Vignettes
/ Greater Winnipeg
/ Pavilion-York
Marlborough Hotel
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In 1890, Leonardo Emma and Giuseppe Panaro opened what
became a popular fruit store and restaurant on the east
side of Main Street between McDermot and Bannatyne avenues.
Brother’s Agostino and Giuseppe Badali had also started
a fruit store, located at northeast Portage Avenue and
Smith Street. After a brief displacement due to construction
in 1905, they returned to the site to operate the successful
Olympia Café, on the ground floor of the Kensington
Building.
The four men pooled their resources to purchase property
on Smith Street just north of the café in 1910, and
three years later, began to build the first three floors
of a planned nine-storey hotel. Marble, stained glass and
other finishing materials were imported as they were determined
to create a first-class hotel. An experienced manager was
hired from the Château Laurier in Ottawa.
