Key Number:	HS 4916
Site Name:	Goodridge Block
Other Names:	Goodridge Building
Site Type:	0401 - Mercantile/Commercial: Office or Administration Building

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	9696-98 Jasper Avenue NW
Number:	96-98
Street:	96 NW
Avenue:	Jasper NW
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View
Digital scan of Negative Digital scan of Negative	70-R0113-20 70-R0113-23	1970/06/23 1970/06/23	N/A N/A

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Short Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 3
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Row, Related, End Wings: Either Side Wall Design and Detail: String or Belt Course Wall Design and Detail: Entablature Wall Design and Detail: Plain Parapet Wall Design and Detail: Other Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Roof Trim Material - Verges: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Offset Right Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Rear Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Segmental Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoirs Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: None Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Brick Window - Sill Type: Plain Lug Sill Window - Sill Material: Stone Window - Number of Sashes: Two, Casement Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Special Types: None Main Entrance - Location: 2 or More (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Metal Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Flat Transom, Single Light Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain 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: None Main Porch - Special Features: None Main Porch - Material: None Main Porch - Height: None
Exterior:	Raised parapet with name and date plaque; brick quoiniNg at side; paired windows with keystones; stone pillar at ground floor corner. The exterior material is brick laid in common bond with stone trim (perhaps artificial cast stone). It stands three storeys high, a width of five bays on Jasper Avenue and nine bays fronting 97 Street. The design treatment of both facades is the same. The typical bays consist of pairs of wood double-hung sash windows (one above the other) contained within a single opening. The brick segmental arch over each window opening is accented by a stone keystone. The end bays differ in treatment: their single windows, whose arches are highlighted by the three stone voussoirs, are framed by brick pilaster strips. The pilasters are rusticated and their block-like effect is created by alternating four projecting brick courses with one flush course. As an additional subtlety, the wall surfaces enclosing the end windows are recessed slightly (perhaps one-half inch) behind the plane of the rest of the wall. The quality of the brickwork is excellent. A belt course runs above the top of the third-storey windows, and a shallow metal cornice and a parapet rise above this. The building has a steel frame structure in the basement and on the ground floor, wint brick bearing walls and wood bearing partitions above the ground floor. The riveted beam hangers in the full basement are still visible, while those on the ground floor have been covered. This is an early use of structural steel in Edmonton.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Boyle Street Property Features: None Located on corner of 97st. and Jasper Avenue in core of early Edmonton Lot Size: 60' x 100' Corner location; downtown - edge. The building forms an important component of the Jasper East Block, the north side of Jasper Avenue east of 97 Street. The block was developed during the City's major economic boom of 1908-1914, and is one of the few remaining blocks representing this important period in history. Most of the buildings on the block are similar in their materials (brick), design (Commercial/Classical), and scale (three storeys). The W.W. Arcade is the first visible building in the Jasper East Block when approached from downtown and Canada Place. The architects of Canada Place respected the height and massing of the W.W. Arcade and its older neighbours in their own design, since the glass tower is seen to grow out of a more pedestrian-scale four-storey brick base with the parapet at about the same height as the W.W. Arcade. This has provided a design compatibility between Canada Place, the W.W. Arcade and the remainder of the Jasper East Block.
Condition:	Good
Alterations:	Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Wall Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Window Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Door Site: Unknown Replacement windows and storefronts. The most substantial changes were made to the building during a renovation in 1967. At that time a new store-front was installed, the east wall was rebuilt (the ragged edge of the new work is visible in the space between the W.W. Arcade and the Hub Hotel) and the roof was replaced. Evidence of the conversion from offices to residential rooms is seen in the row of transom-level windows on the outside rooms -- originally installed to bring natural light into the corridor -- which have been painted over and boarded up. New plasterboard and flooring cover some of the original finishes, but much of the original wood trim remains in place (although painted).

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Construction ended	1911/01/01 1912/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Mercantile/Commercial: Office or Administration Bldg Mercantile/Commercial: Specialty Store or Shop Residential: Multiple Dwelling	1912/01/01 1968/03/10 1968/03/10
Owner:	Owner Date:
J.J. Gourlay L.A. Goodridge and Edna R. Mclaren Goodridge Ltd. City of Edmonton S.P. Wilson Est. of S.P. Wilson W.W. Arcade Imperial Lumber Co. City of Edmonton	1911/11/01 1921/02/17 1924/09/04 1944/08/04 1953/09/23 1962/09/13 1980/01/01 1989/02/02

