This three-storey brick block at the corner of Morley Avenue and Osborne Street in Winnipeg was designed by pioneering architect Max Blankstein for contractor Reubin Cohen and built in 1914 at a cost of about $60,000. The main floor hosted a branch of the Merchants Bank of Canada and shops for a barber and tailor. The upper two floors had 18 residential apartments.
Later owners included the Timco Investments Company (1915-1925), John Alexander Forlong (1925-1931), Lonsdale Investment Limited (1933-1943), H. Sokolov and M. Wolinsky (1944), and Samuel Werier (1947-1948). It is still owned by the Werier family. The building was damaged by major fires in 2007 and 2014, and it has been sitting empty ever since.
In July 2024, the building was sold to the Fisher River Cree Nation with plans to restore it as residential space.
Rubin Block (August 2017)
Source: George Penner
Rubin Block (December 2022)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Aerial view of Rubin Block (July 2024)
Source: George PennerSite Location (lat/long): N49.86507, W97.13420
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Merchants Bank of Canada
Memorable Manitobans: Max Zev Blankstein (1874-1931)
Memorable Manitobans: Reubin [Rubin] Cohen (c1865-1955)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 351/1914, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Apartment House Architecture in Winnipeg to 1915 by David Spector, December 1980.
Rubin Block / Morley Apartments, 270 Morley Avenue by Murray Peterson, City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings and Resources Committee, December 2017.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Gordon Goldsborough, George Penner, and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 3 August 2024
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