Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kelly Block / Kilgour Block (181 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg)

This six-storey brick warehouse on Bannatyne Avenue in Winnipeg was designed by local architect Charles Henry Walker and built between 1904 and 1905 by local contractors Kelly Brothers. Owned initially by Thomas Kelly and Joseph Maw, Kelly owned the entire building by the time of its completion. The original tenants included Kilgour Brothers, a printing and paper manufacturer, wholesale clothier Samuel D. R. Fernie, wholesale stationer W. V. Dawson, iron and brass bed manufacturer H. R. Ives and Company, and the Souris Coal Mining Company.

The building was owned by the Kelly family until the mid-1920s when it was owned briefly by Edwin Loftus then taken over by Kilgour Brothers. In the early 1960s, the company became the Bell-Kilgour Division of the Domtar Packaging Company. It moved out in the late 1970s and the building sat vacant for a time.

It is a municipally-designated historic site as of 2000.

Kilgour Block (April 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Kilgour Block (May 2017) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89788, W97.13781 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Charles Henry Walker (1855-1927)

Manitoba Business: Kelly Brothers / Manitoba Construction Company / Kelly Brothers and Mitchell / Thomas Kelly and Sons

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

Kilgour Block / Kelly Building (181 Bannatyne Avenue), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, August 1999.

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 18 April 2024

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