October 9, 2025

Heritage At Risk: The Peck Building

On October 8th, 2025, the National Trust for Canada released its 2025 Endangered Places List, intended to bring attention to challenging heritage sites and support the communities trying to save them. This year the list includes Winnipeg’s Peck Building at 33 Princess Street, which was nominated by Heritage Winnipeg.

Constructed in 1893 as a four storey building for J.W. Peck and Company, the Peck Building is a handsome expression of the Romanesque Revival style. A major fire in January 1900 severely damaged the north half of the building, but as the walls were still standing, the building was repaired. Two storeys were added to the south section of the building in 1907, this time in the Neoclassical style, while maintaining the original fenestration. With two ornamental facades that include carved red sandstone grotesques, the building has become a landmark in the Exchange District.

Although the Peck Building is protected from demolition by a municipal heritage designation, there are serious concerns about its future. It has been vacant for years, and there seem to be no plans for its conservation, putting it in danger of neglect. Building owners need to be held responsible for either rehabilitating their buildings or divesting them. Sitting vacant for decades, buildings become a blight in their community, endangering and devaluing the entire neighbourhood. Built heritage should be adaptively reused so it can serve its community, contribute to a vibrant downtown and could even be used to provide much needed housing.

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