St. Boniface Waterworks Water Tower

The

St. Boniface Waterworks Water Tower, a large elevated steel storage tank built in 1936 and extended upward

in 1945, is located in a sprawling municipal compound in an industrial area of east Winnipeg. The City

of Winnipeg designation applies to the tower on its footprint.

The St. Boniface Waterworks

Water Tower, a black steel tank atop a tall free-standing steel frame, is a highly visible landmark and

rare example of municipal infrastructure remaining from the period before St. Boniface amalgamated with

metropolitan Winnipeg in 1972. The tower recalls the French-speaking community's efforts to attract

investment and residents by establishing an early waterworks system (1904-12) that pumped water from

artesian wells into concrete and underground reservoirs and into a tower for gravity feed through a network

of distribution mains. After 1919, when a more plentiful and consistent supply of water became available

through the Greater Winnipeg Water District (GWWD) aqueduct from Shoal Lake, St. Boniface continued to

use elevated tank storage to boost local water pressure during periods of high demand.

Source: City

of Winnipeg Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development Minutes, June 26, 2001

Key elements that define the landmark character of the St. Boniface Waterworks Water

Tower site include:

- the structure's prominence on the skyline of northeast St. Boniface, clearly

visible for substantial distances in all directions

- the location within an historic municipal waterworks

compound that also includes the terminus and repair shops of the GWWD rail line and another designated

structure, the GWWD Railway Station

Key elements that define the water tower's industrial nature

and municipal function include:

- the 454,000-litre black storage tank of steel construction, 6.4 metres

high, with a hemispherical base, shallow conical roof and 'CITY OF ST. BONIFACE' painted on

its north and south faces

- the steel-framed tower, 45.8 metres high, with four legs anchored in concrete

and stabilized by cross-braces and diagonal steel cables

- utilitarian details such as the simple metal

service ladder, the tank's catwalk with a latticed guardrail, the spherical rooftop water level

indicator, etc.