1905 – Free Press Building, 240 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

Because of circulation growth the Manitoba Free Press, later Winnipeg Free Press, moved in 1905 to this four-storey building at Portage and Garry. As circulation grew and new presses were added, another move became necessary, and in 1913 the paper moved to a new building at 300 Carlton Street. Later contained a branch of National Trust Co with a remodeled ground level facade.

“….The new Free Press building on Portage avenue and Garry street is well advanced and about ready for roofing. It is of steel frame construction with concrete floors and consists of four stories and a basement. The frontage is 42 feet on Portage avenue by 150 feet on Garry street. The outside is of Tyndall stone to the ground floor, Lac du-Bonnett pressed brick and stone trimmings for the upper stories, finishing with a copper cornice. The building is to be of the most modern fire-resisting construction, having iron and slate stairs. The interior is finished in oak on the ground floor and in ash above. It is equipped with the Wabash system of heating and is supplied with its own electric plant for lighting, operating the presses, etc. the most up-to-date newspaper building in the Dominion, having some 40,000 square feet of area. The cost will be about $175,000. Mr. H. Stone, of Montreal and Winnipeg, is the architect. Messrs. H. R. Ives & Co., of Montreal, have the contract for the iron stairs.”
Canadian Architect and Builder, October 1904

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