Formerly: Winnipeg Grain Exchange Formerly: Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange Built: 1906 Cost: CAN$500,000.00 Designed by: Frank Darling and John A. Pearson Renovated: Expanded 1913, 1916, 1922, 1926, and 1928. Type: Office Building Location: 500-560 Main Street, Winnipeg, Canada
A griculture is what drives Canada's prairie provinces, and Winnipeg is the center of commerce. That made Winnipeg's Grain Exchange the heart of what would become a vibrant bustling city. The neighborhood where the building is located is still called the Exchange District, and is considered one of the jewels of late 19th and early 20th century North American architecture. The Grain Exchange originally operated out of the basement of Winnipeg's city hall, then got its own building in the Market Square area which it quickly outgrew. The original seven-story building (now ten stories) is constructed in the Sullivanesque style created by Luis Sullivan and most common in Chicago. It features a large base of Bedford stone, a brick shaft, and is topped with a decorative cornice, much like a classical column. This form is repeated hundreds of times in historic and modern skyscrapers around the world. As in other agriculture-fed cities, the money followed the exchange and when it moved to its new building, the banks followed adding to the impressive architecture of the area. The exchange has since relocated to the Trizec building, sometimes known as the Exchange Tower.
