Portage Village Inn
311 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B, Canada
Formally Recognized:
1999/06/02
Other Name(s)
Portage Village Inn
A & B Sound
A & B Sound
Hôtel Clarendon
Clarendon Hotel
Links and documents
Construction Date(s)
1920/01/01 to 1920/12/31
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2008/03/10
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Portage Village Inn is a modest two-storey building on a busy intersection in downtown Winnipeg's commercial district. Built in 1920, and remodelled in 1923 and 1930, the brick and stucco structure stands at the eastern end of a block of Portage Avenue that includes a classically detailed bank, a small retail outlet and a post-World War II retail/office building. The City of Winnipeg's Grade III designation applies to the building on its footprint.
Heritage Value
The Portage Village Inn is an example of the kind of modest building that was a nearly anonymous, but vital, element of the commercial landscape of Portage Avenue, Winnipeg's primary retail street after 1900. While other major nearby buildings, like the former Eaton's Department Store (which once loomed across the street) were better known to Winnipeggers, buildings like the Portage Village Inn provided space for a variety of smaller ventures. The building's low-key architecture, a kind of reduced commercial Italianate, is of note mostly for the modest second-storey features.
Source: City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee Meeting, March 18, 1999
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the site character of the Portage Village Inn include:
- its location at the northwest corner of Portage Avenue and Donald Street in downtown Winnipeg, with its west edge abutting its historic neighbour, the former Mitchell-Copp Building
Key elements that define the building's function and modest commercial Italianate style include:
- the large, simple, rectangular plan, with truncated southeast corner holding the main entrance doors, the flat roof and modest cornice and frieze
- the basic fenestration, with the large window openings of the main-floor facades and, on the second floor, simple rectangular windows on the south and east faces and two arched openings on the east face, all embellished with raised brick mouldings
- the two light wells running east-west on the second floor
Recognition
Jurisdiction
Manitoba
Recognition Authority
City of Winnipeg
Recognition Statute
City of Winnipeg Act
Recognition Type
Winnipeg Landmark Heritage Structure
Recognition Date
1999/06/02
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
1923/01/01 to 1923/12/31
1930/01/01 to 1930/12/31
Theme - Category and Type
- Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
- Architecture and Design
Function - Category and Type
Current
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Shop or Wholesale Establishment
Historic
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Hotel, Motel or Inn
Architect / Designer
n/a
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
15-30 Fort Street Winnipeg MB
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
W0195
Status
Published
Related Places
n/a