Manitoba Business: Green Blankstein Russell and Associates

Link to:
Firm Names | Office Locations | Architects / Engineers | Work Samples | Sources

Winnipeg saw a boom in modernist architecture beginning in the 1950s. Few architectural firms could claim to have had a greater impact on this development than Green Blankstein Russell (GBR). From civil to religious, educational to industrial, their influence continues to be felt throughout the city.

Founded in March 1932 by Lawrence John “Laurie” Green, Cecil Nathan Blankstein, Gordon Leslie Russell, and Ralph Carl Ham as Green, Blankstein, Russell and Associates, the firm would work steadily in the first two decades of its existence. However, it was not until after the Second World War that it would begin to develop its own modernist style and begin to truly make a mark on the city. After a number of low-cost housing proposals for the municipal government failed to receive funding, the firm put the experience and knowledge they developed into the Wildwood Park neighborhood in the city’s south.

The 1950s had the firm develop churches, commercial spaces, and office buildings. However, its biggest impact on the city was to come in the following decade. The renewal of the city’s downtown began with the new City Hall complex in 1964. By the end of the decade this urban development project included the Centennial Concert Hall and the Museum of Man and Nature and the Planetarium directly across from City Hall. The modernist style of the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba would be heavily influenced by the firm. The aesthetic brought to the campus by GBR and other local firms would come to be called University of Manitoba Modern.

The firm would continue to develop projects in various sectors throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This includes the Asper Jewish Community Campus (1997) that currently houses most of the city’s Jewish organizations.

In 2004, the firm was acquired by the Edmonton-based Stantec group of companies.

Collections at the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada that highlight the work of GBR includes the Cecil Blankstein fonds, which include photographs and drawings of the firm’s work as well as newspaper clippings, newsletters, and correspondence.

Firm Names

Period	Firm Name
1932-1934	Green Blankstein and Russell
1934-1945	Green Blankstein Russell and Ham
1945-1947	Green Blankstein and Russell
1947-?	Green Blankstein Russell and Associates

Office Locations

Period	Office Location (Winnipeg)
c1940	610-259 Portage Avenue (Paris Building)
c1950-1951	310-333 Portage Avenue (Time Building)
1951-1983	222 Osborne Street North

Architects / Engineers

Architect / Engineer	Period
William Donald “Don” Baldwin (1925-2006)	?-?
Cecil Nathan Blankstein (1908-1989)	1932-1978
Bernard Brown (1931-2012)	c1958
Lawrence John Green (1899-1969)	1932-1961
Ralph Carl Ham (1902-1942)	1934-1942
Jacob “Jack” Hoogstraten (1908-1983)	1945-1957
Easton Irving Lexier (1926-2020)	1948-?
Arthur King Piercy (1916-1995)	c1950
Gordon Leslie Russell (1901-1977)	1932-?
Elwood Murray Simpson (1926-2009)	1951-?
Joshua Sumner (1906-1966)	c1950-1966
David Frederick Thordarson (1926-2003)	1949-1990

