Bedford Parkade

Project Journey

The original Ryan Block was completed in 1903 and was intended as an office warehouse for Thomas Ryan, one of the city’s first shoe merchants, and one-time mayor of Winnipeg. The building served a series of tenants until the early 1990s, after which it was vacant. Sadly, the building suffered a series of fires and water infiltration, and in 2007, it was deemed structurally unstable.

Because of the historical significance of the building, the City of Winnipeg, together with Bedford Investments and Dominion Construction, embarked on an ambitious project to save the building façade. After Crosier Kilgour investigated various stabilization proposals, the City of Winnipeg finally endorsed the deconstruction of the façade, together with the construction of a new parkade, on the condition that every Tyndall stone would be re-installed in its original configuration, and every detail in the brick façade would be re-built.

The façade of the original Ryan Building was deconstructed, and painstakingly re-built as an integral component of the new Bedford Parkade and Retail Development. As Prime Consultant on the project, Crosier Kilgour was tasked with fitting the six-storey spiral parkade behind a four-storey façade, designing the structure, and detailing the building envelope.