Formerly located at the northeast corner of Main Street and Lansdowne Avenue in Winnipeg, a two-storey brick and Tyndall stone building, measuring 27 feet by 50 feet, was built in 1919 by the construction firm of Carter-Halls-Aldinger as a one-storey building at a cost of about $15,000, as a branch of the Union Bank of Canada. In 1923 the bank vacated the building and throughout the 1920s the building was occupied sporadically.
In 1930, a one-storey addition was made to the building and around that time the building was purchased by Alexander Wilson Musker to house his Musker Engineering Institute. In 1932, a one-storey brick garage, measuring 28 feet by 74 feet, was added to the rear of the building at a cost of about $3,000 to teach automobile mechanics and in later years, the Musker family lived in a suite in the upper storey.
The building was demolished in 1983 and, from 1983 to the mid-2010s, the site sat empty until Tenderloin Meat and Sausage purchased the property and built a new building there.
Musker Engineering Institute Building (no date)
Source: Jewish Historical Society of Western Canada Collection #2852, Archives of ManitobaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.92833, W97.12325
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Carter-Halls-Aldinger / Commonwealth Construction Company
Manitoba Business: Union Bank of Canada
Memorable Manitobans: Alexander Wilson Musker (1895-1970)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1726/1919, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Ninety-one new houses included in 1932 permits,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 August 1932, page 18.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
The Year Past, 1983, City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings and Resources Committee.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 16 August 2025
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