After all, while Winnipeg commerce was rooted in unabashed, old-fashioned speculation and expansion in the early 1900s, there was a parallel movement that modern residents might find foreign: The City Beautiful.

Even as the original body of Winnipeg was still gangly and experiencing unprecedented growth, the Winnipeg Planning Commission members had already adopted the ancient concept that a more aesthetically pleasing and welcoming community actually creates better people.

The City Beautiful Movement was born in Chicago in the late 19th century and put on display during the World's Expo of 1893. Winnipeg Mayor Sanford Evans became a convert. At its essence, the philosophy of City Beautiful was simple: a healthy, attractive, vibrant community attracted and developed a healthy, attractive and vibrant population. The concept ranged from background gardens to timeless monuments and thoroughfares, such as Washington's National Mall.

But the roots of the movement stretch back as far as Versailles.

"The great cities of the world had beautiful causeways and wonderful malls and open and greenery," Albo said. "They were meant to be sources of inspiration... imagining the city as a Utopia. They thought of a master plan for the city. We understand there's a master plan for sheets of music and a building. But imagine a master plan for a whole city.

"Build it, and they will come."

Broadway, for example, was Western Canada's first boulevard. Original plans called for stately mansions, beautifully tree-lined streets and water fountains – all the way from the Manitoba Legislative Building to the Fort Garry Hotel. Meanwhile, the blueprint also included the Mall of Triumph, where the new, palatial city hall – designed but never built – was to be erected in the early 1900s on what is now Memorial Boulevard. The city hall would have been a six storey, grey Kenora granite structure, based on the design of Buckingham Palace, at an estimated cost of $2.4 million (in 1913 dollars).

Meanwhile, the Exchange District and Main Street was the opulent Bankers' Row.

"Similarly, these architectural dreamers believed that certain rules... had this value," Albo offered. "As someone who's been looking at this for a great deal of time, I think they're actually right. I think if you have a beautifully designed city, people will like it. And it will make them be proud of their city. It will make them not want to litter. It will make them feel a sense of comfort and joy about being a citizen of Winnipeg.

"The people from elsewhere who came here with these grand visions, I think they were onto something."

The fledgling city even had a subcommittee under the title of "Aesthetic Development", an offshoot of the planning commission, which help mould a proposal submitted by J.D. Atchison, one of Winnipeg's City Beautiful proponents.

"Such buildings," the report stated, "will necessarily be of such importance that they will be monumental in character and of the highest standard of architecture, in contrast with buildings erected by private individuals for purely commercial purposes."

The report was referring specifically to the legislative building. But also the new city hall – which represented the "city's importance as a capital of Manitoba and the commercial centre of Western Canada" to be erected at the north end of the Mall of Triumph.

In fact, the first ever "Housing and Town Congress", a City Beautiful offshoot that drew representatives from across the U.S. and Europe, was held in Winnipeg on July 15, 1912.

"You must not forget that some of the problems which confront you are not permanently solved," Prince Arthur, the governor general and a son of Queen Victoria, told assembled delegates. "The city is ever on the move. Where you have shot prairie chicken your sons will transact business. Where your fathers fought against indians (sic) we are standing this morning... so you must look to it that your improvements keep pace with the growth of the city and at times even show an intelligent anticipation of such growth."

Hence came a push not just for majestic architecture, but – just as importantly – wide open spaces for recreation and mental health. Hello, Assiniboine Park. Hello, Grandma Elm. Behold Shoal Lake Aqueduct, the source of Winnipeg's drinking water.

But here's the juicy, nasty part: City Beautiful, at its core, was a direct response – some elites thought the answer – to the real Winnipeg. The Winnipeg of countless saloons, prostitutes, rivers of flowing beer – there were six times as many bars as churches – and filthy, overcrowded slums and deadly diseases.