This three-storey brick and stone residential block on Gertie Street in Winnipeg, measuring 50 feet by 70 feet, was designed by local architect Herbert Bell Rugh and constructed in 1906 at a cost of about $54,500 by William Griffiths (masonry), James E. James (carpentry), James A. Payne (painting and glazing), and the Shipman Electric Company (electric wiring). The building contained 12 apartments in its final configuration. Known as the Frontenac Block for much of its life, the block was renamed Rizal Apartments around 1980.
The building was destroyed by fire on 17 January 2023.
Rizal Apartments (August 2018)
Source: George Penner
The former Rizal Apartments under demolition after a fire (January 2023)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90015, W97.14871
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Herbert Bell Rugh (1879-1924)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1906/1909, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Real estate and building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 July 1906, page 6.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 532/1929, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 236/1931, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Apartment House Architecture in Winnipeg to 1915 by David Spector, December 1980.
Frontenac (Rizal) Apartments, 90 Gertie Street by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, December 2009.
Find a Postal Code, Canada Post.
“Apartment fire closes streets near downtown Winnipeg,” CBC News, 17 January 2023.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough, Nathan Kramer, and George Penner.
Page revised: 28 March 2023
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