Have you ever wondered what used to be in this gap on Main Street just south of the Occidental Hotel? It was once home to the Stanley Block / Main Apartments.
In the circa 1940s photo above you can see the building in the centre with Service Grocery, Central Exchange and a tailor shop on the main floor. The two-storey building to the left is actually part of the Occidental Hotel and the business you can see in the photo is the Occidental Cafe, (where the Tallest Poppy was more recently).
The building appears to have been constructed around 1906 and was called the Stanley Block until around 1933. It had 28 small apartments, two and three rooms each, on the upper floor and three retail units on the main floor.
August 15, 1969, Winnipeg Free Press
Just after 6:00 p.m. on the evening of Thursday, August 14, 1969 the caretaker noticed fire coming from the basement and alerted residents. According to the Tribune, 26 of the 28 residents were senior citizens and some in their eighties. They all made it out safely.
The blaze grew into a two-alarm fire requiring 11 fire trucks and 55 men to fight it. When it became apparent that the building could not be salvaged, they worked to save the neighbouring Corbitt Block and Occidental Hotel. At 11:00 p.m. that night the fire was out except for a few hot spots.
I could not find a story that mentioned the cause of the fire.
The building was a total loss, but for some reason remnants of the facade were left standing.
Mitchell Fabrics used it for decades as their parking lot.
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