This five-storey brick and stone building on Garry Street in Winnipeg, measuring 25 feet by 120 feet, was designed by local architects Daniel Smith and William Bruce and built between 1906 and 1907 by the Western Cooperative Construction Company for businessman Olivio John Biollo at a cost of about $50,000. There were twelve guest suites each comprising a bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room; and 35 single rooms. On the main floor was a guest parlor and dining hall. An electric elevator provided access to the upper levels and each floor had a bathroom and lavatory. It opened officially on 7 November 1907.
Unable to obtain a liquor permit, Biollo leased the building to the proprietors of the neighbouring, and dry, Wellington Hotel. In 1913, interior alterations were designed by local architects John Simpson Hooper and William Thraves Davis and completed by contractor A. E. Hanna at a cost of about $10,000. The two buildings operated under the Wellington name until 1922 when the building was sold and the name changed to the Garrick Hotel.
In 1939, interior alterations were designed by local architects Walter Percy Over and Ewart Fitz Munn and completed by day labour, with structural steel provided by the Vulcan Iron Works, at a cost of about $4,000.
The iconic neon was erected in the mid 1940s when Shea’s Brewery owned the hotel. In April 2017, it became a municipally-designated historic site.
Garrick Hotel (June 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Garrick Hotel (November 2020)
Source: George Penner
Garrick Hotel (April 2024)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89372, W97.14045
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Daniel Smith (1840-1913)
Memorable Manitobans: William Bruce (1852-?)
Manitoba Business: Western Cooperative Construction Company
Memorable Manitobans: Olivo John Biollo (1883-1963)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Biollo House (494 College Avenue, Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: John Simpson Hooper (1875-1940)
Memorable Manitobans: William Thraves Davis (1882-1954)
Memorable Manitobans: Walter Percy Over (1874-1944)
Memorable Manitobans: Ewart Fitz Munn (1885-1968)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Wolseley Hotel / Mount Royal Hotel (186 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 3261/1906, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Mount Royal Hotel,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 November 1907, page 28.
“Building permits small in value,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 June 1913, page 15.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 158/1939, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Garrick Hotel, Historical Buildings Inventory, City of Winnipeg, 2004.
287 Garry Street - The Garrick Hotel, Winnipeg Downtown Places
The Castle of College Avenue (2). The Biollos’ Fall by Christian Cassidy, West End Dumplings.
We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk, Christian Cassidy, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 19 August 2025
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