Winnipeg arts and culture

Winnipeg is well known across the prairies for its arts and culture.

After the railways came to Winnipeg, the Exchange District area was developed with many fine warehouses, offices and banks and became the original site of commerce in Winnipeg. Many of these buildings are still standing and are unrivalled in Canada. The district illustrates the city's key role as a centre of grain and wholesale trade, finance and manufacturing in two historically important periods in western development: between 1880 and 1900 when Winnipeg became the gateway to Canada's West; and between 1900 and 1913, when the city's growth made it the region's metropolis. On 22 September 1997, the Exchange District was declared a National Historic Site of Canada by the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage.

In the Exchange District stands the Union Bank Building, Canada's oldest skyscraper. Begun in 1903 and opened in November 1904, the 10-storey building was Winnipeg's first skyscraper south of City Hall, and was the tallest building in Winnipeg at the time of its construction. The Union Bank Tower is an example of the Chicago Style.

Union Station is the inter-city railway station situated near The Forks. It is a grand beaux-arts structure, and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976. Union Station was designed by Warren and Wetmore, the architects responsible for Grand Central Station in New York City. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style and constructed from local Tyndall limestone, Union Station was one of Western Canada’s largest railway stations.

The Manitoba Legislative Building is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, in central Winnipeg. It was originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, not Legislative. The neoclassical building was completed in 1920 and stands seventy-seven meters tall (253 ft). It was designed and built by Frank Worthington Simon (1862–1933) and Henry Boddington III, along with other masons and many skilled craftsmen. The building is famous for the Golden Boy, a gold covered bronze statue based on the style of the Roman god Mercury, or the Greek god Hermes, at the top of the cupola, or domed ceiling.

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Wikipedia