Manitoba Business: Carter-Halls-Aldinger / Commonwealth Construction Company

In February 1907, the Winnipeg-based construction firm of Carter-Halls-Aldinger was incorporated by contractor William Henry Carter, barrister Philip C. Locke, barrister James E. Robertson, fireproofing expert Frank Ernest Halls, and civil engineer Albert Henry Aldinger. It was active in the erection of numerous large buildings around Manitoba and elsewhere.

In 1944, the firm went into voluntary liquidation from which two companies were formed: the Carter Construction Company, based in Toronto, Ontario with Carter as its President, and the Commonwealth Construction Company at Winnipeg with Halls as a partner with Richard Reeve Collard, Arthur Williams Fosness, and George H. Elliott. The Commonwealth company was sold in 1955 to three firms based in London, England.

Some of the Manitoba buildings constructed by the firm:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Massey-Harris Warehouse	80 Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg	1907
Peck Building (addition)	33 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1907
Windsor Hotel (addition and alterations)	649-659 Main Street, Winnipeg	1907
Lord Selkirk School	Brazier Street, Winnipeg	1908-1909	Demolished (early 1970s)
Casa Loma Building	644 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1909
Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner Building	234 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1909
Security Storage Warehouse	583 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg	1909
McArthur Building	205-211 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1909-1910	Demolished (1988)
Eastern Townships Bank Building	367 Main Street, Winnipeg	1910	Demolished (?)
Guest Fish Warehouse (addition)	90 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Hudson’s Bay Company Wholesale Building	77 Main Street, Winnipeg	1911
International Harvester Building	1735 Pacific Avenue, Brandon	1911	Demolished (2021)
Winnipeg Fish Company Warehouse	225 Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Confederation Life Building	457 Main Street, Winnipeg	1912
Delaval Warehouse / Ingaldson Building	128 James Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Dominion Bridge Plant (addition)	1480-1500 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Finnie and Murray Building	321 McDermot, Winnipeg	1912
Marshall Wells Warehouse (expansion)	136 Market Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
McCormicks Limited Building	425 Henry Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Osborne Theatre	108 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1912
Strand Theatre	557 Main Street, Winnipeg	1912	Demolished (1966)
Turner-Walker Block	425 Henry Avenue, WInnipeg	1912
Winnipeg Electric Railway Building	213-219 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	1912-1913
Manitoba Free Press Building	300 Carlton Street, Winnipeg	1913
Olympia Hotel / Marlborough Hotel	331 Smith Street, Winnipeg	1913
St. Charles Hotel	235 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	1913
Minto Armouries	969 St. Matthews Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Sunset Manufacturing Warehouse	655 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Paris Building	259 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1915
Paris Building (addition)	259 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1917
Union Bank Building	409 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1917
Imperial Oil Warehouse	960 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1918	Destroyed by fire (6 August 2023)
Canadian Bank of Commerce (renovation)	315 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1919
Canadian Bank of Commerce	Headingley	1919
Canadian Bank of Commerce	St. Norbert	1919
Coca Cola Bottling Plant	20 Twelfth Street, Brandon	1919	Demolished (?)
Kennedy Block (conversion)	315-323 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1919	Partly destroyed by fire (1973)
Marshall Wells Warehouse	490 Des Meurons Street, St. Boniface	1919
Merchants Bank Building	804 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1919
Bank of Montreal War Monument	335 Main Street, Winnipeg	1920	Replaced (1923)
Clarendon Block	307-311 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1920	Demolished (2012)
Manitoba Cold Storage Warehouse (remodeling)	151 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg	1920	Destroyed by fire (2004)
Ramsay-Wright Building	Main Street North, Dauphin	1920-1921
Nurses’ Residence at King George Hospital	1 Morley Avenue, Winnipeg	1920-1921	Demolished (1991)
Dingwall Building (restoration)	62 Albert Street, Winnipeg	1921
Olympia Hotel / Marlborough Hotel (addition)	331 Smith Street, Winnipeg	1921
New Hargrave Building	361-365 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1922
Olympia Hotel / Marlborough Hotel (addition)	331 Smith Street, Winnipeg	1923
Canadian Pacific Railway Immigration Hall and Post Office	765 Main Street, Winnipeg	1924	Partially demolished (?)
Manitoba Refinery Building	542 Plinguet Street, Winnipeg	1925	Partially deconstructed (1933)
Hudson’s Bay Company Building	450 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1925-1926
Pine Falls Paper Mill	Powerview-Pine Falls	1926-1927	Demolished (2011-2014)
National Storage and Cartage Building	25 Forks Market Road, Winnipeg	1928
Northern Electric Building	65 Rorie Street, Winnipeg	1928
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1928
Collard House	1188 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1929	Demolished (2022)
Ellice Block (alterations)	468 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1929
Prairie Cities Oil Building	1380 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	1929
Seven Sisters Generating Station	Winnipeg River, RM of Whitemouth	1929-1931
Canadian General Electric Building	265 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	1930
Churchill Grain Elevator	Hudson Bay, Churchill	1930-1931
Assiniboine River Footbridge	Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg	1931-1932
Winnipeg Auditorium	200 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg	1931-1932
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1935
Federal Building	269 Main Street, Winnipeg	1935-1936
North End Sewage Disposal Plant	2230 Main Street, Winnipeg	1935-1937
Manitoba Cold Storage Warehouse (addition)	151 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg	1937	Destroyed by fire (2004)
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1937
Winnipeg Electric Company Mill Substation and Steam Plant (addition)	55 Mill Street, Winnipeg	1937	Demolished (?)
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1938
Manitoba Sugar Company Plant	555 Hervo Street, Winnipeg	1939-1940
Service Flying Training School No. 33	RM of North Cypress	1940
Neepawa Salt Works	Mountain Avenue, Neepawa	1940	Partially demolished (1970)
Royal Bank Building	618 Main Street, Winnipeg	1946
Simpson-Sears Department Store [Polo Park Shopping Centre]	1485 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1958-1959
Manitoba Health Services Commission	599 Empress Street, Winnipeg	1959

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: William Henry Carter (1874-1962)

Memorable Manitobans: Frank Ernest Halls (1872-1950)

Memorable Manitobans: Albert Henry Aldinger (1877-1942)

Sources:

“Glass works at Beausejour,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 February 1907, page 12.

“Granite cornice crashes to ground,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 September 1910, page 7.

“Prospective Construction - Brandon, Man,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 March 1919, page 17.

“Cola Company start buildings,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 April 1919, page 31.

“Cola Cola’s new bottling plants,” Saskatoon Daily Star, 26 April 1919, page 22.

“Erecting three bank buildings,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 October 1919, page 25.

“Designs building to house city's nurses,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 February 1921, page 3.

“J. D. McArthur resigns as pulp company president,” Manitoba Free Press, 8 March 1926, page 1.

“Local official confirms construction firm sale,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 January 1955, page 16.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

We thank Nathan Kramer, George Penner, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 March 2024