for a bite.”

Really? The last thing I need is to eat a fourth meal of the day in the middle of the night. He says it’s an old habit from his football days, when he was so hungry all the time and he still enjoys it. He says he isn’t about to change that for me, so, tough luck.

It’s a big problem as I can’t just fall back to sleep after he rattles around the kitchen and then comes back and jumps back into bed with me.

Adding emergency doctors, nurses and support staff is great, but it won’t break the wait-time logjam

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Adding emergency doctors, nurses and support staff is great, but it won’t break the wait-time logjam

Dan Lett 5 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

It was the kind of announcement that should have brought universal applause.

Instead, on Tuesday, when Premier Wab Kinew recently announced his government had recruited more than 4,700 net new health-care professionals and support workers, the proclamation was met with quite a few rolling eyes.

Unions representing health-care staff reacted more with disdain than gratitude. The Manitoba Nurses Union continued its inexplicable war of attrition with the Kinew government, with president Darlene Jackson openly questioning the veracity of the premier’s math.

Why all the grumpiness? Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, probably said it best. “The metric that matters is whether Manitobans wait less time for care tomorrow than they did yesterday,” he said.

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Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026

Winnipegger Botterill candidate for MVP of hockey broadcasting

Mike McIntyre 9 minute read Preview

Winnipegger Botterill candidate for MVP of hockey broadcasting

Mike McIntyre 9 minute read Sunday, May. 2, 2021

Connor McDavid has been crushing the competition. Auston Matthews has been magical. But there's another legitimate MVP candidate emerging from this unique NHL season north of the border, one who keeps bringing their "A" game night after night after night.

Take a bow, Jennifer Botterill. For my money, the Winnipegger has become appointment viewing on Sportsnet's coverage, adding to an already impressive resume which includes three Olympic gold medals from a decorated playing career that ended a decade ago. The Harvard-educated Botterill, who celebrates her 42nd birthday today, has made the transition to broadcasting look easy and is a shining star in an industry desperate for fresh faces, voices and perspectives.

"I think it's an important parallel to draw in hockey, how much it's grown and evolved for women and girls. Not every girl has to play hockey, but I love that it's a choice now. I firmly believe that it should be the same for any role within hockey, or sport. Whether it's in broadcasting or producing or as an executive in hockey," Botterill told me this week in a telephone chat from Toronto.

"I take a lot of pride in this opportunity, and hopefully it will provide other choices and opportunities for girls down the road."

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Sunday, May. 2, 2021

Letters, Aug 21

6 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

911 action essential

The latest revelations about repeated 911 service outages in Manitoba should alarm every Manitoban. When someone dials 911, they should never have to wonder whether their call will actually reach an emergency operator. Lives can depend on those few seconds.

Manitobans need answers — and, more importantly, action.

Bell Canada says its existing systems and contingency plans are designed to protect 911 service, while pointing to the transition to next-generation 911 technology by 2027 as the long-term solution.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: After 3:45 a.m. today there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You might be interested in unusual, powerful ideas. They might be mystical and idealistic. They might even be related to improving yourself somehow. Nevertheless, be aware this is also a mildly accident-prone day for you. Pay attention to everything you say and do.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You want adventure and stimulation — something interesting! You might also make practical plans related to the law, medicine, higher education or publishing. Yet, you feel playful, even though relations with someone close to you might be strained.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

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2:00 AM CDT