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Look for more photos below!
About Winnipeg
CLICK ON THEM for a better look! (Some of them were taken from the revolving restaurant at Fort Garry Place, the closest thing to an observation deck in Winnipeg these days.)
The Assiniboine River is great for all kinds of recreation.
This is the forks, where Winnipeg began. The CN train crossing the Assiniboine River testifies to the city's continued vitality as a rail centre. The bridge downstream from the railroad bridge is now a footbridge. The bridges at foreground carry Winnipeg's Main Street. They spent most of the 90s being rebuilt. Across the Red River was once the separate city of St. Boniface, a French enclave.
Just north of the Forks, the Canadian National station at 123 Main Street is a monument to transportation of an earlier era, and best of all, it's still a working passenger depot! Here the VIA Rail Canadian stops on its way from sea to sea, and the Hudson Bay also goes out thrice weekly for Churchill and other points in northern Manitoba.
The railroad yard behind the depot have been converted to a modern tourist trap, the Forks Market. (If you're a fan of railroad yards, don't fret. There are still plenty in Winnipeg.) Across the Red River from the Forks Market is the historic St. Boniface Basilica and Cathedral.
All of the rail freight crossing Canada must use one of two bridges in downtown Winnipeg. The CN mainline passes across the bridge at middle left, while the CP mainline crosses at Point Douglas at middle right.
Here's a photo of the CN bridge across the Red River from Lombard Street.
Winnipeg's four tallest buildings converge dramatically on the intersection of Portage and Main. The building which appears tallest is actually third in height but is closest to the camera. That's Winnipeg Square. It's mostly blocking the tallest building between Toronto and Calgary, Toronto Dominion Centre. To the right of those two is the Richardson Building, Winnipeg's tallest for a generation, which had an observation deck when it first opened. The much shorter white building in front of it is the Bank of Montreal Tower. The building with the cantilever top next to the bank is the home of some federal offices. The smaller building in front of that one is a must-see for fans of art deco, the Federal Building. The white building to the left of Winnipeg Square is Winnipeg's first modern skyscraper, the Royal Bank Building.
The Federal Building on Main Street. Click here to see the entrance arch and click here to see the detail of the entrance arch.
The corner of Portage and Main is one of the most famous in Canada. This view looks west down Portage. Pedestrians have been barred from the intersection since 1978. An underground circular tunnel beneath the intersection is open 24 hours and connects to all buildings fronting on the intersection.
I get lots of hits on this page from people looking for the Richardson Building. Here it is. Click on it for a better look.
The Bank of Montreal's main branch in Winnipeg is one of the most outstanding buildings architecturally in Canada, resembling greatly a Roman cathedral. (The Bank of Montreal typically had the best buildings everywhere in Canada in the early 20th century. This one was built in 1913.) The banking floor is also fabulous, although this photo (below) isn't very good.
The Winnipeg Grain Exchange on Lombard Avenue is one of the largest cash grain markets in the world. At right is the back of the Fairmont Hotel.
This is looking north on Main Street from Lombard. The Exchange District in Winnipeg is perhaps the best preserved early 20th century downtown in North America. That's because when it came time to expand the financial district, Winnipeg businesses chose to build the new financial district adjacent to, rather than in place of the old one. (Another city where that happened is Los Angeles.)
This view looking along Portage toward Main isn't much different from what it was in the 1970s, except you can see a corner of the TD Tower sticking in.
Although only 31 feet taller, the Toronto Dominion Centre seems to dwarf the Richardson Building in this photo.
This building, on the southeast corner of Portage and Smith, is Egyptian Revival in design. (See along the roof line.) There aren't many E.R. buildings in this part of the world. (Doesn't the orange bus fit in nicely?)
There are a number of residential buildings just southwest of the business district. (These photos were taken from one of them.) The twin towers in the centre are the Holiday Towers. There was a fire in the south one only hours before this photo was taken.
The Manitoba Legislative Building sits in a sea of green on the Assiniboine River in the southwest part of downtown.
The boulevard along Memorial Boulevard is in full bloom.
The Manitoba Legislative Building fronts onto Broadway.
A much different perspective on the building is had from the river. A statue of Louis Riel greets visitors ascending the steps.
A monument on the grounds of the Legislative Building commemorates the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Canadian cities large and small have prominent memorials to the dead of the First World War. This cenotaph has the names of the battles inscribed on it, continuing up to our time.
The construction of this modest restroom building in Memorial Park caused a major controversy in Winnipeg in 1973. Like most of the city's prominent edifices, it's built of fine Tyndall stone.
This water display is almost as prominent a feature of Memorial Park as the cenotaph.
This statue of Timothy Eaton, founder of the Eaton's department store chain, sat in the downtown Winnipeg Eaton's store on Portage Avenue for almost 75 years. It is seen here during its brief time at Polo Park Shopping Centre. When the True North Entertainment Centre opens (replacing the downtown Eaton's), the statue will move there. It's supposedly good luck to touch the shoe as this girl is doing.
Click on them for a better look
Winnipeg's skyline rises across the frozen Red River. Farther upstream, people are making recreational uses of the icy waterway.
The Cathedral in the Winnipeg section of St. Boniface burned in 1968. A new building rose inside the shell of the old building. Winnipeg is one of only two North American cities having two Roman Catholic cathedrals. New York is the other.
Why this page exists. I set up a page of links to the things I wanted to find before my own frequent trips to the 'Peg, such as the weather, road conditions, what's on at the art gallery, and what the hours are at the Pan Am Pool. I decided to share the page with cyberspace. From there, I kept adding links and now pictures. Enjoy!
