Shea's Amphitheatre, also known as the Winnipeg Amphitheatre, was an indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. It seated 6,000 spectators. Constructed between 1908-1909 for

horse shows A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...

, the Amphitheatre was also used as an indoor

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

during the winter, with an ice surface measuring . It was, for a time, the only artificial ice surface between

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Today, the headquarters of

The Great-West Life Assurance Company The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assuran ...

occupy the site.

Location

The Amphitheatre was situated on the northeast corner of Whitehall Avenue (subsequently renamed Osborne Place) and Colony Street, some distance west of Osborne Street. Neither Whitehall Avenue nor Osborne Place exists today, although a stretch remains in use as a driveway at Balmoral Street, marked in the sidewalk by its newer name. It was an east-west street connecting Colony with Osborne and running parallel to Mostyn Place. At the north end of the amphitheatre was another east-west street that no longer exists: Brydges Avenue. North of Brydges and south of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

was Shea's Brewery. According to archives of the Granite Curling Club:

A massive wooden structure, the Amphitheatre doubled as the arena for summer horse shows and an exhibition hall, and as an indoor skating rink in the winter. Somewhat later, the property that is now the older Great West Life Building was for decades
Osborne Stadium Osborne Stadium was a multi-sport outdoor stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It operated from 1932 until 1956, and hosted Canadian football home games for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and baseball games in the Mandak League. The stadium was al ...
, until
Winnipeg Stadium Canad Inns Stadium (also known as Winnipeg Stadium) was a multipurpose stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The stadium was located at the corner of St. James Street and Maroons Road, immediately north of the Polo Park Shopping Centre and the ...
in St. James was built in the mid-1950s. The area, therefore, formed a disjointed
sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...
, with good access to the street-car lines and considerable public profile...

History

Constructed between 1908-1909 for the Winnipeg Horse Show Company's

, the Amphitheatre was designed by Winnipeg architects

Ralph Benjamin Pratt Ralph Benjamin Pratt (9 August 1872 – 14 March 1950) was a Canadian architect known for his work as a staff architect for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway, and for his work as a member of the firm Pratt and Ross ...

and

Donald Aynsley Ross Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

. By 1910, it was also used as an indoor

for skating and hockey, with an ice surface measuring . After doubling its seating capacity to around 6,000 in 1914, it became the major venue for hockey games in Winnipeg. It hosted the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

tournament numerous times, the last of which was in 1953. Junior championship games were also held at the Amphitheatre, drawing in local teams like the

Elmwood Millionaires The Elmwood Millionaires is a now defunct Canadian Junior Hockey team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Millionaires, based in Elmwood, Manitoba, won 5 straight Turnbull Cup Championships as Manitoba Junior ‘A’ Champions, 1927, 1928, 1 ...

, St. Boniface Seals,

Portage Terriers The Portage Terriers are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. History The Portage Terriers were fou ...

, and the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hoc ...

. For several years, it was also the venue of the

Shrine Circus The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in Detroit, Michigan on Woodward Avenue in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the former Ancient Ara ...

. Big-name celebrities also visited the Amphitheatre, such as

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

in 1952. In 1943,

Winnipeg City Council The Winnipeg City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Winnipeg) is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.overcrowding Overcrowding or crowding is the condition where more people are located within a given space than is considered tolerable from a safety and health perspective. Safety and health perspectives depend on current environments and on local cultural n ...

as the main issue. Alderman Scott called the Amphitheatre "one of the most flammable buildings in Winnipeg." The Amphitheatre was made redundant by the construction of the

Winnipeg Arena Winnipeg Arena was an indoor arena located in the Polo Park district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The arena was the city's premier ice hockey venue from 1955 to 2004 and is best remembered as the home of the first Winnipeg Jets franchise, whic ...

in 1955 and was demolished the summer after, hosting its last event on May 31. The artificial ice plant was purchased by the owners of the

Winnipeg Warriors The Winnipeg Warriors were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Hockey League. They were founded as an expansion team in 1980, but suffered from attendance problems competing with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League and ...

and relocated to Winnipeg's

Olympic Rink Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

. Currently occupying the site is the headquarters of

Canada Life The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assura ...

(then Great West Life Assurance Company), built between 1958 and 1959 and designed by Toronto architects Marani and Morris and the Winnipeg firm of Moody Moore and Partners.

References

{{reflist Defunct indoor arenas in Canada Defunct indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Sports venues in Winnipeg Indoor arenas in Manitoba Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg