smoke stack @ CTV building

[bomberjet]

See, if there were a separate Manitoba forum and a Saskatchewan forum, we wouldn't have these kind of issues!

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Roger Strong

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

I had lunch with Randy Rostecki last month and he is definitely on a mission to set the record straight about Winnipeg’s tunnel myths.

[casper]

Originally Posted by pappcam

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

Returning to the original topic of big smoke stacks next to old building... I find it odd that Winnipeg gave up on district heating. Vancouver still have a district heating system. I would have expected MB, SK and AB would make the most sense.

As for tall things next to CTV stations. I don't think Saskatoon or Regina have tall stacks next to their CTV stations.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by casper

Returning to the original topic of big smoke stacks next to old building... I find it odd that Winnipeg gave up on district heating. Vancouver still have a district heating system. I would have expected MB, SK and AB would make the most sense.

It is immensely inefficient.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by Roger Strong

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

You need to take a trip to the FGH and ask for a tour of the sub, sub basement.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Riverman

It is immensely inefficient.

I know in Saskatoon they have district heating for the SFU campus, Royal University Hospital and Innovation Place. However not downtown.

It apears Calgary has a district heating plant that opened in 2010.

[hired_goons]

Originally Posted by pappcam

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

Apologies for leaving that out! Honestly thought I was posting to a Winnipeg forum. And speaking of that why isn't there one? London Ont has their own city page. Ditto Halifax and St Johns.
Thanks to everyone who posted a backstory on the smokestack!

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I had lunch with Randy Rostecki last month and he is definitely on a mission to set the record straight about Winnipeg’s tunnel myths.

Tell him to be quiet and stop ruining everyone's fun for no reason.

Originally Posted by OTA in Winnipeg

You need to take a trip to the FGH and ask for a tour of the sub, sub basement.

Yeah that place is crazy. I actually had a bunch of former colleagues in town from across the country this week for their yearly kick-off meetings - usually stay at Alt but they decided to do FGH this time. They got a tour of the building and one of the ladies from Toronto was so freaked out she actually left and went to the Delta LOL. Another one who said he never believed in ghosts said when he got out of the shower the sink was running and he didn't use it, and now his opinion has changed haha

[cllew]

Originally Posted by TimeFadesAway

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.

Burt's Saddlery was another building that had to convert. I vaguely remember reading about Susan Thompson complaining about the cost to install a boiler system before she ran for mayor.

As a little kid i recall visiting relatives in River Heights and they had a plant at the end of their street ( Renfrew where Sir John Franklen Community club is now located), and apparently there was also one somewhere on Wall St for the west end.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Riverman

It is immensely inefficient.

I guess it depends on how much area you have to cover. HSC has a big natural gas fired plant off of Notre Dame for their buildings. I would not be surprised that they use a lot of steam/hot water for cooking, laundry and disinfection services besides the usual heating and cooling uses of steam.

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I had lunch with Randy Rostecki last month and he is definitely on a mission to set the record straight about Winnipeg’s tunnel myths.

Thank goodness! The most common one is that there are tunnels "all around the Exchange District," usually for the purpose of transporting and hiding booze. Bonus points if you believe Al Capone had them constructed. A less popular though more titillating version is that they were built for transporting johns/prostitutes incognito. Bonus points if you believe it connected to the old city hall.

Some tinfoil-hat acquaintances once tried convincing me there's a tunnel directly from the Legislature to the old Masonic Hall at Donald and Ellice -- more than a kilometre away.

There is/was, according to fire insurance maps, a tunnel from the Legislature to the powerhouse building on Memorial (behind the Court of QB complex).

The Royal Alexandra Hotel and the CP station on Higgins Avenue shared a party was, so I don't think it was a tunnel as much as it was a passage between two basements.

I remember being in the basement of the Royal Albert Hotel, and there being a rusticated stone grotto which was built under the front sidewalk on Albert Street. Maybe this and other underground encroachments beyond buildings' footprint or property lines is what started this whole Exchange District tunnel business?

[buzzg]

^I think what a lot of the "tunnels" that people think exist are, are just the storage areas underground outside the building propers that many owners put in to store hazardous materials after the big outbreak of fires in early 1900s. Many of these such places have been discovered as the city repaves many Exchange sidewalks. There not so much tunnels as cellars, but there are lots of them.

[OverUnder]

I walked the tunnel from the Norquay Building through to the Archives a few years back. It was open to the public as far as I could tell.

[casper]

Originally Posted by wardlow

Thank goodness! The most common one is that there are tunnels "all around the Exchange District," usually for the purpose of transporting and hiding booze. Bonus points if you believe Al Capone had them constructed. A less popular though more titillating version is that they were built for transporting johns/prostitutes incognito. Bonus points if you believe it connected to the old city hall.

Some tinfoil-hat acquaintances once tried convincing me there's a tunnel directly from the Legislature to the old Masonic Hall at Donald and Ellice -- more than a kilometre away.

There is/was, according to fire insurance maps, a tunnel from the Legislature to the powerhouse building on Memorial (behind the Court of QB complex).

The Royal Alexandra Hotel and the CP station on Higgins Avenue shared a party was, so I don't think it was a tunnel as much as it was a passage between two basements.

I remember being in the basement of the Royal Albert Hotel, and there being a rusticated stone grotto which was built under the front sidewalk on Albert Street. Maybe this and other underground encroachments beyond buildings' footprint or property lines is what started this whole Exchange District tunnel business?

There is another alternative.....

Do what Moses Jaw has done. Embrace the myths. Buy some Al Capone costumes, hire some drama university students and turn it into a tourist attraction.

The prostitute angle is an interesting Winnipeg one. I think Saskatchewan tourist attraction started with Al Capone and smugglers and now it is added another tour for the Chinese immigrant underground that lived in the tunnels.

Winnipeg could have its own stores. No need for any of them to be true or historically accurate.

[esquire]

^ I don't think Winnipeg is so desperate that it has to latch on to Al Capone and create myths about him. Sometimes a utility tunnel is just a utility tunnel.

[cllew]

Hate to bring this thread back from the dead but it looks like the owners of the "Eaton Powerhouse" are removing the signature smoke stack.

It's all wrapped in mesh and seems be letting lower when I come downtown and remember to look at it.

I wonder if it is being removed for insurance reasons and the actual boilers were removed to make for the Tavern United restaurant when the arena was being built.

I can remember in the late 70's early 80's Eaton's had a contractor put up scaffolding around it and they inspected/re-pointed the bricks as required at that time.

[Kris22]

Darn, it's such a cool feature to have downtown, especially with all the glass buildings around it. Another piece of history disappearing.

[WinCitySparky]

Time spares no stack

[cllew]

Update on the Eaton Powerhouse smoke stack.

It looks like the remaining lower third of the stack is remaining as the scaffolding and mesh demolition wrap has been removed and a concrete collar was installed in the last week or two.