Public Safety Building (Winnipeg)

Building in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Public Safety Building

General information
Status| Demolished
Architectural style| Brutalist
Location| 151-171 Princess Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Coordinates| 49°53′59″N 97°08′28″W﻿ / ﻿49.8997°N 97.1410°W﻿ / 49.8997; -97.1410
Completed| 1966
Opened| May 18, 1966 (1966-05-18)
Relocated| 2016
Demolished| 2020
Cost| $4.8 m CAD
Technical details
Material| Tyndall stone
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Les Stechesen
Architecture firm| Libling Michener and Associates

The Public Safety Building was a building in the Exchange District of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, serving as the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters from 1966 to 2016. Along with the associated Civic Centre Car Park, the Public Safety Building was connected to the City Hall by an underground walkway.[1]

Built in 1965, the structure was designed by Libling Michener & Associates in the brutalist style of modernism, and clad in Tyndall limestone.[2] The land that the building resided on is approximately one-half hectare.

In 2020, the Public Safety Building and Civic Centre parkade were demolished to make way for new multi-use facilities,[3][4] called Market Lands, the construction of which is currently ongoing.[5]

## History

[edit]

The plot of land on which the building was built was originally part of a 100-acre (40 ha) river lot granted to Alexander Ross, a Scottish-born fur trader and the first postmaster of the Red River Colony.[6][7][8] Winnipeg was officially incorporated in 1875, and on June 7 that year, the third generation of the Ross family signed over a portion of the remaining land to the municipality at the below-market rate of $600, with a stipulation that the land be always be kept for civic purposes, otherwise it would revert to the family. Sale of the property would need to be vetted by one of the Ross descendants, of which there were an estimated 19 still alive as of 2012.[6][8][9]

In 1964, following the opening of the Winnipeg City Hall, Winnipeg City Council announced that a building would be constructed adjacent to the city hall.[7] In the original master plan, the site of the Public Safety Building was to house the Greater Winnipeg Metropolitan government.[8] At the time, the land was the site of a 19th-century market building that was converted into civic offices, which were moved into the new Winnipeg City Hall Administration Building in 1964.[7]

Limestone cladding with steel brackets holding it in place

On 21 December 1964, Winnipeg City Council awarded a contract for the construction of the new Public Safety Building and Civic Parkade at a cost of $4.8 million on the land.[1] The Winnipeg Police headquarters moved into the Public Safety Building shortly after its construction in 1966, replacing the city's main police station on James Avenue (built in 1908).[8][10]

The limestone cladding on the building degraded over the years, due to moisture seeping in between the cladding and Winnipeg's freeze-thaw cycles separating the limestone sections from their braces.[11] In many places, steel brackets were added to keep the stone sections in place.[12] Some of the limestone cladding fell off of the building's façade and there was continued risk of stone falling off. Because of this, the city enclosed the sidewalk below with a $100,000 sheltered walkway in 2006.[6][13]

In 2009, seeking to replace the police headquarters, the City of Winnipeg purchased the former Canada Post mail-processing facility on Graham Avenue in downtown Winnipeg, where construction of a new headquarters would begin.[8][14] Moreover, due to structural issues the Civic Parkade was decommissioned in 2012. By the end of 2013, the new facility's renovations cost $210 million.[14] The new police headquarters opened in 2016, leaving the Public Safety Building and Civic Parkade vacant.[8]

In April 2016, Winnipeg City Council resolved to demolish the Public Safety Building and Civic Centre parkade to make way for new multi-use facilities.[3][4] Demolition commenced and took place throughout 2020. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the project encountered little to no work delays and remained on-schedule and on-budget.[3][15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "1965 – Public Safety Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba". Archiseek. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
2. ^ Bellamy, Brent (25 February 2013). "PSB, St. B cop shop examples of polarizing architecture". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
3. ^ a b c "Redevelopment of the Public Safety Building & Civic Centre Car Park site - Planning, Property and Development - City of Winnipeg". City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
4. ^ a b "Public Safety Building exterior demolition now underway - Our City, Our Stories".
5. ^ "The Site". www.centreventure.com. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
6. ^ a b c Hopper, Tristin (30 July 2012). "Winnipeg navigates tricky sale of Métis-donated land in bid to build new police headquarters". National Post. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
7. ^ a b c "151 Princess Street". Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
8. ^ a b c d e f "History". www.centreventure.com. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
9. ^ Bartley Kives; Jen Skerritt (26 July 2012). "Descendants of 1875 donors found". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
10. ^ Staff Sergeant Jack Templeman (5 September 2008). "PART SIX - INTO AMALGAMATION". History of the Winnipeg Police. City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
11. ^ Jen Skerritt; Bartley Kives (15 July 2011). "Renovation costs soar". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
12. ^ WHITE, PATRICK (23 August 2012). "The Public Safety Building - enter at your own risk". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
13. ^ "Protective hoarding to be built around Public Safety Building". 2006 News Releases. City of Winnipeg. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
14. ^ a b Kives, Bartley (16 December 2013). "Police fear for safety at old, new HQs". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
15. ^ Rosen, Kayla (2020-05-03). "The demolition of Winnipeg's Public Safety Building has begun". Winnipeg. Retrieved 2021-07-12.

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