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Calgary Milling Company Building
Calgary
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Calgary Milling Company Building, built 1901-03, is a two-storey Edwardian Commercial style building featuring a rock-faced sandstone façade and decorative metal cornices. The building is situated in downtown Calgary on Stephen Avenue, a National Historic District. The property was protected as a Municipal Historic Resource in 1999 and as a Provincial Historic Resource in 2001.
Heritage Value
The Calgary Milling Company Building survives as the only tangible reminder of what was Calgary's oldest flour milling company and was constructed in 1901-03 as the company's retail store. The company was originally founded in 1892 as the Alberta Roller Flour Mill and was instrumental in promoting economic development and agricultural settlement in the Calgary area. In 1898 the mill was reestablished as the Calgary Milling Company, and in 1903 opened this store to market company products. Apart from specializing in their trademark, 'Hungarian' brand flour, the store was considered to be the most luxurious, largest, and complete purveyor of groceries in the city. The size of the store also made it one of the largest in the country devoted exclusively to groceries. The store was locally famous for its marble trimmed interior and technological innovations such as sprinklers to keep the vegetables fresh. Isaac K. Kerr and Peter A. Prince, who were prominent Calgary industrialists of the era are associated with the company. Kerr, who was president of the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Co. also served as president of the Calgary Milling Company; Prince served as the vice-president and manager of both companies and was president of the Calgary Water Power Company. The store was a well-known fixture in Calgary until 1930, being known as John Irwin and Company after 1911. From 1930 until 1991 the building served as the store for the Nippon Silks and Products Co., known as Silk-O-Lina Ltd. after 1941, selling silk, porcelain and giftware.
The Calgary Milling Company Building is also significant as an example of the sandstone construction that characterized Calgary's early development. Rock-faced, Calgary sandstone comprises the building's façade which is further distinguished by an elaborate neoclassical style metal parapet and decorative cornices typical of the smaller-scale Edwardian Commercial buildings of the era. The building's sandstone construction and its turn-of-the-century origins make it an integral component of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century structures which make up the Stephen Avenue National Historic District.
Source: City of Calgary Heritage Planning File 01-127
Character-Defining Elements
The exterior character-defining elements of the Calgary Milling Company Building include such features as its:
- long rectangular plan with a short façade, a two-storey form and flat roof;
- sandstone and timber construction;
- rock-faced, sandstone, second-storey façade and first-storey piers;
-storefront and roofline pressed metal cornices displaying neoclassical mouldings (dentil, egg-and-dart) and brackets;
- pressed metal parapet comprising panelled balusters and classical lyre-motif decorative elements;
- regular, symmetrical fenestration pattern with large rectangular windows containing multi-pane transom lights;
- large, recessed-entry, storefront openings.
Location
| Street Address: |
119 - 8 Avenue SW |
| Community: |
Calgary |
| Boundaries: |
Lot 11, Block 63, Plan A |
| Contributing Resources: |
Building: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
5
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1
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24
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15
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11 (ptn.)
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
A
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63
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11
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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51.045307 |
-114.064222 |
GPS |
NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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5659344.52598 |
285220.721477 |
|
Digital Maps |
NAD83 |
Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1999/05/17 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1901 To 1903 |
| Period of Significance: |
1999 To 1960 |
| Theme(s): |
Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
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| Historic Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Shop or Wholesale Establishment
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| Current Function(s): |
Leisure : Museum
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
This 1902 building served as the retail outlet for the Calgary Milling Company. Members of this group included P.A. Prince, I.K. Kerr, Fred Brown, John Irwin, A.S. McKay and John Hamilton. The mill itself was located on 9 Avenue and 4 Street. In 1932 this building was taken over by the Nippon Silks and Products Co. and has remained a fabric store ever since. Silk O'Lina took over the premises in 1956 and expanded next door into what was the Pioneer Meat Market. The original sandstone façade and tin cornice protrude above aluminum siding. (1991) |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0009 |
| Designation File: |
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| Related Listing(s): |
4665-0968
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| Heritage Survey File: |
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
City of Calgary Heritage Planning File: 01-127 |
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