1913 Winnipeg City Hall Competition

In early 1913, a committee of Winnipeg’s City Planning Commission recommended that a new civic centre be built, and a contest for a design for a new city hall was announced. Thirty-nine designs were submitted in competition and even though a winner was selected, construction never proceeded. Eventually a new City Hall was built in the 1960s.

Leonard A. Stokes, F.R.I.B.A., in submitting his report, said : “It gives me much pleasure to be able to state that the response to your invitation to architects to submit designs for your new City Hall has been m every way satisfactory. Thirty-nine designs — many of the most exceptional merit — having been submitted in competition. After careful examination, I unhesitatingly place No. 18 first, as it is undoubtedly the best. No. 11 I place second, and Nos. 26, 30, and 34 the three designs coming next in merit, after the two above named awards have been made. The five prizes should therefore be awarded accordingly, and I feel confident that design No. 18, placed first, will make a handsome addition to the city architecturally, besides being in every way a well arranged and serviceable building.”