Winnipeg’s historic Carnegie Library gets new life as city archives prepare to come home

The former Carnegie Library in Winnipeg is being turned into the new home for the City of Winnipeg Archives.

A building that once housed Winnipeg’s first public library will soon hold the city’s archives again — more than 13 years after a rainstorm forced the collection out.

City archivist Konrad Krahn led media on a tour of the Carnegie Library at 380 William Avenue on Monday, one day ahead of International Archives Day, offering a look at the building as it undergoes renovations.

Built between 1903 and 1905 with a $75,000 grant from American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, Krahn said the library quickly became one of the most used in the country. Shortly after opening, he said it ranked as the second most-accessed library in Canada, logging 300,000 loans per year. Demand was so high that the building was expanded just three years later, in 1908.

“This building was Winnipeg’s first purpose-built public library,” Krahn told reporters during the walkthrough.

The building has sat empty since 2013, when a severe rainstorm flooded the roof during renovations, forcing the archives to hastily relocate.

“The water came down to our archives, it flooded the archival collection, and we had to immediately remove the records to preserve them in various locations,” Krahn said.

The city’s archival collections were temporarily moved to a facility on Myrtle Street, where they have remained for the past 13 years.

Despite the disruption, Krahn said staff have worked hard to keep services running. The return to William Avenue will mark the first time in the archives’ history that it has had a purpose-built facility with a temperature- and humidity-controlled vault.

Renovations to the Carnegie Library began in October 2025, following city council’s approval of just over $22 million for the project.

During the tour, construction workers shared a small collection of artifacts uncovered during the renovation work — among them an old multimeter likely used in an electric or streetcar station, and an ether canister once used to administer anesthetic to patients.

Krahn said he is optimistic the new facility will draw Winnipeggers in, pointing to strong public engagement during the city’s 150th anniversary celebrations as evidence of the community’s appetite for local history.

“When we have a space that’s more centrally located, that’s available to the public in a beautiful space, the space itself will draw people in,” he said.

Construction is expected to be completed next year.