The Walker Theatre looks half-finished with a grand, neo-classical entrance lit by a line of lightbulbs along the marquee. The arched window in the centre of this façade is capped by a carved keystone depicting a masked face. Past that point, though, much of the façade is unadorned brick covered by sporadic murals.

There is a reason for this; when it opened in 1907, the Walker Theatre was step one of a larger plan to create a hotel, restaurant, and entertainment complex. In theory, the entire building was meant to look like the grand entrance – but a lack of funding prevented this from happening.

This is no discredit to the Walker Theatre, as it was easily the grandest opera house in Winnipeg when it opened. Described as “absolutely fireproof”, the theatre is made of steel-frames and stone walls set on a deep concrete foundation. Inside, the 1,800-seat theatre is graced with walls of ornate ornamental plaster, rosetted lights, and a frieze of maple leaves.

As opera houses fell out of favour in the 1930s, the Walker Theatre was converted into the Odeon Movie Theatre. It returned to a live performance venue in the 1990s, renamed the Burton Cummings Theatre.