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26-455: It has five levels including indoor parking for 729 vehicles, and three levels of various meeting trade show space totalling 260,000 square feet (24,000 m). The main exhibit hall has 131,000 square feet (12,200 m) of pillar-less space. The convention centre is connected to the Winnipeg Walkway system via a skywalk connection crossing St. Mary Avenue and Hargrave Street, connecting

52-616: A Toronto-based company. The purchase included both the Winnipeg Square shopping mall and the former Commodity Exchange tower, now known as 360 Main for approximately $ 102.5 million. In 2008, the owner of the Shops of Winnipeg Square began a $ 3 million upgrade to Winnipeg Square and the lobby to 360 Main . In 2010, Artis Real Estate Investment Trust acquired the remaining 62% stake in the former Commodity Exchange Tower /Winnipeg Square complex for $ 70.7 million. The Winnipeg Square parkade

78-564: A sports venue and was home to the Winnipeg Cyclone basketball team from 1995 to 2001. A $ 180-million expansion, completed between 2012 and 2015, roughly doubled the size of the facility, adding 131,000 square feet (12,200 m) of exhibit space and underground parking. In July 2013, the facility was rebranded as the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg after its naming rights were purchased by Royal Bank of Canada . By 2017

104-634: Is a 936-stall heated parking garage located between Portage Avenue and Graham Avenue , and Main Street and Fort Street. According to city documents, the parkade made a $ 1.5 million profit in 2008. In 2009, the City of Winnipeg sold the parkade to the owners of the Commodity Exchange and Winnipeg Square for $ 23.6 million. The sale involved $ 400,000 in real-estate fees paid to Shindico, the Winnipeg firm that brokered

130-593: Is a network of pedestrian skyways and tunnels connecting a significant portion of downtown Winnipeg , Manitoba . The City of Winnipeg described the Walkway as a system of 14 skyways and 7 tunnels connecting 38 buildings and allowing for a maximum protected walk of 2 km. The system also provides year-round climate-controlled access to over 170,000 m (42 acres) of space, including over 200 shops and businesses, 10 office complexes, 60 restaurants and snack bars, 700 apartment units, 2 hotels, 11 financial centres, and

156-519: Is a residential and commercial complex consisting of the Convention Centre and the various buildings of Lakeview Square . A network of pedestrian tunnels and skyways connects the following buildings, from east to west: The Convention Centre is connected by skyways to both 185 and 155 Carlton Street. The Lakeview Square development forms a 'U' around an open central courtyard which faces the Convention Centre across Carlton Street. In addition to

182-601: Is one atop each end, and there is currently a plan for an office and hotel tower to be built on the western pad. The Saint Mary Skywalk is both the smallest, and the most tenuously-linked segment of the Winnipeg Walkway System. Its only connection to the network is via the parkade of The Bay department store. Beginning from The Bay parkade eastward, the Saint Mary Skywalk connects two buildings between Vaughan and Edmonton Street: The western segment of

208-573: The Shops of Winnipeg Square ) is an underground shopping mall located at Portage and Main in downtown Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada . It was built in 1979 by Smith Carter Parkin for the Trizec Corporation , and has 45 stores and restaurants. It also includes the 300 Main apartment block, 330 Main surface level retail complex, and the 360 Main Commodity Exchange Tower (also known as

234-471: The Winnipeg Millennium Library , bringing together 21,000 employees. The walkway system has expanded since its initial construction. The Walkway is subdivided into four interconnected segments: its skyways chiefly cover Portage , Graham , and St. Mary Avenues; and its underground section includes Winnipeg Square and the underground Portage and Main concourse. It is open every day of

260-1010: The "Signatures Handmade Market", the Mid-Canada Boat Show, the Manitoba RV Show and Sale, the Winnipeg Career Fair, the Home & Garden Show (formerly Home Expression Show), the Winnipeg Comicon Show, a Wedding Show. In the 1970s it was the host venue for the Progressive Conservative (1976) and the Liberal (June 1984?) leadership conventions. The WCC was the site of the January 1983 PC party convention where Joe Clark decided to step down as leader. All provincial leadership conventions, except recent NDP, since 1975 have been held at

286-551: The Power Building on the south side of Portage Avenue. Via an open-air connection through the covered parkade of The Bay, the network reaches further south, providing access to the Saint Mary Skywalk. More specifically, from east to west, the Portage Skywalk links the following: As was the case with the construction of Winnipeg Square , structural pads were built atop Portage Place to allow for future upward expansion. There

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312-620: The Saint Mary Skywalk ends at 400 Saint Mary Avenue; however, it continues again from the RBC Convention Centre , whose entrance faces Edmonton Street, and connects into the Graham Skywalk via Cityplace . The connection between the pre-existing Convention Centre walkway system and the Winnipeg Walkway system was completed in 2010. On the two blocks bordered by Edmonton Street, Saint Mary Avenue, York Avenue, and Hargrave Street

