The Lost Series: Edmonton's Lost Buildings
By Lawrence Herzog
Herzog on Heritage | October 6, 2011 | Article 010
The built Edmonton we see today isn’t the first Edmonton. It’s not the second, or in some cases even the third. Over the last 200 years, Edmonton has grown from a fur trading post into a transportation hub and a major metropolis that is home to one million citizens.
As it did, buildings came and went, and sometimes came and went again. Sod-roofed huts were replaced by wood-frame boomtown architecture. Most of those buildings were demolished to make way for brick and stone structures, and then many of them were supplanted by mid-century concrete and steel.
Through the city’s 20th century cycles of boom and bust and a prevailing indifference regarding the value of vintage, it’s remarkable that precious remnants have survived. No wonder they now rank as some of the city’s most beloved buildings.
The many that succumbed to the wrecker’s ball are merely memories now. Here’s remembering a few of the city’s exceptional places that weren’t replaced, and never will be – not even by the promises of progress.
McDougall Mansion, 1898
John Alexander McDougall was one of Edmonton’s first pioneer entrepreneurs, and the elegant Victorian mansion he and his wife Lovisa built on top of the 103rd Street hill was a landmark for more than 75 years. They built it in 1898 for $30,000 on the southwest corner of 100 Avenue on land purchased in 1891 from the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, and the materials lavish and sophisticated. Their estate included expansive lawns, formal gardens, stables, and a tennis court. The mansion was where John passed away in 1928 at the age of 74.
The family sold the property in 1946 to the I.O.D.E. (Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire), who turned into a children’s shelter. The YWCA took possession in 1968 and, for the next six years, operated a women’s rehabilitation centre. It was demolished to make way for a new YWCA building.
Tegler Building, 1911
Many say Edmonton’s modern heritage movement was born at 9:23 on the morning of December 12, 1982. That’s when the Tegler Building was brought down by a cascade of dynamite blasts. The demolition was a call to action for many Edmontonians, who realized that if the city didn’t act to save its remaining historical buildings, there wouldn’t be anything left.
The Tegler was a beloved six-storey classically-styled landmark, clad in red brick and sandstone. It was built to last using reinforced steel and concrete by Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert Tegler on a 100-foot frontage on the southeast corner of 101A Avenue and 101 Street.
Edmonton architects Herbert Alton Magoon and his partner George Health MacDonald adorned Tegler’s building, with such classical touches as a two-storey balcony with columns and balustrade. Before dynamite brought the building down, several parts were salvaged, including the ornate balconette, chunks of marble, and Ernest Huber's 1914 mural of early Alberta life which graced the lobby above the elevators.
Edmonton Court House, 1912
Constructed over four years starting in 1908, the old Edmonton Court House was a classically influenced temple-like building that occupied nearly 40 metres (122 feet) of frontage along 100th Street just north of 102nd Avenue. Just imagine the impact when it opened in 1912, with its twin entrances framed by six Grecian columns three feet in diameter and 28 feet tall and sandstone facades facing south and east.
The classical elegance continued inside with more massive columns around a rotunda, a staircase made of marble, plaster and ornamental iron, skylights, bronze doors, and oak-panelled courtrooms. The total bill for design and construction topped $250,000, which is nearly $6 million in today’s dollars.
An addition to the main building was completed in 1954 and doubled the number of courtrooms to eight, but even the extra space couldn't handle the increasing workload. In the summer of 1972, the Court House met its fate with the wrecking ball, and was replaced with a new Woodward's store, part of Edmonton Centre, now City Centre Mall East.
Edmonton Public Library, 1923
Between 1923 and 1967, the main branch of the Edmonton Public Library was a grand French Renaissance building with Italian detailing that stood on Macdonald Drive, overlooking the river valley west of 100 Street. Jointly funded by the Andrew Carnegie Corporation of New York and the City of Edmonton, the $150,000 building was constructed using cream-coloured terra-cotta clay brick and Bedford stone.
Its central entrances were flanked by four fluted Doric columns, topped with copper trim and red tile roofing. Interior finishes included Caen stone, terrazzo tile, and marble. The central portion of the main floor was crowned by a massive skylight measuring 65 feet by 24 feet, carried on ionic columns, and large windows on all sides let glorious daylight stream in.
The library was the first project for Poole Construction, the Edmonton company started by Ernest Poole and which today is a global enterprise known as PCL. When the end came, the City chose Poole Construction to demolish the building. It fell in 1969 to make way for the 34-storey Alberta Government Telephones tower, now known as TELUS House.
Edmonton Arena, 1912
Built starting in 1912 as the Edmonton Stock Pavilion, and pressed into service for hockey when the Thistle Rink burned down, the building that came to be known as the Edmonton Gardens was the city's hockey shrine for more than 60 years. At the beginning, ice was created by dumping thousands upon thousands of gallons of water onto a floor 210 feet long and 84 feet wide. There was no refrigeration, and so crews left the doors open so that the water would freeze.
The Edmonton Arena took a big step to respectability in 1937 when an ice-making plant was constructed, adding about 10 weeks to the hockey season, and feeling back into the fingers and toes of chilled spectators. A four-storey addition in 1949, designed by city architect Maxwell Dewar, gave it a new south facade and brought its seating capacity to 7,729.
Edmontonians had a rocky relationship with the Gardens, affectionately calling it "the cow barn," and cursing its awful sight lines and uncomfortable seats. Dozens of structural steel girders forced spectators to bob and weave to see the action on the ice. In 1966 the building was condemned as a fire hazard.
But it was a place where magic happened time and time again. The Gardens served as the home rink for Alberta senior champion Edmonton Flyers, the Edmonton Oil Kings, and the Edmonton Oilers from 1972 to 1974, when they played in the World Hockey Association.
The Oilers moved into the new Northlands Coliseum, and the Gardens was slated for demolition to make way for the Northlands Agricom (now the Edmonton Exposition and Conference Centre). The effort to bring the Gardens down commenced on January 20, 1982, but repeated blasts with dynamite proved unsuccessful. Crews resorted to a wrecking ball to finish the job.
Next time: Edmonton’s lost theatres.
Photos:
Tegler Building, 1914. City of Edmonton Archives, EA-10-367
Edmonton Court House, 1940. City of Edmonton Archives, EA-29-40
Edmonton Public Library. City of Edmonton Archives, EA-10-365
Edmonton Gardens, circa 1950. City of Edmonton Archives, EA-356-1.
© 2011 Lawrence Herzog, All Rights Reserved.
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