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Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Located on the north side of Bannatyne Avenue in Winnipeg, this 3.5-storey private hospital was built by contractor William Harris in 1907 for its physician and owner Thomas Beath. In October 1906, Beath was granted a building permit to build a structure 32 feet wide by 64 feet deep, but replaced those plans in May 1907 with new ones for a building that measured 32 feet wide by 48 feet deep with a 10 feet by 12 feet outbuilding at the rear. It had a concrete basement with brickwork for the ground level and wood frame construction. The hospital had a 50-bed capacity (1908) and care was provided to those with maternity, surgical, and medical needs for a cost of around one dollar per day. Communicable diseases and infections, such as would be handled by the Brookside Quarantine Hospital, were not treated here. The Beath Hospital was supplanted with the opening of the Victoria Public Hospital and this property was sold to the City of Winnipeg around March 1911.
The City renovated the building with modern fire escapes and used it as a dedicated emergency hospital to handle a scarlet fever outbreak in 1911 and for other contagious isolation needs in the subsequent years. A live-in caretaker role was funded by the municipal government. It was operated by Winnipeg General Hospital Board and lead by Dr. Andrew Boak Alexander (1862-1937) from 1911 into 1916, during which the premises were used heavily during renovations on the Jubilee Wing (1916) of the Winnipeg General Hospital. In late 1916, officials of Military District No. 10 asked to use the building as a rest home for soldiers and possibly their families. In 1919, they considered converting it into an apartment block for returning First World War servicemen but ultimately found the building unsuitable for their requirements. However, by the second half of 1920, the hospital was converted into a 12-suite apartment, named Eric Apartments the following year. Each suite had three rooms, with two shared washrooms per floor, and three suites per floor, including in the basement.
In 1929, the municipal government sold the building following a public bidding process. It remained an apartment into the 1970s. Later demolished, the site became part of the PsychHealth Centre (771 Bannatyne Avenue) of the Health Sciences Centre.
The former Eric Apartments (1960s)
Source: Archives of Manitoba photograph collection,
Archetectural Surveys - Winnipeg - Bannatyne Avenue - Sheet 3 - 779 Bannatyne
The former Eric Apartments (1960s)
Source: Archives of Manitoba photograph collection,
Archetectural Surveys - Winnipeg - Bannatyne Avenue - Sheet 3 - 779 Bannatyne
The former Eric Apartments (1970)
Source: Archives of Manitoba photograph collection,
Archetectural Surveys - Winnipeg - Bannatyne Avenue - Additional Photo 4Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90509, W97.16159
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Thomas Beath (1868-1923)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 3094/1906, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 900/1907, City of Winnipeg Archives.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
1916 & 1921 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
Fire insurance plan collection, Winnipeg - Sheet 253 - Volume 2 - December 1917, Archives of Manitoba.
“Pay hospital,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 July 1908, page 18.
“Pay hospital,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 December 1908, page 16.
“Money for the General Hospital,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 April 1908, page 7.
“Evidence on the hospitals,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 August 1908, page 3.
“New hospital,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 April 1911, page 14.
“Fever type is less virulent,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 February 1911, page 1.
“Caretaker wanted,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 July 1914, page 5.
“Miscellaneous for sale [Colonist cooking range in good condition ..],” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 September 1915, page 25.
“Authorities ask for Emergency Hospital,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 March 1916, page 1.
“City and district [Will use Old Hospital],” Manitoba Free Press, 22 September 1916, page 5.
“19 Winnipeg men in casualties; 13 listed as slain,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 May 1917, page 19.
“Local notes [On its being pointed out ...],” Manitoba Free Press, 10 October 1919, page 5.
“Furnished rooms [Well furnished double bedroom ...],” Manitoba Free Press, 18 September 1920, page 26.
“Births [Trotman],” Manitoba Free Press, 31 December 1920, page 14.
“To Let - Unfurnished Suites [Eric Apts. 779 Bannatyne ...],” Manitoba Free Press, 27 July 1921, page 17.
“City of Winnipeg - Sale of Eric Apartments,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 July 1929, page 15.
“Dr. A. B. Alexander, Municipal Hospital head, to retire soon," wfp, 28 April 1937, page 4.
“Efforts lauded,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 July 1937, page 6.
“Noted Doctor is dead,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1937, page 1.
“Funeral service for Dr. A. B. Alexander to be held today,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 September 1937, page 5.
Winnipeg estate files (ATG 0025A), #25628 Andrew Boak Alexander, GR4567, Archives of Manitoba.
“Battling dread infection,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 May 1938, page 34.
“104 - Suites for rent unfurnished,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 September 1970, page 59.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 2 December 2022
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