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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2 minute read Updated: 1:52 PM CDT

Budget 2022: Housing supply gets $10B boost

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Budget 2022: Housing supply gets $10B boost

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Amber Bracken’s jarring photo features red dresses hanging from wooden crosses against a stormy skyline, with a rainbow in the distance.

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Landmarks: Unique and iconic Winnipeg locations

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Landmarks: Unique and iconic Winnipeg locations

Alison Gillmor 3 minute read Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021

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

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Walmart fire in St. Vital investigated as arson

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Preview

Walmart fire in St. Vital investigated as arson

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Updated: 12:18 PM CDT

A fire at a Walmart at St. Vital Centre on Monday evening is being investigated as an arson, Winnipeg police say.

The fire forced the evacuation and closure of the retail store after it broke out just after 7 p.m.

“We are doing everything we can to assist Walmart during this difficult time for their team and our community who is impacted by Walmart’s temporary store closure,” said St. Vital Centre general manager Kevin Waterman. “Ultimately, and what is most important, is that all staff and visitors at Walmart last night were able to evacuate safely.”

Waterman confirmed Walmart is still closed, and encouraged customers to continue watching Walmart and the mall’s social media accounts for updates on the reopening.

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Updated: 12:18 PM CDT

‘Easy decision for me:’ longtime city councillor Chambers not seeking re-election

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

‘Easy decision for me:’ longtime city councillor Chambers not seeking re-election

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Updated: 5:48 PM CDT

Coun. Markus Chambers has announced will not run for a third term on city council, instead stepping away to spend more time with his family.

On Tuesday, Chambers told reporters he won’t seek re-election in the St. Norbert-Seine River ward.

“This has actually been an easy decision for me. My family is growing. My son has announced that my wife and I will be grandparents in December. And other priorities … have emerged that require my undivided attention,” he said.

The councillor said health concerns played a key role in his decision, as his wife has battled cancer for two years.

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Updated: 5:48 PM CDT

Jewish leaders renew antisemitism fight after hostage case

Peter Smith, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Jewish leaders renew antisemitism fight after hostage case

Peter Smith, The Associated Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022

Although the FBI initially said the man who held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue was focused on an issue “not specifically related to the Jewish community,” the captor voiced beliefs that Jews controlled the world and had the power to arrange the release of a prisoner, survivors said after their escape.

The gunman’s words were all too familiar to Jewish leaders and terror experts, who saw the attack on Congregation Beth Israel as yet another in the rising number of antisemitic hate crimes, a sign of the continued need of vigilance and interfaith solidarity.

The hostage-taker — identified by authorities as Malik Faisal Akram — "thought he could come into a synagogue, and we could get on the phone with the ‘Chief Rabbi of America’ and he would get what he needed,” Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told the Forward, a Jewish news site.

The hourslong standoff ended after the last hostage ran out of the Colleyville synagogue and an FBI SWAT team rushed in. Akram was killed, though authorities have declined to say who shot him.

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Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022