|
Campbell Block
Lacombe
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Campbell Block is a two-storey brick clad building prominently situated on two-and-a-half lots in Lacombe's Historic Downtown. The noteworthy structure boasts an expansive front façade designed to incorporate two large retail bays at the street level. The upper floor includes elements of the Chicago School, including eight large symmetric windows with vertical lines pushing upward to a horizontal bracketed cornice and brick parapet.
Heritage Value
The significance of the Campbell Block is derived from the heritage values of the community, as expressed in the Thematic Framework: Lacombe Architecture and Local Commercial Centre. The Campbell Block's unique construction and architecture were directly connected to the pre-1900 and interwar development periods.
The current iteration of the Campbell Block was erected in 1920. However, the western wing of the Block was built in 1899 during the City's first significant boom period. This boom period began with the 1894 union of two separate and largely disjointed surveys, which created the Lacombe Townsite and the unique, angular downtown. The initial land survey opened the town for land sales and launched a prolonged population boom that continued until WWI.
Population growth also fueled the economic development of the community. The commercial core was developed quickly to meet the needs of the expanding community. The boom, in part, led to quicker, undersized, and less expensive building methods utilizing wood-frame as the primary construction medium – building quickly to keep up with demand.
In 1899, local merchant M.J. Macleod's store, The Leading Store, outgrew its existing structure on Nanton Street (50th Street), which he opened circa 1896. Macleod saw a need to develop a newer and more prominent storefront to meet community demands. Macleod's choice location was the corner of two major arteries in the downtown area, Nanton Street and Barnet Avenue (50th and 50th). The new Leading Store opened in November 1899 and was regaled by an Edmonton newspaper as the 'finest store in Alberta.' The Leading Store became a cornerstone institution in Lacombe and miraculously survived two major fires that destroyed most wood-frame structures in the downtown area (1906, 1911).
M. J. Macleod left to become the Province's first Deputy Treasurer in 1905. The store continued its success under new ownership (Burdick and Blair) and was eventually purchased by local merchant A.M. Campbell after losing his own store during the disastrous fire of 1906.
Campbell's new Leading Store remained a vital institution and weathered the economic downturn brought about by WWI. By 1920, optimism had fueled a brief resurgence of development throughout Alberta. Campbell leveraged this optimism in the redevelopment of his site, turning the seminal general store into an up-to-date department store.
The local newspaper hailed it as a 'modern' business block that would significantly enhance the aesthetics of Lacombe's Main Street. The new building conjoined a modern brick and metal east-wing with the original wood-frame store (west-wing). Seamlessly developed to appear as one, the new modern structure featured red-brick cladding and Chicago School elements such as large second-storey windows, cornice with modillions, and brick parapet.
Campbell Block's design echoed commercial buildings erected during Lacombe's pre-WWI boom years, although it was set apart by its scale, modest detailing, and distinctive upper windows. The solid yet elegant simplicity (indicative of the Chicago School) breathed renewed life into Lacombe's early cornerstone institution, The Leading Store.
Source: Research File: Campbell_Block_MHR_2023
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements include:
Site
- Corner lot at the corner of 50th and 50th
- Historic Downtown, Commercial Core
- Two and a half lots
Plan
- Form, scale, and mass
- 1920s Chicago School (commercial architecture)
- Two storey, irregular
- Two separate storefronts on the street level Envelope
- Wood-frame (west) - Brick and metal construction (east)
- Red brick cladding (south and west)
- Distinctly two structures married as one
- Flat roof
- Fenestration (windows, storefronts, doors, etc)
Finishes
- Extant original fixtures (doors and windows) on west and south elevations
- Eight second storey, large wood frame windows
- Sign band
- Piers
- Display windows
- Cornice with modillions
- Brick parapet
Interior
- Mezzanine (east)
- Extant original materials and fixtures, including flooring on mezzanine, railing, stairs, tin ceiling, etc
Location
| Street Address: |
4918 - 50 Avenue |
| Community: |
Lacombe |
| Boundaries: |
Lots 1, 2 and a Portion of Lot 3, Block 3, Plan RN1 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Buildings: 1
|
ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
|
Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
RN1
|
3
|
1,2,3
|
|
Latitude/Longitude:
|
Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
|
52.46345 |
-113.73037 |
GPS |
NAD83 |
UTM Reference:
|
Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2024/02/26 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1899 to 1920 |
| Period of Significance: |
1899 to 1920 |
| Theme(s): |
Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
|
| Historic Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Shop or Wholesale Establishment
|
| Current Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Shop or Wholesale Establishment
|
| Architect: |
|
| Builder: |
|
| Context: |
|
|
|
Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0518 |
| Designation File: |
|
| Related Listing(s): |
4665-1347
|
| Heritage Survey File: |
|
| Website Link: |
|
| Data Source: |
City of Lacombe, Planning and Development Services |
|