A Tale of Three Buildings

This is a tale of three buildings on St. Paul Avenue in West End Winnipeg.


My errand route used to regularly take me past these buildings and I really got to like them.

They were triplets in an interesting orange-toned brick and were on a little street with a small set of row houses across from them. I thought what an interesting little mini neighbourhood!

One day, I noticed that the buildings were emptying out. Renovations perhaps? Kicking out bad tenants? Sadly, no. This was the reason:

The buildings sat empty for over a year collecting graffiti, having their windows broken, and casting that pall that an abandoned building brings to a residential street.


Then something happened .... No, not a fire. Not a demolition. Workers arrived and began renovations. The three blocks were being rejuvenated into entry-level condominiums.

I was able to convince someone to let me inside one of the buildings before renovations began:

Hallway

Bathroom

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

My reason for posting this is to show those who think that a building (or three) in really bad condition cannot be revived. All three buildings will go from being abandoned to starter homes.

There is another building, though I have yet to be in it, on William Avenue. It too, was an eyesore and appears to have had fairly extensive renos.

A building I am keeping my eye on is at Burnell and Ellice.

This, too, has been abandoned for a while, but it appears as if some renovation work is going on inside. I hope it does - it's a huge building and has some beautiful woodwork inside.