WHY WAS THE JAMES AVE PUMPING STATION BUILT?
Winnipeg was growing rapidly. Massive stone warehouses with wooden post and beam construction were springing up all over the warehouse district. The trade they did in supplying all of western Canada was so good they kept expanding and new firms wanted to expand into Winnipeg. The major problem they were facing were Winnipeg’s high fire insurance rates because of the reduced ability of the fire department to fight fires. There simply wasn’t enough water coming out of the fire hydrants to do the job. The answer a high pressure pumping station called the James Ave Pumping Station. When complete it became the pride of the City Waterworks and Fire Department and was partly responsible for the construction of additional warehouse capacity. COL RUTTAN The Pumping Station was designed by City Engineer Lt Col Henry Norlonde Ruttan. He was borne in Ontario in 1848 and served as a survey engineer to Sir Sanford Fleming. He began his career as City Engineer starting in 1885 and would serve for the
