Alexander Docks were 'big part of Winnipeg's story,' now face possible demolition

Facing an uncertain future after a decade of being fenced off and abandoned, Winnipeg's 95-year-old Alexander Docks are a remnant of a lost era in the city's history.

The dilapidated and ice-battered wooden wharf along the Red River, missing planks like a gap-toothed grin, has been closed since 2015 due to structural safety concerns. An engineering report is set to determine their fate, with demolition a possibility.

The docks might be overlooked by most passersby now, but they once played a pivotal role in developing Winnipeg and northern Manitoba.

"I can't overstate how important they were, I can't, with all the history. The docks are a big part of Winnipeg's story," said Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg.

"The rivers are a critical component and those docks were a critical component."

They were built with federal money at the foot of Alexander Avenue in 1929 at the edge of what was once Victoria Park, a key gathering place during the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

At the time, rail lines still threaded down what is now Waterfront Drive and coal-belching steamships lined up with cargo.

"I pulled up a list of the steamships operating and it was page after page after page," said City of Winnipeg heritage officer Murray Peterson, noting that with each of those ships came with dozens of employees.

"The shipping, the transportation, being the hub was something that made an important economic difference to Winnipeg."

It was the second public wharf built in the city by the feds.

The first was in 1915 at Rover Avenue, between Annabella and Syndicate streets, where timber used to build the future metropolis landed.

According to the Manitoba Historical Society, the wood was stacked then moved to building sites. Soon, however, private commercial docks were built and the public one's use waned.

The cities of Winnipeg and St. Boniface had long urged the federal government to build a wharf closer to the centre of industry and commerce, at the lip of the warehouse district.

That finally happened in 1928, when the government bought riverfront land from the Guest Fishing Company — whose warehouse still stands at 90 Alexander Avenue but is now marked as Great West Metal.