Work Samples

Building	Location	Year	Status
Steiman Block (conversion to hotel)	541 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1933
Park Theatre (renovation)	698 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1936
Roxy Theatre (renovation)	291 Hamilton Street, Neepawa	1936
Leland Theatre / State Theatre (renovation)	572 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1938	Demolished (?)
Out-Patient Building, St. Boniface General Hospital	409 avenue Taché, Winnipeg	1938	Demolished (2022)
Ste. Rose du Lac Hospital	Third Avenue East, Ste. Rose du Lac, Municipality of Ste. Rose	1938-1939
Curtis Apartments	111-113 Smith Street, Winnipeg	1939	Demolished (?)
Jewish Old Folks Home of Western Canada	146 Magnus Avenue, Winnipeg	1939-1940
Dominion Electric Building	87 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1945
Mall Medical Building	280 Memorial Boulevard, Winnipeg	1947	Demolished (2017)
Viscount Alexander School	810 Waterford Avenue, Winnipeg	1948
Nordale School	99 Birchdale Avenue, Winnipeg	1949
Glendale Golf and Country Clubhouse	400 Augier Avenue, Winnipeg	1949
Shaarey Zedek Synagogue	561 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1949-1950
Elizabeth Dafoe Library	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1951-1953
Glendale Golf and Country Clubhouse	400 Augier Avenue, Winnipeg	1951
Kent Road School	361 Kent Road, Winnipeg	1952
YMHA Community Centre	370 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1952	Demolished (?)
Pembina Hotel	1011 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg	1953	Demolished (2022)
Manitoba Power Commission Building	1075 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1954
Kent Road School (expansion)	361 Kent Road, Winnipeg	1955
St. Thomas Anglican Church (extension and parish offices)	1567 William Avenue West, Winnipeg	1957
Campbell Soup Plant	Fifteenth Street NW, Portage la Prairie	1957-1958	Closed (1991)
St. George’s Anglican Church	168 Wilton Street, Winnipeg	1957-1958
Polo Park Shopping Centre	Winnipeg	1957-1959
Great West Life Building	80 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	c1958
Prendergast School	906 Cottonwood Road, Winnipeg	c1958
Windsor Park Collegiate	1015 Cottonwood Road, Winnipeg	1959
Norquay Building	401 York Avenue, Winnipeg	1959-1960
Brandon College (Men's Residence, Dining Hall)	270 Eighteenth Street, Brandon	1960
Pace Cinema	Polo Park, Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1962
St. Andrew's College	29 Dysart Road, Winnipeg	1963
Brockie-Donovan Funeral Home	332 Eighth Street, Brandon	1963-1964
Winnipeg City Hall	510 Main Street, Winnipeg	1963-1964
Brandon Sun Building (renovations)	501 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1964
Winnipeg International Airport	2000 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg	1964	Demolished (?)
Willow Park Co-operative Housing Development	Dorset Street at Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg	1964-1965
Christ the King Roman Catholic Church	847 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg	1964-1965
Civic Centre Parkade	171 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1965	Demolished (2020)
National Trust Building	Portage Avenue at Garry Street, Winnipeg	1965
Centennial Concert Hall	555 Main Street, Winnipeg	1965-1968
Allan Physics Building (expansion)	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1966
Parker Chemistry Building (expansion)	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1966
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church	737 Bannerman Avenue, Winnipeg	1966
Deloraine High School (expansion and renovations)	Deloraine	c1967
Engineering Building (expansion)	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1967
Duff Roblin Building, University of Manitoba	35 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg	1967-1968
Deloraine Elementary School (expansion)	Deloraine	1968
Air Cargo Terminal	Winnipeg International Airport, Winnipeg	1968
Greenhouse Building	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1969
National School Studios Headquarters	King Edward Street at Madison Avenue, Winnipeg	1969
Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature and Planetarium	190 Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg	1966-1970
Holy Family Nursing Home (expansion)	165 Aberdeen Avenue, Winnipeg	1970
Freshwater Institute	University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg	1970-1972
Riverview Health Centre	1 Morley Avenue, Winnipeg	?

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Blankstein House (131 Machray Avenue, Winnipeg)

GBR: Green Blankstein Russell and Associates, An Architectural Legacy by Jeffrey Thorsteinson and Brennan Smith, Winnipeg: Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2017.

Sources:

“Building notes,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 July 1934, page 19.

“Curtis Apartments, Winnipeg's newest block,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 August 1939, page 6.

“Two-year dream nears reality,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1947, page 3.

[advertisement (office move to 222 Osborne Street North)], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1951, page 19.

“Notice of tender [Brandon College, Men’s Residence, Dining Hall],” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 October 1960, page 54.

“Business world [Polo Park Theatre],” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 March 1962, page 73.

“200 can make home-history,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1964, page 9.

“Sod-turning for Co-op housing [Willow Park],” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 September 1964, page 25.

“Go ahead signal for Civic Centre,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 October 1964, page 52.

[Photo caption - National Trust building], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 January 1965, page 20.

“Green Blankstein Russell Associates - Executive Appointments,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1966, page 19.

“University of Manitoba geared for growth,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 April 1966, page 38.

“Tenders for additions to the Allan and Parker Buildings, the University of Manitoba,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 June 1966, page 58.

“Tenders for additions and alterations to Deloraine High School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 1966, page 40.

“Tenders for Zoology-Psychology Building, the University of Manitoba,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 April 1967, page 63.

“$2.8 million Engineering Wing for U of M,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 April 1966, page 12.

“New St. Nicholas dedication Sunday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 July 1966, page 28.

“Zoology, Psychology get new building [Duff Roblin Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1967, page 10.

“U of M building opens soon [Engineering Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 1967, page 4.

“Tender for Deloraine Elementary School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 October 1967, page 49.

“Air Canada [Air Cargo Terminal],” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 November 1967, page 45.

“Tenders for Greenhouse for the University of Manitoba,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 1968, page 22.

“National School to build new plant,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 October 1968, page 60.

“Tenders for Holy Family Nursing Home,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 May 1969, page 40.

“Fresh Water Institute [Fresh Water Institute, Fisheries Research Board of Canada at the University of Manitoba campus],” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 August 1970, page 37.

Obituary [Arthur King Piercy], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 May 1995, page 13.

“Green, Blankstein, Russell and the construction of modern Winnipeg” by Andrew Morrison, Canadian Jewish Studies, Volume 31, pages 175-180, 2021.

“Mid-century masterpiece,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 April 2022, page 12.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

We thank Belle Jarniewski (Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada) and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Andrew Morrison, Gordon Goldsborough, and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 24 September 2023