1977 – Centennial Library, Graham Avenue, Winnipeg

In May 1968, it was proposed to build a new city library to honour Manitoba’s 100th birthday and to replace the Carnegie-funded main branch at 380 William Avenue. The next year, the city decided to purchase land between Graham & St. Mary and Smith & Donald as a site – an entire city block. Ward, MacDonald, Cockburn, McLeod and McFeetors were selected as architects. The project consisted of a library to one end of the site with an underground carpark under the entirety.

The Centennial Library was officially opened to the public on 16 May 1977. The building sat in a new landscaped park set over the underground carpark including a water feature and campanile. While the building’s enclosed appearance and the hard lanscaping of the park wasn’t to everyone’s taste, it was a contemporary public space in a downtown largely devoid of such. Closed in 2003 and redeveloped into the Millenium Library and reopened in 2005.