Architect:	R. Barnes
Builder:	Nesbitt & Miller
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	When basement was being dug parts of wall of Jasper House (Hub) began to crumble and had to be reinforced. Original Owner - J.J. Gourlay - Music Dealer. 501 Jasper Avenue 1911 November 1 Owner: L.A. Goodridge and Edna R. McLaren 1962 September 13 Owner: W.W. Arcade (Present Owner) Was also known as the Goodridge Block. ***** The W.W. Arcade Building has been a landmark at the corner of Jasper Avenue and 97 Street (formerly Namayo Avenue) since its construction in 1911. With its attractive classical commercial design and its fine brick construction, it sets the architectural tone for the block. The building was developed by Leonard Angus Goodridge, the son of early hotelier and councillor James Goodridge (1852-1900). The title to the property (Lots 29 and 30) was registered with Susan Goodridge, James' widow. In 1907 she died and the title to Lots 29, 30, 31 and 32 (lot 31 was already developed as Jasper House) passed to Leonard Goodridge, who acted as administrator of Susan Godridge's estate. Besides developing the Goodridge Block and operating Jasper House, Leonard Goodridge developed the Gem Theatre (Lot 32) and managed it until 1957. In 1910 Leonard Goodridge sold the Jasper House to acquire capital for developing his new building. Construction on the Goodridge Block began in the late summer of 1911. Goodridge needed more financial backing and on November 1, 1911 the title to the property was registered on to Leonard Goodridge and a partner, Edna R. MacLaren (wife of T.D. MacLaren), and was valued at $40,000. A week later the property was mortgaged to the City for $49,000 at a 6-1/2 percent interest rate. The architect of the Goodridge Block was Robert Percy Barnes (1859-1926). Barnes was born in London, England and practised architecture there from 1878 to 1888. He emigrated to Canada in 1888 and worked as an architect in Montreal until 1905, at which time he moved west and settled in Edmonton. Barnes went into partnership with Charles Lionel Gibbs (1877-1934). Barnes is credited with having been the originator of the Alberta Association of Architects (founded in 1906) and served as Association President in 1909. In 1921 Barnes resigned his seat on the A.A.A. Council following his decision to move to Victoria, British Columbia. Besides the Goodridge Block, Barnes was responsible for the design of the Buena Vista Apartments (with Gibbs; 1913) and the Blowey-Henry Block (date unknown; destroyed by fire c.1948). The general contractor for the Block was the local company, Nesbitt and Miller. The excavation work caused problems when, on September 15, 1911, the rear wing of the Jasper House began to sink and nearly collapse. The Jasper House was saved and construction continued on the new building. The Goodridge Block was originally planned for commercial use. Its first retail businesses were a clothing store, a liquor store, a barbershop and a pool room. The upper floors were used as offices. Original tenants included mercantile and financial businesses: Rossell Lumber Co., the Edmonton Mercantile Company, King Investment, and L.A. Webber Real Estate; as well as physicians Dr. Raymond Landry and Drs. James and Clara Kelly; and a shorthand school. As Edmonton's office district established itself further to the west, the rooms on the second and third storeys came to be used for residential purposes. Title to the property was registered in the name of Goodridge Ltd. in 1921. Three years later title was obtained by the City, perhaps in default of the mortgage, and the City retained ownership for 23 years. In 1930 the W.W. Sales hardware business opened in the building under the direction of Samuel Peter Wilson. Wilson is reported to have retired in 1942, although title was transferred to him only in 1944. 'W.W. Sales Bldg.' is clearly seen painted on the parapet. Wilson was succeeded as operator of the hardware business in 1942 by the five Ainslie brothers, who changed its name to W.W. Arcade. In 1962 W.W. Arcade (the Ainslies' company) acquired title to the property from Wilson's estate. The new owners carried out major renovations five years later. These included the new store-front, a new roof and rebuilt east wall. The Ainslies in turn sold the business and the building to the Imperial Lumber Company Ltd. in 1980. (The Imperial Lumber Co. retained the name W.W. Arcade.) The City of Edmonton purchased the building on February 2, 1989. The hardware business occupied the basement, ground floor and mezzanine until March 1991. The retail area on the main floor is presently vacant. The two upper floors contain 30 boarding rooms reached by an L-shaped corridor with the staircase at its intersection. The building has approximately 6,000 square feet per floor, and the mezzanine -- which can be seen in the windows at the north end of the 97 Street elevation -- is about half of that, for a total floor area of more than 27,000 square feet. This finely designed building was completed in 1912. 1911-1912 - Construction of the Goodridge Block as a commercial building by Leonard A. Goodridge, to designs by R.P. Barnes. 1924 - Title to the property reverts to the city. 1930 - S.P. Wilson begins the W.W. Sales hardware business. 1942 - Wilson retires and the business is taken over by the Ainslie brothers, who change its name to W.W. Arcade. 1944 - Wilson acquires title to the property. 1962 - The Ainslies acquire title to the property. 1967 - The Ainslies carry out renovations to the building, including changes to the store-front. 1980 - Imperial Lumber Co. acquires W.W. Arcade. 1989 - February 2. The City of Edmonton purchases the building. 1991 - March. The Imperial Lumber Co. Ltd. vacates the main floor and basement. They are presently vacant. *** The construction of the Goodridge Block in 1912 was accompanied by a great deal of excitement. As excavations for the foundations of the new structure were being carried out, the west wall of the adjacent Jasper House Hotel started to crumble and fall into the hole. Crowds gathered to observe the catastrophe, but disaster was ultimately averted when the Hotel was propped up with large timbers. Leonard Goodridge was the owner of both Jasper House and the new excavation, and he was doubtless relieved when the former did not end up in the latter. Construction continued uneventfully, and the result was a handsome three-storey brick building costing $40,000. The junction of Jasper Avenue and Namayo Avenue (97 Street) was the heart of Edmonton's original busines district. By 1912, however, commercial development was creeping westward on Jasper into the Hudson's Bay Company Reserve, leading eventually to the decline of the Jasper East area. This shift in the centre of the city explains how the Goodridge Block survived subsequent building booms and still stands today. *** In 1932, Samuel P. Wilson opened this building as W.W. Sales. On his retirement in 1942 the firm's name changed to W.W. Arcade. It was managed for 20 years by Alex Ainslie, assisted by his brothers, Bob and Dave, who were justly proud of its reputation as Edmonton's largest hardware store. *** Developed during Edmonton's economic boom of 1908-1914, the Goodridge Block was given first title, November 1, 1911. Registered in the names of L.A. Goodridge and Edna R. MacLaren, wife of T.D. MacLaren (Merchant); the building's architects were Magoon and MacDonald. When the Goodridge block was first erected on the north side of Jasper Avenue, east of 97 Street, it housed a moving picture theatre and stores. It later became a three-storey building with a store occupying the basement and first floor, and rooms on the second and third floors.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal Historic Resource	1993/09/14

Register:	A11

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4664-0015