The Manitoba Legislative Building, originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, located in central Winnipeg, Manitoba and is the twelfth provincial heritage site of Manitoba. Along with the Legislative Assembly, the building also accommodates the offices of Manitoba’s Premier, the Lieutenant Governor, and the ministers and deputy ministers of provincial government departments.
The neoclassical, Beaux-Arts-style building was completed in 1920 along with its famed Golden Boy, a gold-covered bronze statue based on the style of the Roman god Mercury (Greek: Hermes) that sits at the top of the building’s cupola. Standing at 77 meters (253 ft) tall, it was designed and built by Frank Worthington Simon (1862–1933) and Henry Boddington III, along with other masons and many skilled craftsmen. With the abolition of the Legislative Council in 1876, the third building had a single chamber.
History
The current building is the third facility used by Winnipeg, Manitoba’s legislative assembly. The first was a log structure located at the residence of A.G.B. Bannatyne at Main Street and McDermot Avenue until its destruction by fire in 1873. After that, temporary facilities were used until 1884, when the second building was opened north of Government House, on the same grounds as the current Legislative building. With the opening of the third Legislative Building, the second building was no longer required. It was thus used as classroom space for the nearby University of Manitoba until 1920 when it was demolished. On the site of this building was also a statue of Queen Victoria, commissioned after her death in 1904 for C$15,000. (This statue will be moved to the front of the current building’s grounds.
By 1909, Manitoba sought a more extensive and impressive building for its legislature, considering the province’s booming economy and a population that had expanded sevenfold since 1881. In its 1911 annual report, the Department of Public Works said that the “congested state of all the Departments in the Legislative Buildings renders necessary the erection of more commodious buildings at the earliest possible date.” Bed Bug Exterminator Winnipeg
The Golden Boy
Each of the four corners of the copper dome supporting the Golden Boy has a stonework grouping representing the elements of alchemy, earth, air, fire, and water. They are identified as Agriculture, Science, Industry, and Art. The dome is 68.18 meters (223.69 ft) above the main floor. The height of the central tower without the Golden Boy is 74 meters (242.8 ft). The statue was first installed in 1919, called Eternal Youth, and sculpted by Parisian artist Georges Garden. The Golden Boy was last regilded and refurbished in 2002 and is illuminated by floodlights.
Address: 450 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB
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