This three-storey brick and stone structure on Church Avenue in Winnipeg was designed by architect Edward G. Sherwood and built in 1912 to provide additional classroom and residential space for the nearby St. John’s College. The basement had two classrooms, washrooms, a day room for students, and a mechanical room. On the main level were three classrooms, library, ladies’ parlour and cloak room, Master’s room, Warden’s office, and four bedrooms. The second and third floors each had a central communal bathroom and 16 bedrooms.
After the college relocated to the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba, the building was renovated into an apartment block in 1968, during which most of the original interior was removed. Each of the upper three floors were rearranged to have one- or two-bedroom suites while two suites and storage lockers occupied the basement. By the early 1990s, the basement contained three suites.
It became a municipally-designated historic building in 2018.
The former St. John’s College Annex, now the Church Block (May 2018)
Source: Nathan Kramer
Church Block (November 2020)
Source: George PennerSite Location (lat/long): N49.92284, W97.12832
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. John’s College (Main Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
259 Church Avenue, Church Block Apartments, Winnipeg Historical Buildings and Resources Committee, November 2017.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough, Gina Cada, and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 17 July 2022
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