This six-storey brick and Tyndall stone art deco building on Portage Avenue East in Winnipeg, measuring 108 feet by 128 feet, was designed by local architect Alexander D. Melville. It was built between 1930 and 1932, with excavation work contracted to James Murray Reid and structural steel provided by the Dominion Bridge Company, by the construction firms of J. McDiarmid and Company and Hazelton & Walin at a cost of about $317,400. It became the new headquarters and downtown telephone exchange for the Manitoba Telephone System, replacing an earlier structure on the same site.
The building officially opened on 3 September 1932 and featured the corporation's initials carved into its facade.
In 1936, alterations to the building were done to accommodate the new broadcasting studio for the government-owned CKY radio station, designed by local architect Alexander D. Melville and completed by contractor James Barton Gass. The work was completed at a cost of about $50,000. In May 1937, the station moved from its previous home in the Sherbrook Telephone Exchange Building to the new quarters. It was taken over by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in mid-1948.
In 2019, it became a municipally-designated historic building.
Original Manitoba Telephone System Building on Portage Avenue East (no date)
Source: The Telephone Echo, Volume 1, Number 2, page 1, July 1921.
Manitoba Telephone System Building (1934)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 4 August 1934, page 61.
Manitoba Telephone System Building (September 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89504, W97.13693
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Alexander D. Melville (1873-1949)
Memorable Manitobans: James Murray Reid (1882-1933)
Manitoba Business: Dominion Bridge Company
Memorable Manitobans: James McDiarmid (1855-1934)
Manitoba Business: Hazelton & Walin
Memorable Manitobans: James Barton Gass (1881-1954)
MHS Centennial Business: Manitoba Government Telephones / Manitoba Telephone System / MTS Allstream / Bell MTS
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2955/1930, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 3039/1930, City of Winnipeg Archives
“Plan big expenditure for phone extensions,” Manitoba Free Press, 22 March 1930, page 11. .
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 July 1930, page 17.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 July 1930, page 16.
“Tenders for Main Telephone Exchange Building,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 July 1930, page 17.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 July 1930, page 9.
“Tenders for Main Telephone Exchange Building,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 July 1930, page 16.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 July 1930, page 24.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 July 1930, page 7.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 July 1930, page 15.
“Permit issued for work on telephone exchange,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 August 1930, page 3.
“1930 construction total reaches sum of $4,775,500,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 August 1930, page 9.
“Good week in permits, rush in construction,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 August 1930, page 22.
“Millions in equipment for telephone block,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 September 1930, page 19.
“Tenders for Main Telephone Exchange,” Manitoba Free Press, 24 December 1930, page 10.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 191/1931, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Tenders for work on new telephone block opened,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 January 1931, page 2.
“Contract let for work on phone building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 January 1931, page 3.
“Tenders for Main Telephone Exchange Building,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 January 1931, page 15.
“Open new telephone building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 July 1932, page 2.
“New telephone building opens for business,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 September 1932, page 4.
“New Exchange most modern on continent,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 September 1932, page 5.
“Handsome new telephone building ready for business,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 September 1932, page 6.
“New telephone building on Portage Avenue East,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 September 1932, page 7.
“The Telephone System’s home,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 August 1934, page 61.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2644/1936, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Telephones to install new radio studios at a cost of $50,000,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 October 1936, page 2.
“Work starts on new CKY studios on Portage East,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 October 1936, page 22.
“CKY ‘comes of age’,” Manitoba Calling, March 1944, page 1.
Manitoba Telephone System Building (166 Portage Avenue), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings and Resources Committee, January 2016.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 September 2024
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