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McLeod Building
Edmonton
Other Names:
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McLeod Block
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The McLeod Building is a nine-storey brick and terra cotta structure in the Chicago Commercial style on a prominent corner in downtown Edmonton.
Heritage Value
The McLeod Building, designed in the Chicago Commercial style and as the only remaining terracotta-clad building in the city, is valued for its landmark status, its architecture and its unique decoration, which reflects the height of Edwardian-era architectural influences in Edmonton. Noted as the best local example of its kind, its style reflects a refined neo-classicism that was reinvented at the Chicago World's fair of 1893 and came into popular use in American cities in the early part of the twentieth century. The building was patterned after the Polson Block in Spokane Washington and was designed by the same architect, J.K. Dow.
In its association with the development of Edmonton's downtown, the significance of the McLeod Building was also that it was constructed in a prestigious office location in the heart of Edmonton's commercial core, and this was reflected in both its exterior and interior finishes. Its proximity to the former downtown post office, land titles office, courthouse and city hall attracted doctors, lawyers, insurance and grain companies, and many other prominent tenants. The building's prominence remained until the 1960's when new, modern office buildings attracted the city's elite clientele.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 277)
Character-Defining Elements
The building's Chicago Commercial style and distinction among other buildings in Edmonton are exemplified by the following elements:
EXTERIOR:
- prominent corner location and orientation toward Edmonton's city hall and plaza;
- form, scale and massing;
- Chicago Commercial styling;
- tripartite exterior design, separating main floor, intermediate storeys and top floor to echo base, shaft and captial of classical column design;
- regularly-spaced fenestration consisting of one over one equally divided double-hung windows;
- ivory terra cotta on the north and east facades, windowsills, lintels and cornices, and matching glazed yellow brick on the west and south facades;
- classical revival detailing, including highly decorated cornice and polychrome friezes;
- "MCLEOD BVILDING" name band along the east-facing storefront frieze, and "JOHN K. DOW ARCHITECT 1913" inscription above the north-facing storefront cornice;
- the ground floor commercial storefront configuration.
INTERIOR:
- the front entrance lobby including Pavanose marble panelling;
- marble staircase, cast iron and wood balustrade and marble paneling from the ground floor to the penthouse;
- elevator lobbies and corridors with six foot marble wainscoting, decorative plaster and oak trim;
- original office doors and frames;
- original brass Cutler mail chute system.
Location
| Street Address: |
10134 - 100 Street NW |
| Community: |
Edmonton |
| Boundaries: |
Units 1 to 99, Condominium Plan 0322757 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Buildings: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
4
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24
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53
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4
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4 (ptn.)
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
Condo Plan 0322757
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N/A
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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53.542019 |
-113.490912 |
Secondary Source |
NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1995/01/03 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1913 to 1915 |
| Period of Significance: |
1912 to 1960 |
| Theme(s): |
Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce
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| Historic Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Bank or Stock Exchange
Commerce / Commercial Services : Office or Office Building
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| Current Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Eating or Drinking Establishment
Residence : Multiple Dwelling
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| Architect: |
John K. Dow
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
Kenneth McLeod, a former Edmonton alderman, contractor and real estate speculator, announced the construction of the McLeod Building in 1912, claiming it would be the highest in the city, 25 feet taller than the Tegler. McLeod commissioned the architect John K. Dow to create a design modelled upon that of the Polson Building in Spokane, Washington. Construction of the nine-storey structure began in 1913 and was completed in 1915. Twelve hundred tons of steel was required, mainly because McLeod ordered footings to be 11 square feet, large enough for a 50-storey building. It was also the first building in Edmonton to be wired with conduit. The contractors of the 600,000 dollar building were Olsen and Johnson, and the steel contractors were McPhee and Nicodemus.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The McLeod Building is regarded as Alberta's best remaining example of the "Chicago School" of commercial architecture which was developed in Chicago at the turn of the century by architects such as Louis Sullivan, Holabird and Roche, William Jenny, and Burnham and Root. Chicago School features include the massing and stressed verticality, heavy overhanging cornice, the use of terra cotta on the exterior (rare in Edmonton and Alberta), and the three-part division into ground storey, intermediate floors, and top floor with cornice. Despite this modernity, many details such as the balconet over the entry, window keystones, colored tiles, entablature with heavy modillions and classical ornamentation along the cornice edge, reflect Edwardian classicism.
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-0521 |
| Designation File: |
DES 0277 |
| Related Listing(s): |
4664-0109
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 59475
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 277) |
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