To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of St. James (starting just west of St. James Street to Sturgeon Road) breaking away from Assiniboia to form their own municipality, I am doing street profiles. This column features Keewatin Street.
This story will deal with a little bit of the business history of the north-eastern edge of St. James. Between 1967-71, the even numbers on Keewatin Street were part of St. James. The Keewatin Street odd numbers have been part of Winnipeg since 1882.
Larsen's Memorial on the north west corner of Keewatin and Notre Dame has operated from the same location in 3 different centuries. In 1897, Olaf Larsen a stone mason began working on a vacant lot at the corner of Keewatin and Notre Dame. Larsen's creates memorial markers, memorial accessories and granite countertops. Olaf's son Daniel and Grandson Wayne Larsen continued the business .The current owners are Shelly, Dennis, and David Bohn.
On March 12, 1930, Sam Cohen's Brooklands Hotel at 8 Keewatin was opened by Brooklands Reeve John McLean Sam and Cecilia Cohen lived in the hotel. I found a couple of Brooklands connections to sports During the first couple of decades, the Brooklands Hotel Trophy was presented the top senior soccer team. The presentation ceremony was held in the Brooklands Hotel. During the 1980s Ed the Spider Mazur was a part of the Brooklands Hotel ownership. During his Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame Career. Eddie played on the 1950-51 Victoria Cougars Western Hockey League Championship, the 1952-53 Stanley Cup Champions the Montreal Canadiens, and the 1955-56 Winnipeg Warriors who won both the Presidents and Edinburgh Cups.
During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Lorne Timlick leased space in the Brooklands Hotel for a restaurant. Between September 1979-September 1982, I managed the Champs KFC at 12 Keewatin beside the Brooklands Hotel. Champs featured Colonel Saunder's secret chicken recipe of herbs and spices, Oscar Grubert and Bill Golberg held the Kentucy Fried Chicken Franchise for Manitoba One of my first acts was to allow hotel patrons to park on our parking lot.
In the 1934 Henderson Directory , 12 Keewatin was listed for the first time. During the first 15 years, barbers, Ben Glower and Joseph Rogers along with grocer Joseph Prochazka are listed as resident business proprietorships of 12 Keewatin. Between 1949-73, Charles Bissett was listed as both the barber and a resident of 12 Keewatin. After Charles's 1974 death, Champs became the first of several restaurants to operate out of the building After becoming Manager of Champs Keewatin, Ruby, I and our Mark met Colonel Saunders perhaps the most well known restauranter in the world at a company celebration. The following September, I will never forget the long lineup stretching down William Avenue for the Colonel's last birthday party featuring 2 pieces of Chicken and Chips for 90 cents (well below cost). The 90 cents equated with the Colonel's age. The Colonel died in December 1980. Our store won a prize for the lowest food cost. Many employees helped make our store profitable. The employee included Rick Wiebe, Surrinder Sing, Freda Dufreane, Sandra Adamow, Mike Coughlan, Cindy Dykes, Ana Zirdum, Elizabeth Silva, Nelson Silva, Wilson Silva, Allan Marshall, Corliss Fuerst, Mabel, Nimirit, Fred Webb, and Muriel Webb. Liz Skrumeda, a counter person getting 100% on a Company Inspection Report.
As we move up the street, Keystone Supply Wholesale was located at 16 Keewatin between the mid 1940s and early 1980s. Keystone seemed to sell just about everything. The advertised list in the Henderson Directory included hardware, farm machinery, plumbing fixtures paints, tires and batteries. Keystone was founded by Steve Juba. Steve Juba was the Winnipeg Mayor (1957-77) who got bridges built. During Steve Juba time as Mayor the eastern half of the St. James Bridge, the Disraeli Freeway, and St. Vital Bridges were built. It is unfortunate that we cannot currently find this sort of political will to build a new Arlington Street Bridge. We have reached 241 days ( as of July 18, 2024) of indecision about the Arlington Street Bridge. Steve was not the only Mayor to work at Keystone. Steve's older brother Dan worked at Keystone and served as was the Mayor of Brooklands (1954-55). Juba Street is named after Dan Juba.
Nick and Mary Chornenki operated the Brooklands Bakery between 1955-75. The bakery produced great cinnamon buns and square cakes, Mary Korolyk operated Korols Restaurant for 48 Years. The restaurant menu included burgers, fish, cabbage rolls, and chicken soup. Mary was still working at the age of 93.
In 1953 Waldorf Hotel at 64 Keewatin was first listed in the Henderson Directory. The owners were Michael Biluk and Peter Hawryluk. The hotel is currently known as the Westbrook Hotel. The Westbrook is home to the Aboriginal Music. One of the recent performers was Shaneen Robinson.
Andrew and Ila Patterson introduced Barn Dancing to Winnipeg. The Patterson Ranch House (also known as the Red Barn) was located at 120 Keewatin just north of Logan where a 7-11 store is now located. Some of the performers included Jack Findlay and his Night Riders, the Squires including Neil Young and Burton Cummings. Between 1939-1965, the Pattersons operated the Red Barn.
It has been a little over 3 years since I wrote a story about Brooklands. In early 2021, I wrote about the hockey career of Rudy Pilous who grew up in a home at the corner of Logan Keewatin. I will not wait as long before I write my next Brooklands story.
Fred Morris is a Grandfather, Sports Fan and Political Activist.
