Saving Winnipeg: Restoring 2 of city's oldest buildings yields good and bad surprises

Restoration work on two of Winnipeg's oldest commercial buildings has yielded surprises, like the trunk of apine tree serving as one of the 135-year-old structural columns.

The Fortune Block (built in 1882-83) and the adjoiningMacdonald Block (built in 1883) are almost as old as the province itself.

Standingat the corner of Main Street andSt. MaryAvenue, the three-storey buildings are a short walk from the original Red River settlement site of Upper Fort Garry.

After decades of neglect, however, theirage is showingwith broken windows, crumbled plasterand heaved floors a condition which had them briefly destined for demolitionto make way for a new 150-room extended-stay hotel.

That fate was averted, though, when the citydeclared themheritage buildings in early 2016. With the hotel developersno longer interested in buying the buildings, local businessman John Pollard stepped up to preserve them.

"We think they are beautiful buildings and it's nice to save a piece of history," the co-CEO of Winnipeg-based Pollard Banknote said.

Saving Winnipeg's history more important than money for owner of Fortune Block, Macdonald Block

7 years ago

Duration 0:52

Restoration work on two of Winnipeg's oldest commercial buildings has yielded surprises, like the trunk of a pine tree serving as one of the structural columns.

He also purchased the Winnipeg Hotel, south of theMacdonald Block on Main Street, and theempty lot between them.The future of the hotel built in 1873, three years after Manitoba joined Confederation might not be asauspicious.

"It's still to be determined if it's really salvageable. We don't know yet," Pollard said.

He won't know until heofficially getsthe title to the property this year and can go inside for a closer look.

In the meantime, he said the renovationprocess is"going full steam ahead" on the Fortune andMacdonald blocks, with a loose target for a grand opening by the end of 2018.

The exterior brick has been blasted clean of grime and windows have been replaced, while more extensive work is being undertaken inside.

The good

As crews peelback layers of physical material, they've also peeled back years of history, becoming some of the first people to see things entombed for more than 100 years.

"It certainly feels special that way,"saidPollard's son, Ryan, who is overseeing the renovation.

"That log post [structural column] is pretty neat because you sure wouldn't see anything like that today a giant pine tree that someone cut down, stripped and plunked in there," he said.

"You wouldn't just cut down a tree and throw it into the wall of your building."

Anotherinteresting find was a harmonica with a stamped date of 1881.

Ryanlikes to think it slipped from the pocket of someone working on the Fortune Block and was lost, only to be bricked over and sealed in a wall.

He gifted the harmonica to John Scoles, owner of TimesChange(d) High and Lonesome Club on the Fortune Block's street level. Thebar and live music venue is the onlybusiness that still operates out of either the Fortune or Macdonald buildings.

A faded"ghost" sign for a former butcher and grocer that operated out of the Fortune Block was discovered in a space at the back, which had been built out and turned into agarage in the 1950s.

It will be preserved and incorporated into the space that will house an expanded TimeChange(d), Ryan said.

He and his crewhavealsofound "a never-ending amount" of old newspapers in walls and under flooring, as well as numerous bottles buried under the basement foundation.

"I feel really fortunate to be a part of it. It's a really cool project," he said, adding he thinks "all the surprises that were waiting to be found have come and gone."

The bad

He's crossing his fingers that doesn't includethe much-less desirable surprises, like those thatset the project back several months.

Pollardhoped to have the project done by the end of 2017 but theMacdonald Block turned out to be more battered than initially thought.

"There was significant structural problems so there was a huge amount of demolition that had to take place. It's really been opened up," Ryan said, noting theupper floors had been unused, with the heat shut off, for about 45 years.

They are salvaging as much material as they can torepurposeitinthe project. Some lumber from the Macdonald Block has been used to build a new bar insideTimesChange(d).

"Extensive, extensive work has to be done," Pollardsaid, adding thatfrom an economic standpoint, it would have made more sense to tear down the Macdonald Block.

But that was not a step he was willing to take.

"What we're doing is pretty extreme, but we think it's worth saving and we can afford to do it," he said. "It might be years before I make any money from this, but that doesn't matter."

He wouldn't say how much he expects the final bill to be. He did sayhis expectation going in was to put in about $5 million but "it's going to cost a lot more."

The Fortune Block was in better shape but that doesn't mean there hasn't been a lot of work.

"When we got in, the ceilings on the top floorswere literally caving in, the roof was caving in," Pollard said.

But that was easily fixable, compared to structural repairs that must be done in theMacdonald Block.

"We're still super excited about the building. It just means we lost a few months of working, but now we're in full swing."

Because the Fortune Block doesn't need to be gutted, the floor plan will remain intact, as it was 135 years ago. Theplanis to "rebuild it inside and out exactly as it was when it opened," Pollard said.

To that end, Ryan has pored over archive photos of the building and sketches from a time when horse-drawn carriages passed alongthe mud street.

There were four retail spaces on the main level, and offices on the upper two storeys. That's how Pollard wants it to be once again.

The two buildings, however,will be made seamless and function as a single structure with anelevator installed.

The work is being done byUnit 7 Architecture Inc., which is the company responsible for giving new life to the Marlborough Hotel in downtown Winnipeg.

If the Winnipeg Hotel can be saved, Pollard wants to open it as a boutique hotel, and turn the adjacent vacant lot into a summertime outdoor cafe and music venue that can complement TimesChange(d).

He said it's about contributingvibrancy to the area, which is seeing a resurgence.

He noted therefurbishment of the Via Rail train station at the corner of Main Street and Broadway, the opening of the Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park across the street, the nearby Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks, and the 102-year-old Scott Block on Main Street, which was recently renovated and reopened with residential and retail space.

"There are things happening around here," Pollard said.