WINNIPEG... like a fine whine
It's one of the things that defines us
By: David Connors
What are Winnipeg's institutions? I don't mean hospitals and corporate headquarters. I mean the things that define us as a city. Would that list include the Bridge Drive Inn? The Jets? (The dream, at least, lives on... and on and on.) The Blue Bombers? (Well, let's see how they do in the Banjo Bowl before we decide on that one.)
A friend recently emailed me a copy of the 1958 Winnipeg Visitors Guide. It was the big ad for Eaton's that set me off on this particular tangent.
Remember Eaton's?
In the same guide, an ad for the Childs Restaurant boasts, "If you visit us once, you'll return." If only we could; its menu featured steamed Lake Winnipeg goldeye (whatever happened to that Winnipeg institution?). The restaurant, alas, was torn down to make way for the Canwest building. Will that organization become a Winnipeg institution? That's anybody's guess right now.
Mama Trossi's was another 1958 institution. It featured a 20-ounce T-bone steak for $3, showing the institution of stuffing ourselves always endures. Then there was the Paddock restaurant... the Ivanhoe (a knight to remember)... the Town 'N' Country. One restaurant in the 1958 guide has stood the test of time, though: Hy's Steak Loft -- although it has moved from 216 Kennedy Street to the Richardson Building (whose namesake family, most would agree, really is an institution).
There was a bunch of theatres back then that were probably expected to endure, too. Unfortunately, the Metropolitan isn't showing much more than crumbling plaster nowadays. The Capitol, a single-screen movie theatre that boasted 2,000 seats, was demolished in 2003. And does anyone remember the Gaiety? Or its incarnation as a porn theatre, the Eve? Yep, things really do come and go.
So... what institutions from today will still be around in 2058? There are a couple I'd bet on: the institution of dithering and the institution of whining. They are both certainly dug in like wood ticks.
Let's deal with dithering first. In the late 1800s, Winnipeg was growing so fast, it was certain to be the next Chicago. And even in 1958, at 410,000, it was still Canada's fourth-largest city. Now we're ranked what? Ninth? When you take that many blows, you become a little punch shy. You protect what you've got and you try to make sure whatever you do, you get it right. Are we going to get rapid transit right? I figure we will someday -- as long as we don't spend the whole budget on rapid-transit studies. Are we going to get a new stadium right? Probably. Eventually. We got the MTS Centre right. In the current, more rational NHL, it is looking more and more like it is just the perfect size -- and perfect for big concerts, too.
There are a couple of things somebody should have dithered longer over, like Portage Place and the way pedestrians are shunted underground at Portage and Main like so many moles. But when left to dither away and evolve as it should (as was done in the Exchange District, at least before The Cube) Winnipeg does OK.
One thing's for sure, our new stadium won't be anything like Montreal's Big Owe or Toronto's SkyDome, a.k.a. Rogers Centre, which positively echoes in emptiness during most home games.
So, dithering is good -- as long as it leads to the right decision in the end. And whining can be good, too. I'm convinced most Winnipeggers whine about this city because they love it. They love the fact it punches way above its weight class in terms of restaurants, arts, architecture, festivals and talented people and they even love the infuriating way it always seems to drag behind its bigger siblings. If we didn't care, we wouldn't complain, right?
Winnipeggers whine because they harbour the belief Winnipeg really is the next Chicago -- maybe just not as big -- and it's time it started acting that way.
The folks who leave? Well, a funny thing happens to them -- other than the fact they have to become Torontonians, or worse, Albertans. Suddenly, instead of bitching, they end up spouting endless praise for the city they left behind.
Hey, if you want to come home, we'll leave a light on.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 8, 2010 A4
By: David Connors
What are Winnipeg's institutions? I don't mean hospitals and corporate headquarters. I mean the things that define us as a city. Would that list include the Bridge Drive Inn? The Jets? (The dream, at least, lives on... and on and on.) The Blue Bombers? (Well, let's see how they do in the Banjo Bowl before we decide on that one.)
A friend recently emailed me a copy of the 1958 Winnipeg Visitors Guide. It was the big ad for Eaton's that set me off on this particular tangent.
Remember Eaton's?
In the same guide, an ad for the Childs Restaurant boasts, "If you visit us once, you'll return." If only we could; its menu featured steamed Lake Winnipeg goldeye (whatever happened to that Winnipeg institution?). The restaurant, alas, was torn down to make way for the Canwest building. Will that organization become a Winnipeg institution? That's anybody's guess right now.
Mama Trossi's was another 1958 institution. It featured a 20-ounce T-bone steak for $3, showing the institution of stuffing ourselves always endures. Then there was the Paddock restaurant... the Ivanhoe (a knight to remember)... the Town 'N' Country. One restaurant in the 1958 guide has stood the test of time, though: Hy's Steak Loft -- although it has moved from 216 Kennedy Street to the Richardson Building (whose namesake family, most would agree, really is an institution).
There was a bunch of theatres back then that were probably expected to endure, too. Unfortunately, the Metropolitan isn't showing much more than crumbling plaster nowadays. The Capitol, a single-screen movie theatre that boasted 2,000 seats, was demolished in 2003. And does anyone remember the Gaiety? Or its incarnation as a porn theatre, the Eve? Yep, things really do come and go.
So... what institutions from today will still be around in 2058? There are a couple I'd bet on: the institution of dithering and the institution of whining. They are both certainly dug in like wood ticks.
Let's deal with dithering first. In the late 1800s, Winnipeg was growing so fast, it was certain to be the next Chicago. And even in 1958, at 410,000, it was still Canada's fourth-largest city. Now we're ranked what? Ninth? When you take that many blows, you become a little punch shy. You protect what you've got and you try to make sure whatever you do, you get it right. Are we going to get rapid transit right? I figure we will someday -- as long as we don't spend the whole budget on rapid-transit studies. Are we going to get a new stadium right? Probably. Eventually. We got the MTS Centre right. In the current, more rational NHL, it is looking more and more like it is just the perfect size -- and perfect for big concerts, too.
There are a couple of things somebody should have dithered longer over, like Portage Place and the way pedestrians are shunted underground at Portage and Main like so many moles. But when left to dither away and evolve as it should (as was done in the Exchange District, at least before The Cube) Winnipeg does OK.
One thing's for sure, our new stadium won't be anything like Montreal's Big Owe or Toronto's SkyDome, a.k.a. Rogers Centre, which positively echoes in emptiness during most home games.
So, dithering is good -- as long as it leads to the right decision in the end. And whining can be good, too. I'm convinced most Winnipeggers whine about this city because they love it. They love the fact it punches way above its weight class in terms of restaurants, arts, architecture, festivals and talented people and they even love the infuriating way it always seems to drag behind its bigger siblings. If we didn't care, we wouldn't complain, right?
Winnipeggers whine because they harbour the belief Winnipeg really is the next Chicago -- maybe just not as big -- and it's time it started acting that way.
The folks who leave? Well, a funny thing happens to them -- other than the fact they have to become Torontonians, or worse, Albertans. Suddenly, instead of bitching, they end up spouting endless praise for the city they left behind.
Hey, if you want to come home, we'll leave a light on.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 8, 2010 A4
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