Boyd Building

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Location

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Why it matters

Prominently located on Portage Avenue in downtown Winnipeg, the 9-storey Boyd Building is the best example of “Chicago School” architecture in Manitoba, with its steel-frame construction boasting a richly decorated façade of cream- and bronze-coloured terracotta, custom-made in Chicago. When it opened in 1913 the ground floor was retail space and the majority of the offices above were occupied by dentists and physicians, and the building was soon known as the Boyd Medical Centre. Winnipeg designated the building a Municipal Heritage Resource in 1981.

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Why it's endangered

Emptied of tenants in 2017 for renovations, the building has sat vacant ever since. Heritage Winnipeg and the Manitoba Historical Society have grown increasingly concerned for the building’s future, given that other historic downtown buildings like the St. Charles Hotel (EPL 2023) have fallen into cycles of deferred maintenance and neglect. The Boyd Building is representative of a much larger problem with vacant commercial space in downtown Winnipeg, an area that currently struggles with crime and safety issues. The nearby historic Hudson’s Bay Company Building (EPL 2021) is in the process of being transformed into a service and housing hub by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization Inc., and the redevelopment of nearby Portage Place Mall is proceeding, but the area is in transition. The Boyd Block is a solid, beautiful building and a keystone structure on Portage Avenue, one that could be readily adapted for housing and other purposes, but its future is very uncertain.

This article is also available in French.

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