'Should be a concern': The Boyd Building put on the endangered list

A Winnipeg building is on the endangered list.

What used to be a lively downtown hub for medical care is now sitting empty, and heritage advocates say the time is now to get the ball rolling to secure the Boyd Building's future.

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For 112 years the Boyd Building at 384 Portage Avenue has been a cornerstone of Winnipeg’s downtown.

It was one of the province's first skyscrapers, built by a renowned architect. It housed dentists and doctors, yet it was first owned by candy maker W. J. Boyd.

"I think anybody who drives down Portage after hearing this story should look at it and think, ‘Wow, what a beautiful building. I drive by every day and may not even notice,’" Cindy Tugwell, the executive director for Heritage Winnipeg, said Friday.

The Chicago-style, nine-storey, steel-frame building went up in 1912.

To protect its intricate terracotta facade, the city gave the building heritage status in 1981.

But this week the National Trust for Canada put the building on its endangered places list because it believes the building's future is unclear.

“The ongoing care and upkeep of this building should be a concern to the people of Winnipeg and beyond,” said Chris Wiebe, manager of heritage policy & government relations at the National Trust for Canada.

Wiebe said the Boyd Building has been empty for close to eight years.

He said it made the list because it's also representative of other vacant and aging commercial buildings in downtown Winnipeg.

"It also symbolizes the potential for housing, reuse for housing or other potential uses, and the environmental impact discarding it would have," he added.

Tugwell said the Boyd Building's best bet is a future with residential units on the top and retail on the bottom, like the plans for the Hudson Bay Company building down the block. 

"These buildings were built to a standard that we just cannot match today,” she said. “A lot of these buildings can have a new life for another 100 years, they just have to find the business plan that works.”

CTV News reached out to the Boyd Building's owner, Jags Development Ltd., but was told no one was available to comment on the building's future.