Key Number:	HS 5522
Site Name:	Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company
Other Names:
Site Type:	0415 - Mercantile/Commercial: Storage or Warehouse Building

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	10249 - 104 Street NW
Number:	49
Street:	104 NW
Avenue:	102 NW
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Short Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 4 or more
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Row, Non-Related, Intermediate Wings: None Number of Bays - Facade: First or Ground Floor, 5 Bays Wall Design and Detail: Plain Panel Wall Design and Detail: Entablature Wall Design and Detail: Plain Parapet Wall Design and Detail: Inscription or Date Stone Wall Design and Detail: Decorative Brick Wall Design and Detail: Other Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Side Left Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Rear Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Roof Trim - Special Features: Other Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Lintel Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: None Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Stone Window - Sill Type: Plain Lug Sill Window - Sill Material: Stone Window - Number of Sashes: Two, Double Hung Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Special Types: None Main Entrance - Location: Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: None Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: None Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: None Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 1 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Stairs - Direction: None Main Porch - Type: Recess Main Porch - Special Features: None Main Porch - Height: First Storey
Exterior:	Date stone, corbelling front wall top, lugsills prominent, large in rear. Quions decorative around main entry; five bay structure; corbelled cornice; paired windows with concrete sills and headers; projecting entry; '1913' date stone inset at top of building. The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company Warehouse is a well -articulated but strikingly simple five and one-half storey warehouse with more of a vertical emphasis than similar warehouses. This is partially achieved by having the centre bay of windows located at the stair landings rather than each floor. Other unusual elements are the brick cornice, and the two-storey entrance feature, notable for the simulated quoin treatment of the brick, the bracketed shelf over the door and again over the stair landing window. Exterior wall materials are limited to red brick with cast concrete detail elements. Full height pilasters and the window treatment at the centrally located stair landings help reinforce the vertical expression of the building. Alternating courses of brickwork at the ground floor main entry are projected slightly, enhancing the rusticated entrance detail. To add further visual emphasis to the entry projecting brick brackets support a cast concrete entablature. Cast concrete is used for accents on window sills and lintels, date stone, parapet copings and at the tops of brick pilaster capitals. A repetitive corbelled brick detail treatment near the top of the west facade simulates a dentilated parapet. All west facing windows are of wood, double-hung sash construction, while windows on the east facade are of metal sash construction with pivoting, wired glass infill panels. This type of window offered increased fire and security protection where minimal setback was provided at the lane. Exposed portions of the east, north and south walls of the building were used extensively for painted advertising by various tenants. Faint reminders of the colourful lettering--'Dominion Rubber Systems Alta.', 'Clark Bro. Co. Ltd., Paper Stationers', 'R.E. Brown Co. Brokers'--are visible today. Exterior fittings from the original warehouse operation remain in place on the east facade. These include a metal fire escape, a water stand pipe, a suspended heavy gauge metal roof canopy, and the rail shipping platform. Exterior walls are load-bearing masonry construction with integral pilasters to support the interior wood beams, while roof construction consists of laminated heavy-timber joists (2'x4') supported by wood beams and columns.
Interior:	Basement areas included additional open storage space, a tire repair room, a vault and an 8' thick concrete enclosed room for the steam boiler and coal storage area. The use of reinforced concrete construction for these high-hazard areas relates to the need for added fire protection and occupant safety. Other clear indications of this concern for fire safety are the original fusible-link metal-clad fire doors located at each stairwell door, vaults on every floor of the building, and removable access plates at the first floor for fire hose access to the basement areas. The interior stairs were constructed with steel risers, treads and stringers. A site fabricated 'gas pipe' hand railing was used for reasons of simplicity and economy. The majority of the building is heated with multiple, parallel runs of exposed iron pipe tied to the steam boiler system. Features such as the stairs and heating system underline the practical origins and intents of the building. A few mismatched cast-iron radiators can be found on the upper floors, where temporary offices were installed next to exterior windows.
