Formerly located at the southwest corner of Portage Avenue and Hargrave Street in Winnipeg, a three-storey brick and concrete building was designed by local architect William Fingland and built between 1909 and 1910 at a cost of about $100,000 by contractor John Alexander Girvin for real estate mogul Charles Henry Enderton. Measuring 88 feet by 130 feet, the ground floor contained seven commercial retail spaces, five along Portage Avenue and two along Hargrave Street, while the upper two floors contained offices.
Some employees of the Enderton firm who were killed during service in the First World War were commemorated in a 101st Battalion souvenir program dedicated to Colonel Henry Norlande Ruttan on 24 April 1916, or in a 144th Battalion military vaudeville held at the Winnipeg Theatre on 9-11 March 1916.
In January 1918, the building sustained extensive damage in a large fire. Restoration of the building was designed by William Fingland and undertaken by W. A. Irish and Company at a cost of about $200,000. Renovations in 1936 to the Mitchell-Copp jewelry store contained in the building were overseen by W. A. Irish along with further alterations to the building two years later, at a cost of about $5,000. In 1947, renovations to the interior and exterior of the western-most retail space occupied by the Agnew-Surpass shoe store were completed by W. A. Irish.
In the early 1950s, the building was renamed the Mitchell-Copp Building for the flagship jewellery store located in the building, owned by local businessmen Edward Mitchell and David M. Copp. In 1968, the building was purchased by the Bank of Montreal and, in June 1969, plans were unveiled for the bank to build a skyscraper on the site. The original building was demolished in December 1969.
Today, the site is occupied by a seventeen-storey office tower.
Enderton Building (no date)
Source: Canadian Luxfer Catalogue, page 22, Glassian
Enderton Building after a catastrophic fire (January 1918)
Source: Martin Berman Postcard Collection, Winnipeg Public Library
New storefront of Agnew-Surpass store in the Enderton Building (1947)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 22 November 1947, page 5.
Interior of Agnew-Surpass store in the Enderton Building (1947)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 22 November 1947, page 5.
Demolition of the Mitchell-Copp Building (December 1969)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune Photo Collection, University of Manitoba Archives & Special CollectionsSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89287, W97.14494
denoted by symbol on the map above
Name
Occupation
Service
Rank
Birth Date
Death Date
Thomas Crosbie Dunwoody
[Next of Kin]Office Clerk
43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Lance Corporal
14 September 1894
8 October 1916
Clifford Abraham Neelands
Real Estate Agent
78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Lieutenant
4 January 1892
11 August 1918
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: William Fingland (1862-1946)
Memorable Manitobans: John Alexander Girvin (1851-1931)
Memorable Manitobans: Charles Henry Enderton (1861-1920)
Manitoba Business: Saul and Irish Construction Company / W. A. Irish and Company
Memorable Manitobans: David M. Copp (c1896-1984)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kennedy Block / Affleck Block / Mitchell-Copp Building (315 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
“William Fingland,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 April 1909, page 21.
“Building and real estate,” Manitoba Free Press, 10 April 1909, page 15.
“New business block on Portage Avenue,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 August 1909, page 11.
“The new Enderton Building formal opening,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 March 1910, page 20.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 922/1918, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Will rebuild Enderton Block,” Manitoba Free Press, 1 June 1918, page 5.
“Insured by fall,” Manitoba Free Press, 14 August 1918, page 5.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“Fifty thousand in permits in first week of season,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1932, page 11.
“Building permits get substantial boost this week,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 October 1936, page 2.
“$50,000 apartment block swells building permits,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 July 1938, page 9.
“Agnew-Surpass Shoe Stores Limited,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 November 1947, page 5.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #102 February 1963, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“330 Portage Avenue - Bank of Montreal Building / Newport Centre” by Christian Cassidy, Winnipeg Places, 22 July 2013.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 November 2024
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