West End Dumplings Turns 18!

West End Dumplings is old enough to drink!

Back in 2008, I started blogging after contributing information to a Winnipeg discussion forum for a couple of years. Across my blogs, I have 2,261 posts and, gulp, about 500 posts in my draft bin.

Looking back at some old posts, it’s incredible to see how much information has gone online during that time. I used to have to scroll through microfiche and copy photos from old books and reports for content. Now, about 99% of my blog and column work is done from home!

Streisand visit turns 65!

It has been 65 years since a 19-year-old Barbra Streisand appeared at Winnipeg's The Towers nightclub on Kennedy Street in July 1961. From here, she headed to New York where her burgeoning career took off.

More about the visit and The Towers in this post I wrote way back in 2011.

Wolseley's Chesway Apartments reopen!

I recently toured the newly reopened Chesway Apartments at Chestnut Street and Honeyman Avenue in Wolseley. It went from a fire damaged block that sat empty and without heat for three years into a neat little block of reasonably-priced rental suites. It's a good news story compared to most abandoned blocks apartments in the city.

For more about the building's history and renovations, see my Winnipeg Places post.

Farewell, Old Bank Groceteria

It is sad to see the former Old Bank Groceteria at 1521 Logan burned and boarded up.

It was built in 1906 as one of the Canadian Bank of Commerce's "kit" banks duplicated in dozens of communities across the prairies. 

For more about the building and its history, see my Winnipeg Places post.

Remembering the McIntyre Block

Winnipeg loves its surface parking lots, and one of its most noticeable nudges its way closer to being a half-century old this year.

The McIntyre Block stood on Main Street between McDermot and Portage from 1898 to 1979. The owners hoped to cash in on increased modern development at Portage and Main, but nothing materialised. At one time, it was thought it might be home to a second tower of the TD Centre development (now 201 Portage Avenue).

A couple of years before the building was demolished, the National Film Board commissioned a film that explored the building and spoke to some of the interesting characters who had offices there. You can view it here.

If I were King of Winnipeg, this would be the standard practice before tearing down any substantial building. A social history of the building with video or audio clips from people telling stories about it. The items could be kept in the archives for future reference and research.

Interesting Victor Long Portrait

 

I am updating my blog post about portrait painter Victor Long as many hyperlinks have broken and better sources have come online over the decade. (I’ll repost the link when I am done.) In the past few days, I have looked at 100+ Long portraits. He was very formulaic with his subjects, especially government officials. It was always a dour suit and slightly turned, such as on the right with Alex Rutherford, Alberta premier from 1905-10. On the left is the man who preceded him, Rutherford. F. W. G. Haultain, who was premier from 1897 – 1905 and painted by Long in 1912. Haultain must have decided “I’m not having that”, and donned a tuxedo jacket, unbuttoned, a bow tie, then lit up a dart and stared straight at the artist. I assume the unseen hand is holding a libation of some sort. I imagine he threw a good party or two in his day. I wonder if Long appreciated the change or if he bristled at it?

Farewell, Roxy Lanes

 

The demolition process has begun on Roxy Lanes and another Max Zev Blankstein theatre will soon be lost. In its place will rise a 50-unit 55+ building constructed by the Manitoba Metis Federation.

Check out my updated blog post about the building's history.