Vignettes
/ The Exchange
District
/ McDermot
The Criterion Hotel
Enlarge text: smaller | larger
Built at a cost of $20,000, the Criterion was designed
by H.S. Griffiths, one of several British architects practicing
in Winnipeg. The city’s economy was booming at the
turn of the century as wheat and western settlement brought
on stable economic growth.
The Criterion Hotel, built in 1903, was one of many hotels established in the
area to accommodate the thousands of arriving travellers.
The large bar on the ground floor and handsome billiard
room attracted a ready market in the members of the nearby “Newspaper
Row”, where the three major dailies, the Free Press,
the Tribune and the Telegram, as well as several smaller
daily, weekly and monthly publications were located. A
daily gathering of newsmen continued until Prohibition,
returning during the 1930s and 40s. The newspapers had
moved from McDermot Avenue, but the proximity to City Hall
and noteworthy stories still made the Criterion a convenient
gathering place.
