The Facade of Winnipeg

I remember being excited by downtown shopping sprees when I was a kid. The traditional Paddlewheel stop was at the top of our family’s must do liss back then. I remember the crowds and the aura of electricity whenever we visited.

A few weeks ago I had a class in which we discussed the echo of Winnipeg’s past that is visible in the city’s architecture. Part of the class involved walking around downtown Winnipeg to check out some of the architecture. Some of us visited the old Free Press building on Carlton, and marveled at the house on Graham that is surrounded by store fronts, with only is upper floors peeking out from behind this modern facade. The class eventually ended up at the Paddlewheel Restaurant, nestled on the top floor of the downtown Bay.

The place oozes nostalgia. Hungry visitors first arriving on the top floor are treated to a hodgepodge of Hudson’s Bay Company memorabilia before they arrive at the facade that surrounds the restaurant.
Once past that they are treated to a vintage cafeteria self serve set up with loads of seating. But for those who are anticipating a view from the top of the Bay, they will be disappointed.

There is no view and the place was almost empty. From the vantage point of the Bay, patrons should be able to get a fantastic view of the legislature, and perhaps the rest of downtown. The only view that exists is a painted landscape on one of the walls, a feeble attempt to instill some natural wonder on a place that can easily have some with an open window design. Imagine eating at the Paddlewheel with a view, and actually enjoying the city?

There have been numerous attempts to get people downtown again instead of heading to their local cookie cutter mall. The first was Portage Place, and that didn’t work. It only served to alienate and isolate the Portage shop owners across the street. This was followed by the destruction of Eaton’s and the building of MTS Centre. But now with the remodeling of Powerhouse Building and the new Hydro building, Downtown Winnipeg is once again being touted as a place to work in.

But what about a place to live in? These new buildings are not attracting people to live downtown. They are just pretty facades to make downtown look fantastic. The huge outcry over Eaton’s destruction occurred because of the relationship the people had with that building. Until city planners actually start to look behind the landscapes and buildings that occupy downtown and focus more on the relationship between the buildings and its inhabitants, Winnipeggers will continue to dream of days gone by.