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Downtown Property Features: None Lot Size: 150' x 50' Located directly North of Revillon building, on a previously major warehouse street. Warehouse area. The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company Warehouse relates well to the Horne and Pitfield Building to the north, and to the Revillon Building to the south, its immediate neighbours - one storey on the north, and the two-storey Revillon Annex on the south - are less in scale with it. Nevertheless, its facade is an important link to the character of 104 Street, and could benefit from higher density but architecturally compatible construction on either side of it. The Conslidated Rubber Building is an important component of the urban design of the warehouse district. It is a conspicuous and familiar structure in the neighbourhood due to its height. The scale and massing of the building also prevails over the lower one and two storey buildings on either side of the site. The building also relates to the broader warehouse streetscape along 104 Street (Revillon, Horne and Pitfield, Phillips, and Great West Saddlery Buildings). It has an important visual and functional affinity to other warehouses in the area. These buildings share colour, height, massing, and a number of detail elements such as parapet corbelling, window proportions, and pedestrian scale entrance treatments. The north and south walls of the Consolidated Rubber Building are covered with painted advertising dated from 1914, making the building a conspicuous component of the warehouse area.
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Wall Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Door Site: Original No External Alterations Aluminum front door. Removal of the original office partitions and an interior stair connecting the first floor and basement on the north wall. One freight elevator has been completely removed and the floor opening filled with new construction. A newer sprinkler system and freight elevator cab and hoist system have also been installed.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1913/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Warehouse Warehouse	1913/01/01 1982/12/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. Royal Trust Co. Lobogo Holdings Ltd. Army & Navy Department Store Holdings Ltd.	1935/01/01 1963/01/01 1970/01/01

Architect:	Canadian Stewart Conpany
Builder:	Canadian Stewart Company
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	D.R. Kerr built a warehouse on this site in 1912, Architect R.W. Lines, Contractor Purell and Foote (Estimated cost 55,000) 1913 - Jan. 17 The Kerr building was destroyed by fire. 1913 - Oct. Construction begins on Consolidated Rubber Building which made use of original foundation of Kerr building, exact reproduction. 1913 - Dec. 27 Consolidated Rubber moves into new building, a year after destroyed by fire Erected by the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. Ltd. Erected at a cost of $110,000 1914 Add states that company involved in warehouse rubber and felt footwear, water proof clothing, rubber, hose, packing, automobile and carriage tires, druggists rubber sundries, etc. Owner and Tenant - Army and Navy department stores. 1919 Clark Brothers and Company Limited. ***** David Kerr of Victoria, B.C. built a brick warehouse on this location in 1912. It was designed by Edmonton architect Roland Lines, cost $55,000 to erect, and burned to the ground in January, 1913. The misfortune of D.R. Kerr was the good luck of the Canada Consolidated Rubber Company, however, and later that same year the same construction company which built the Macdonald Hotel, the Canadian Stewart Company of Montreal, was engaged to erect this warehouse and did so in the space of two months. The replacement warehouse cost $110,000 - twice as much as the original. Bricks are laid to simulate a dentillated parapet and a rusticated entrance. Stone is used to accent the nameplate, door details, window sills and lintels. Windows on the central stairwell are offset from the floor levels to emphasize the vertical elements of this design. This building made a grand venue for the company's 'rubber belting, hose, packing, automobile and carriage tires, druggists rubber sundries, etc.' *** The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company Warehouse was designed and constructed in 1913 by the Canadian Stewart Company of Montreal who also constructed the Macdonald Hotel. The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company opened its Edmonton Branch in January, 1911. Stock manufactured and sold by the company included rubber belting, packing, hose, carriage and auto tires, waterproof clothing, etc. The present structure replaced an earlier brick building that was destroyed by a fire on January 17, 1913 which completely gutted the building and killed three persons. The building has been owned by various Winnipeg brokers and was purchased by Royal Trust Co. in 1935 and sold to Cobogo Holdings Ltd. in 1963. Army and Navy Department Store Holdings