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Bawlf Grain Exchange Building II, right - 156-160 Princess Street

The Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange was created on November 24, 1887 in the office of the Board of Trade in City Hall by twelve leading grain merchants. The rapid growth of the grain trade necessitated the construction of the second Grain Exchange on Princess Street.

The Grain Exchange Building II was planned and financed by Nicholas Bawlf, one of the founders of the original Exchange. Bawlf was an agricultural feed merchant who expanded into the overall grain business. He was also the builder of the first Exchange building, which was also on Princess Street, and the Benson and Bawlf blocks. Bawlf’s impact on the commercial development of the city was impressive.

Architect Samuel Hooper designed the prestigious new structure. The new Grain Exchange exterior featured four storeys of red brick, with a lower facing of stone and terra cotta moldings. The interior was finished in oak and marble and featured a pressed metal ceiling and stained glass windows. The cost of the building was $35,000 and was connected through corridors to the old Exchange building to the north.

In 1908, the Grain Exchange moved to its new quarters on Lombard and the Chamber of Commerce took over the Princess Street structure. This move to the Main Street district marked a major shift of commercial activities in downtown Winnipeg. The Market Square area was no longer the premier business district in the city. In 1938, the old Exchange Building was acquired by the City of Winnipeg for tax arrears and the City occupied several of the offices. The Chamber of Commerce moved out in 1943, and until 1966, the Welfare Department used the building. The space was briefly leased to theatre and dance workshops and then sat vacant for a number of years until 2002. The building was gutted and the façade became part of the Red River College Campus expansion. The project incorporated the facades of the historic properties along Princess Street and Elgin Avenue as well as preserved a number of historically significant interiors. These elements were reincorporated into the finished campus building as functioning spaces.

Harris Block/Hochman's Building, centre - 154 Princess Street - The oldest agricultural implement warehouse in the District was constructed for A. Harris, Son & Co. This Ontario-based agricultural implement manufacturer opened a Winnipeg branch in 1872 to service the growing grain industry. It built this Victorian Eclectic warehouse with details of sheaves of wheat on the façade.

This is the third structure erected in sequence, with the Benson and Bawlf blocks immediately to the south. All three were built in 1882, but this third building was not designed by Barber and Barber but by James Chisholm. The materials, scale and design of this structure reflect a visual relationship with the other two buildings. An arch in the cornice once contained a statue of Ceres, a Roman goddess, carrying a sheaf of wheat. Other alterations to this three-storey brick structure include the removal of the iron cresting from the cornice. Harris & Son merged with Massey Manufacturing Co. in 1891 to form the Massey-Harris Co. It then moved to its warehouse at 296 William Avenue. The Harris Building was subsequently leased to the Cockshutt Plow Co. which occupied it until 1903. Since then, it has served mainly as a boot and shoe wholesale warehouse.

Bawlf Block (House of Comoy), left - 148 - 150 Princess Street - Bawlf Block (House of Comoy)

This is the second home of the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange. The building was built by one of its founders, Nicholas Bawlf, an Irish immigrant who settled in Ontario before coming west in 1877. The Victorian Commercial structure was the center of the grain industry upon its opening. The trading room was located on the third floor of the building. Offices were on the second floor and the main floor contained showrooms, spanned by metal trusses, for agricultural implements. A central well illuminated the interior of the building. The Board of Trade, which later became the Chamber of Commerce also occupied the building, and the Hudson’s Bay Company fur exchange did business here from 1930 to 1950.

The block was designed by Barber and Barber, Winnipeg’s foremost boom-time architects who also built the old City Hall, the Leland Hotel, the McIntyre Block and Manitoba College.

Bawlf employed architects Barber and Barber to design his block. These were essentially boom-time architects whose flamboyant designs were found in the old City Hall, Manitoba College, and the James Avenue Police Station among others. Incorporated into the new downtown Red River College campus, the interior was gutted, but the Bawlf Block façade is virtually unaltered from its 1882 appearance. The earliest tenants in the Bawlf Block were James O’Brien and Co., a clothing manufacturer. From 1889 to 1913, the Dominion Bank and Trees, Spriggs and Company, a harness firm, shared the block with several smaller businesses. From 1915 to 1962, the Holden Company, distributor of electrical tools was the principal tenant along with the House of Comoy.

Drake Hotel (Benson Block), far left (partial view) 146 Princess Street - Originally called the Benson Block, this hotel was a twin of the Bawlf Block at 148 Princess, Joseph Benson had operated a livery stable on the site, and together with Nicholas Bawlf, financed the construction of the two buildings. The wholesale grocery firm of Griffin and Douglas were the first tenants, however the interior basement foundations threatened to collapse under the weight of goods stored above. This faulty construction is reflective of the material shortage at the time of its construction, along with contractor, Saul Brothers and Armit’s rush to complete the work. There was also a lack of skilled craftsman during the 1881-82 building boom.