338-573: The Trizec Building). Winnipeg Square is connected to the Winnipeg Walkway through the Concourse which links all four corners of the city's main office district via an underground roundabout . It has been estimated that 16,000 people pass through Winnipeg Square each weekday. The mall was purchased from Oxford Properties Group and GE Capital Canada Inc in September 2007 by Crown Realty Partners,

364-530: The Winnipeg Convention Centre. The convention centre has hosted pop culture events such as the anime convention Ai-Kon , Central Canada Comic Con until 2019, and its spiritual successor Winnipeg Comiccon since 2021. It hosted Pemmi-Con—the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention —in 2023. Winnipeg Walkway The Winnipeg Walkway System , also known as the Winnipeg Skywalk ,

390-565: The Winnipeg Walkway, is another smaller enclosed pedestrian network in downtown Winnipeg that is not currently connected to the principal Walkway network. Another series of interconnected buildings straddle Main Street, approximately 1 km north of Portage and Main . On the west side of Main Street is the Winnipeg Civic Centre and on the east side is the Manitoba Centennial Centre . This pedestrian network's tunnels link

416-544: The announcing press conference. Originally named the Winnipeg Convention Centre, the publicly-owned facility was built and opened in 1975. The building, designed by Canadian architect Isadore (Issie) Coop , of the Number Ten Architectural Group, was among the first "purpose-built" convention centre of its kind built in Canada. Aside from trade shows and conventions, the Convention Centre has also been used as

442-448: The annual visitor count to the Winnipeg Convention Centre had increased by about 50,000 to 557,000 which was directly related to the WCC expansion. Beginning in January 2021, the facility began operating as a "super site" for COVID-19 vaccinations. The Winnipeg Convention Centre hosts regularly scheduled annual events such as a New Years' Eve dinner and dance, a Christmas crafts show known as

468-404: The deal. Next to Winnipeg Square was the prairie regional headquarters of Scotiabank , at 200 Portage Ave. , a five-storey building that opened on September 13, 1979. Scotiabank has since moved their headquarters to the more modern True North Square at 242 Hargrave St., while maintaining a branch at 200 Portage Ave. featuring a more prominent street entrance (under construction). As part of

494-727: The following public buildings: Unlike the Convention Centre pedestrian network, creating a pedestrian link between the Civic Centre and the principal Winnipeg Walkway System is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Not only is the distance great between the Main Underground and the Civic Centre, but any connection between the two would require sensitive tunneling underneath turn-of-the-century heritage buildings over several blocks. 49°53′44″N 97°08′19″W  /  49.89556°N 97.13861°W  / 49.89556; -97.13861 Winnipeg Square Winnipeg Square (also known as

520-428: The following: The Canada Life Centre can be said to be a major hub in the Winnipeg Walkway network as it connects the Graham Skywalk to the Portage Skywalk. The Portage Skywalk segment of the Winnipeg Walkway boasts many of the shopping and entertainment attractions most often associated with downtown Winnipeg . An extensive network of skyways and second-floor pedestrian rights-of-way connects various buildings on

546-450: The intersection of Graham Avenue and Fort Street, there are escalator, lift and stairway connections to the second floor of 200 Graham Avenue, thereby connecting the Main Underground to the Graham Skywalk. There are several structural pads atop Winnipeg Square, with 360 Main and 300 Main built upon them. Construction of the 42-story residential tower at 300 Main Street began in Fall 2018, and

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572-438: The network is centred underneath the historic intersection of Portage and Main . At street level, this intersection is closed to pedestrians; it is not (legally) possible to cross it without going underground. On a much smaller scale, this segment is somewhat reminiscent of Montreal's Underground City . Via a network of tunnels, the Main Underground connects the following: At the southwestern corner of Winnipeg Square , near

598-503: The south side of Portage Avenue , with the three-block Portage Place shopping and entertainment complex between Carlton and Vaughan Street on the north side. Several neighbouring residential, recreational and commercial buildings, including the One Canada Centre tower between Vaughan and Colony Street, are directly connected to Portage Place. At the western edge of Portage Place there is a skyway link to The Bay department store and

624-556: The venue to the neighbouring Delta hotel, Cityplace , and Canada Life Centre . The convention centre was recommended as part of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro) Downtown Development Plan of 1969. Metro and the Province of Manitoba announced the $ 35-million Winnipeg Convention Centre on 10 September 1970. Always in opposition to metropolitan government, Mayor of Winnipeg Stephen Juba did not attend

650-584: The week, typically from 07:00 AM to 12:30 AM, though some individual building hours vary. Beginning in 2004, in anticipation of the openings of the MTS Centre and Millennium Library , a new unified system of signage was developed for the entire network to assist wayfinding therein. This process brought with it the branding of the system as the Winnipeg Walkway and the subdivision of the network into four interconnected segments. The Main Underground portion of

676-484: Was completed in 2021, making it Winnipeg's tallest building. The Graham Skywalk consists of a series of skyways connecting the buildings on the south side of Graham Avenue, between Main and Hargrave Street, as well as the Canada Life Centre (the former site of the historic Eaton's store) and the former Eaton's power station on the north side. From east to west, this portion of the network provides access to

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