The gleaming statue atop the Manitoba Legislature, hoisting a lit torch like a beacon in his right hand while clasping a sheaf of wheat in his left, is not merely a symbol of prosperity at the gateway to the west. Nor is he just a naked likeness of an athletic young man poised to lead the youth of this province toward economic opportunity and a brighter future. No, it’s best that you forget what you think you know about the Golden Boy, and open your mind to what you don’t know about him — like his identity, for starters.
It’s just one of the paradoxes of Manitoba’s Legislative Building, and only the tip of the iceberg of the infinite mysteries uncovered by author and architectural historian Dr. Frank Albo, who has dedicated a great portion of his life’s research to encoding the cryptic symbols, numerological codes and geometric proportions hidden in plain view within this house of government. Built between 1913-1920, a time when Winnipeg was one of the fastest-growing cities in North America and celebrated as the
modern living with a pr airie t wist
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