Formerly located on Pioneer Avenue (originally known as Notre Dame Avenue East) in Winnipeg, a four-storey brick building was designed by local architect Louis Arsene Desy and built in 1880 as a school, operated by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus.
In 1892, a four-storey brick addition, measuring 30 feet by 55 feet, was added to the east side of the building and designed and built by local architect Joseph-Azarie Senecal at a cost of about $9,000. It continued to be used as a school until August 1903 when it moved to a new building on Wellington Crescent.
Following the departure of the school, the building was converted into a 61-bed hotel known as the Frontenac Hotel. By 1907, the hotel was owned by Jose Alexander Banfield who commissioned the local architectural firm of Pratt and Ross to design an addition to the building. Measuring 22 feet by 30 feet, the one-storey brick addition was built by the construction firm of the Davidson Brothers at a cost of about $2,800.
By the late 1950s, the building became vacant and, in July 1959, it was demolished to make way for a surface parking lot for workers from the nearby Federal Building.
St. Mary’s Academy (circa 1882) by Frederick V. Bingham
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0129
Frontenac Hotel (April 1959) by John H. Warkentin
Source: John Warkentin Fonds, 2009-029/003, ASC16612, York UniversitySite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89425, W97.13617
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
MHS Centennial Organization: St. Mary’s Academy (Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: Louis Arsene Désy (1856-1924)
Memorable Manitobans: Joseph-Azarie Senecal (1841-1917)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Mary’s Academy (550 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: Jose Alexander Banfield (1856-1937)
Manitoba Business: Pratt and Ross
Manitoba Business: Davidson Brothers
“Sealed tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 June 1880, page 1.
“St. Mary’s Academy new wing,” Manitoba Free Press, 8 October 1892, page 3.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2229/1907, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #203 December 1917, Library and Archives Canada.
“Blaze Sunday morning threatened to destroy 61-bed Frontenac Hotel,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 November 1950, page 2.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #203 May 1956, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Hotel to disappear, so will the tickets,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 July 1959, page 25.
“Sealed tenders for demolition of building known as Frontenac Hotel at 161 Pioneer Avenue, Winnipeg,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 July 1959, page 39.
“Old hotel will be parking lot for federal employees,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 July 1959, page 12.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 November 2024
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