Key Number:	HS 49655
Site Name:	Campbell Block
Other Names:	Soley's Hardware and Furniture
Site Type:	0412 - Mercantile/Commercial: General Retail Store

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			40	26	4

Address:	4918-4922 - 50 Avenue
Number:	18-22
Street:	49
Avenue:	50
Other:
Town:	Lacombe
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Long Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Concrete Block
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Shed
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Rear Number of Bays - Facade: Second Floor, 8 Bays Wall Design and Detail: Column or Engaged Column Wall Design and Detail: String or Belt Course Wall Design and Detail: Entablature Wall Design and Detail: Plain Parapet Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Chimney Location - Side to Side: Centre Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Centre Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Metal Window - Sill Type: None Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Number of Sashes: None Window - Opening Mechanism: Fixed Window - Special Types: None Window - Pane Arrangements: None Main Entrance - Location: 2 or More (Facade) Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Unknown Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Flat Transom, Single Light Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 2 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Porch - Type: None
Exterior:	Decorated boxed cornice, modillions, plain frieze, multilight windows in moulded frames, awnings, new aluminum windows, doors on main floor, brick string course, voussoirs, lintels, recessed panels, brick chimneys
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Lot Sizes: 90' by 50' (lot 1), 50' by 90' (lot 2), 25' by 90' (lot 3). Part of downtown commercial core. One of many pre-1925 buildings on the main avenue
Condition:	Structure - Good Repair - Good
Alterations:	Rear Addition: 1948 Exterior/Interior Renovations: 1967

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1920/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Commercial Commercial	1920/01/01 1980/04/14
Owner:	Owner Date:
A.M. Campbell Campbell Properties	1920/01/01 1980/04/14

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	Jim Hill - brickwork
History:	Original owner/tenant - A.M. Campbell. Present owner - Campbell properties. Present tenant - H. Soley - Soley's Hardware and Furniture. Mr. A.M. Campbell, has completed arrangements for the erection of a modern store building on the site of his present store on the corner of Barnett Avenue and Nanton Street. The workmen started this morning to move off the old buildings from the lot, and building operations will commence immediately. The store will be of sold brick construction, 90 feet frontage on Barnett Ave., with a depth of 110 feet to the lane on Nanton St., and will be fully modern. There will be a complete water system throughout the building, connected with septic tank; lavatories and a rest room for ladies and children. There will be a full size basement of concrete. The plan shows a well designed front, which will add greatly to the appearance of our main street. The present building is back from the street line above five feet, but the new building will be built up to the line and at sidewalk level. The new store will be laid out as follows: The hardware department will be located where the grocery department is at present, and the grocery stock will be placed in the present dry goods department. The dry goods, boots and shoes, etc., will occupy the new addition which will be an ideal show room. It will be built in what is known in the cities as the 'balcony style,' and fixtures will be of the latest model. The second floor of the building will be laid out for millinery dressmaking and other show rooms. The building era has arrived for Lacombe. Within the last few weeks the following new brick buildings and additions to buildings are noted in out little city: Mr. A.M. Campbell, who has for many years conducted a general store here, has nearly completed one half of his new two storey modern store and expects to be in the new part within a month. The other part of this building will be commenced as soon as the first is occupied. Mr. L. Sandbrook, proprietor of The Cosy, has extended his ice cream parlor back to the alley, and has now one of the neatest and coziest confectionery stores on this line. Jesse Fraser will soon be in his new real estate office. This office adds greatly to the looks of the street and is an example of the progressiveness of this firm. The McDermid Drug Co. has just completed their new addition to their store and have now a fully up-to-date drug store. They have a larger dispensing room, and in all, their store is a credit to the town. One of the features of this new addition is the Music Room, where prospective buyers of phonographs or phonograph supplies can play over their favorite records without outside interruption. F.V. Parsons our genial pump man, is commencing at once to build his new pump and repair shop on the site of the old bowling alley next to the telephone office. The brick is already on the ground and Frank expects to be occupying his new shop before the fall frost. * * * D-2251 - CAMPBELL BLOCK, LACOMBE HISTORICAL CONTEXT: With the completion of the Calgary & Edmonton Railway in 1891, a number of stations were erected along the rail line to accommodate the expanding agricultural population of the region. Next to several of these stations, the C & E subdivided townsites, several of which grew to some size. One of these was Lacombe, which was named after the venerated Oblate priest. In 1896, Lacombe was incorporated as a village, and in 1902, it became a town with over 500 people, possessing most of the amenities required of a northern farming community. As years passed, Lacombe remained a farming town, its major industries being the various stores and equipment dealerships which served the farmers. One of leading merchants during the early 20th century was A.M. (Sandy) Campbell, who like Gordon Puffer, was perpetually on Town Council and the executive of the Board of Trade. He was also a leading member of the local lodge of Masons. In his memoir, Puffer wrote, "Sandy Campbell was a very popular and successful business man in Lacombe for many years. He was active in civic affairs and he and Mrs. Campbell were social leaders in the community." Campbell had run a general store in Lacombe since 1903, and, on 17 March 1920, the Lacombe newspaper, the Western Globe, wrote about the pending erection of a new store on 50th Avenue: Mr. A.M. Campbell has completed arrangements for the erection of a modern building on the site of his present store…. The plan shows a well designed front, which will add greatly to the appearance of our main street. The new two-story brick store was almost a miniature department store, as it was anticipated to include hardware, clothing, dry goods and grocery departments, and also millinery. It has served the town and district of Lacombe ever since, concentrating in recent years on hardware and furniture. It is today occupied by Soley's Hardware & Furniture. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The historical significance of the Campbell Block in Lacombe lies in its service as a general store, and hardware and furniture store since 1920. It ties in well with other main street structures nearby, providing a glimpse of life in large-town Alberta throughout most of the 20th century. * * * Description of Historic Place The Campbell Block is a two-storey, red-brick building prominently situated on two and a half lots in Lacombe's historic downtown. The building features a wide front facade accommodating two storefronts, eight large wood-framed windows on the second floor, and a bracketed cornice surmounted by a simple brick parapet. The Campbell Block was erected in 1920 in the heart of downtown Lacombe and initially served the community as a department store. Hailed by the local newspaper as a "modern" business block which would greatly enhance the aesthetics of Lacombe's main street, the building featured robust red-brick construction, large second-storey "Chicago" windows, and decorative elements like a bracketed cornice and bold sign band. The Campbell Block's design echoed that of commercial buildings erected during the pre-First World War boom years in Lacombe and elsewhere, but was set apart by its scale, its modest detailing, and its distinctive upper windows. The solidity and elegant simplicity of the building also embodied the entrepreneurial optimism and civic prominence of its owner, A. M. (Sandy) Campbell, a leading merchant and political figure in early twentieth-century Lacombe. Prominently situated on two and a half lots in downtown Lacombe, the Campbell Building is one of the finest extant examples of 1920s commercial architecture and contributes to the physical and visual continuity of one Alberta's best-preserved historic streetscapes.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	2009/04/02

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-1347