smoke stack @ CTV building
 

What was originally at this DT location that required a prominent smoke stack? And is it still used for heating or ...whatever? Do we like it or is it an eyesore?

Funny you mention it, I was thinking about it not long ago. Others here will know the details about the building itself better than I do, but it was the Eaton's Powerhouse for many years which necessitated the smokestack.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking about it was that the renderings for the Powerhouse some 15 years ago showed CTV colored glowing lights atop the smokestack (the sweatband, as someone put it). Sadly, that feature was left out of the finished product even though it would have looked kind of cool... It made me wonder why it never happened.

It's adds to the uniqueness of the powerhouse complex. I remember back in the 70's there was a ladder bolted to the east side of it so it could be inspected / repaired.

Not just Eaton's. Its steam heated buildings all over the downtown.

I remember a Free Press story back in the (late '80s?) after it was shut down. A company was going to use the steam pipe network to run fibre optic cable everywhere. I never heard anything more about that.

I think it's great. Adds texture and character and speaks to the history of the the neighbourhood. And it's not creating a nuisance or a hazard. Similar to the remaining bits of spur railway lines in the alleys of the Exchange District.

Let's not forget, CityTV also has a smokestack.

Eaton Power house just heated the Eaton complex.

What you are thinking of was the old Winnipeg Hydro Amy Steam plant in the Exchange that did steam heat for the downtown core. And when it closed a lot of businesses had to convert to natural gas to heat their buildings.

Unitel bought a number of the old Winnipeg Hydro steam ducts downtown for distribution lines before they changed their name to Allstream and then were bought out by MTS. You can tell the ones they bought as they still have Unitel manhole covers.

That one was from the CN central heating plant for the east yard and Via Rail station when it was still owned by CN. I have heard stories that it also at one time provided steam to the Fort Gary Hotel for heat and laundry services.

^Which makes sense as the Fort Garry is a railway hotel.

Funny I was thinking about it yesterday driving by TNS, would love to see it lit up, decorated even in some way. Anyone know if it's hollow and still able to go inside somehow?

It did. There was also a tunnel between FGH and CN big enough to drive a truck through. I've been down there and seen it. I believe it is still there but walled off now.

Be nice if the city was mentioned in the thread title. Believe it or not, other cities have CTV buildings.

Synonymous with prominent smoke stacks? Wow.

Back in the '90s when south Main was refurbished as the new bridges were built, I watched them tear up the old steam conduit. It was several pipes each a few inches across, encased in cement.

They also tore up the old streetcar tracks, which were still there beneath the pavement. And one of the universities did an archeological dig on the foundations of the old fort that were temporarily uncovered.

The tunnel of legend never existed.

There was however a tunnel from Canadian Pacific's Royal Alexandra Hotel on Higgins Avenue to the CP station. The hotel was torn down in 1971.

The Capitol Theatre is the most prominent example I can think of that had to close because Famous Players didn't want to install a heating system.

Can I start a thread called "That big hole across the street from the Esso station"

You can start a thread entitled anything you want. That's actually a good title. It would definitely draw my attention to read it.

Who knew there was so much legend around this? I worked at The Fort Garry Hotel for five years in the early 1980s. In the sub, sub basement where there is a shitload of mechanical stuff there was this large hole on the eastern side. Really large. I never went into it but was told at the time that it at one time connected to the train station. I wish I'd been more curious at the time. Anyways, that's all I know. All the mechanical stuff was new I think because of the shutdown of the steam plant off site.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/lo...165829126.html

The article I linked to above is a follow-up to this one, from the same author. No tunnel.

Holy shit man, that was funny. Made me LOL.