Ltd. have owned the structure since 1970 and continue to use the building as a warehouse. *** In 1911 the Montreal-based Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company branched into Edmonton. The Company was the prime tenant in the Kerr Building located on 102 Avenue and 104 Street, which was destroyed by fire in 1913. The fire was one of the worst in early Edmonton and resulted in the death of two people as well as the destruction of several buildings. The site was subsequently purchased by William Allen, who was head of a Winnipeg investment consortium. Allen constructed a new building for the prime tenant, the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company, and owned the building from 1913 to 1935. The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Building was designed and constructed by a Toronto architectural firm, the Canadian Stewart Company. The building permit drawings (in the City of Edmonton Archives) dated September 9, 1913 indicate that the Consolidated Rubber Building was constructed on top of the original walls and foundations of the destroyed Kerr Building. The new warehouse was reported to have taken only two months to complete. Fire safety was an important design requirement in the new building. The Consolidated Rubber Building was intended as a distribution point for the Montreal head office and the manufacturing plants in Quebec and Ontario. The Edmonton warehouse served the northern Alberta markets with stock including rubber belting, packing, hose, rubber and felt footwear, moccasins, lumbermen's socks, automobile and carriage tires, druggists sundries and waterproof clothing. In addition, a special department was devoted to the repair of carriage and auto tires. The local manager was Mr. J.L. Bond. The building was designed to accommodate a number of tenants. By 1915 the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company was joined by other tenants with similar or compatible goods. In 1935 Allen sold the building to the Royal Trust Company. The structure was renamed the Edmonton Building in 1961. Cobogo Holdings purchased the building in 1963 and held it until 1970, when its current owner acquired it. After being vacant for more than a decade, the building is now used for light storage. 1911 - Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. opens Edmonton warehouse. 1912 - D.R. Kerr Building is constructed on Lot 176, Block 3, Plan B which houses the warehouse operation of Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. 1913 - January 17. Fire destroys the newly completed Kerr Block. 1913 - William Allen and other Winnipeg investors purchase site. New building is designed and constructed by Canadian Stewart Company of Toronto. The Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. is the major tenant. 1915 - R.E. Brown Co. and Russell-Johnson lease space in the building. 1917 - Building tenants include Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co., Clark Bros. and Co. Ltd., R.E. Brown Co. and Russell-Johnson. 1931 - Ten companies lease offices in the building including Brown Fruit Co., Clark Bros. and Co. Ltd., Hamburg Felt Boot Co., Kaufman Rubber Co. dealing in footwear, import, brokerage, and manufacturers' agents. 1935 - Royal Trust purchases site. 1941 - Nine companies including Kaufman Rubber Co., Maple Leaf Milling Co. maintain offices in the building. 1951 - Six tenants including Hamburg Felt Boot, Kaufman Rubber, and George Morton maintain offices in the building. 1961 - Building is renamed the Edmonton Building. Nine tenants including Sterling Stationers, Kaufman Rubber Co., Bob Morrison Ltd. 1963 - Cobogo Holdings Ltd. purchases the building. 1970 - The Edmonton Building is sold to current owner. Site is vacant. 1981 - Site is vacant. 1989 - Building is used for light warehouse storage. *** Building Permit #2290 September 30, 1913. Canadian Stewart Co. Warehouse; architect Canadian Stewart Co.; builder Canadian Stewart Co.; cost $50,000. Person. - Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co.- Edmonton branch opened January 1911 with head offices in Montreal. Present structure replaces an early building for Canadian Consolidated Rubber which was destroyed by fire Jan. 17, 1913; 3 killed; building completely gutted by fire - only remain were front and rear walls. EDC - Jan. 17/13. A.M. Douglas of Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. of Winnipeg indicated company staff had just moved into new building.; no articles were found dealing with construction of present structure; EB or EDL September 30/13. HD - 1914 only tenant Canadian Consolidated Rubber Co. 1916 various other tenants as well 1919 company name changed to Dominion Rubber System (Alberta) Ltd. other tenants: Clark Bros., R.E. Brown (custom agent). 1923 last listing for Dominion Rubber System. 1930 tenants Brown Fruit Co., Merco Wholesale Ltd., Western Transfer Storage Ltd., Kaufman Rubber, etc.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal Historic Resource	2001/11/27

Register:	A45

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: