Memorable Manitobans: Max Zev Blankstein (1874-1931)

Architect.

Born at Odessa, Russia in January 1874, where he received architectural training, he emigrated to Canada in 1904 and was the first Jewish architects to register and practise in Manitoba.

He was married twice, first to Esther Goldin (1881-1906) with whom he had two children: Verna “Vera” Blankstein (1902-1920) and Isaac Wolfe Blankstein (1904-1990). In 1907, he married her sister Laika “Lena” Goldin (1890-1959) and they had five more children: Cecil Blankstein, Eva Rebecca Blankstein, Evelyn Blankstein, Frederick “Ingy” Blankstein (1921-2018), and Morley Blankstein, three of whom became architects.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 131 Machray Avenue, on 31 December 1931 and was buried in the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery. The holdings of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada include drawings by Blankstein of one of Winnipeg’s most iconic buildings, the Uptown Theatre.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Adas Yeshurun Synagogue	217 McGregor Street, Winnipeg	1907	Demolished (?)
Aikins Court	167 Aikins Street, Winnipeg	1907
Queen’s Theatre (renovation)	239 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1908-1909
Minuk Block	254-260 Dufferin Avenue, Winnipeg	1909	Demolished (?)
Chechik, Gold and Kernham Cold Storage Warehouse	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1909
Galsky Block	656 Aberdeen Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Glesby Stables	468 Aberdeen Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Northern Block	94 McGregor Street, Winnipeg	1910	Demolished (?)
Weidman Warehouse	244-246 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Budnik Block	594-600 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Calof Warehouse	121-125 Salter Street, Winnipeg	1911
Continental Block	796 Main Street, Winnipeg	1911
Krendle Block	141 Hallet Street, Winnipeg	1911
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
McMartin House	283 Kingsway, Winnipeg	1912
Mindell House	292 Austin Street North, Winnipeg	1912
Palace Theatre	501 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Pinx Furs Store [Abraham Pinx]	494 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1912	Demolished (?)
Winnipeg Hebrew Free School (Talmud Torah)	121 Charles Street, Winnipeg	1912
Brandon Court	377 Brandon Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Alekno Block	376 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1913
Steiman Block	541 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1913
Talbot Block	250 Talbot Avenue, Winnipeg	1913
Zimmerman Block	669 Main Street, Winnipeg	1913
Alekno Block (renovations)	376 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Cohen Block	426-428 Manitoba Avenue, Winnipeg	1914	Demolished (?)
Diner Block	184 Henry Avenue, Winnipeg	1914	Demolished (?)
European Block	588 Manitoba Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Shriberg Block	1059 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Jessie Block	626 Jessie Avenue, Winnipeg	1914-1917
Kepman Apartments	640 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
North Panama Apartments	229 Machray Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Rubin Block	270 Morley Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Segal Bakery Building	610 Dufferin Avenue, Winnipeg	1915	Demolished (?)
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1915
Public Garage	167 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1916
Weidman Warehouse Stable	244-246 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1916
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1916
North End Mennonite Brethren Church	533 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg	1917
Weselake Block	503-505 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1917
Globe Bedding Warehouse	274 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1918	Destroyed by fire (2019)
Slobinsky Warehouse	24-28 Derby Street, Winnipeg	1918
Chmelnitsky Building	248-250 Derby Street, Winnipeg	1919	Demolished (?)
Weidman Warehouse (addition)	244-246 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1919
Budnik Block (addition)	594-600 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1920
New Hargrave Building	361-365 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1922
Blankstein House	131 Machray Avenue, Winnipeg	1922
Hebrew Free School	220 Andrews Street, Winnipeg	1923
Parkview Theatre	1823 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1923	Destroyed by fire (1924)
Quality Clothing Block	687 Main Street, Winnipeg	1923	Demolished (?)
Budnik Block (addition)	594-600 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1924
Winnipeg Cold Storage Building (addition)	422 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg	1924
Mindell Block	607-609 Main Street, Winnipeg	1925
Alekno Block (renovations)	376 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1926
Rose Theatre	801 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1926
Plaza Theatre	104 Marion Street, Winnipeg	1926	Demolished (?)
Weselake Block (addition and alterations)	503-505 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1926
Kim House	256 Garfield Street South, Winnipeg	1927
Palace Theatre (addition and alterations)	501 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1927
Tivoli Theatre	115 Maryland Street, Winnipeg	1927
Brick Store (addition)	494 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1927-1928	Demolished (?)
General Motors Building	155 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1928
Weselake Building	417 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1928
Mount Carmel Clinic	120 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1928-1929	Demolished (?)
Budnik Block (addition)	594-600 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1929
Lido Theatre	220 Edwards Avenue, The Pas	1929
Roxy Theatre	385 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg	1929
Miles House	241 Cathedral Avenue, Winnipeg	1930
Morton House [Henry Morton]	155 Waverley Street, Winnipeg	1930
Uptown Theatre	394 Academy Road, Winnipeg	1930-1931

See also:

Max Blankstein: Architect by Murray Peterson, Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2022.

Sources:

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registration [Vera Blankstein], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1921 Canada census, Ancestry.

“Residential permits show big increase,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 April 1926, page 9.

“Brick store on Selkirk,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 November 1927, page 19.

“Winnipeg’s new Uptown Theatre will open this evening,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 December 1931, page 16.

“M. Z. Blankstein, architect, dies early this morning,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 1931, page 1.

Winnipeg Building Index (University of Manitoba).

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950.

Obituary [Lena Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 April 1959, page 47.

Obituary [Isaac Wolfe Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 December 1990, page 62.

The Year Past 2002, Annual Report of the City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, page 14.

Obituary [Ida Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 13 August 2003, page 47.

Obituary [Morley Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 June 2015, page A30.

Obituary [Fred Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 July 2018.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

“Palace Theatre saved from wrecking ball,” CTV News, 7 June 2022.

We thank August Rivalin, Murray Peterson, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 21 March 2023

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