Key Number:	HS 54542
Site Name:	Edmonton Telephones Building
Other Names:
Site Type:	1201 - Communications: Telephone Building

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	10003 - 102 Avenue
Number:	3
Street:	100
Avenue:	102
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Art Deco or Moderne
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Long Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: None Wall Design and Detail: None Plain Eaves Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Unknown Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Roof Trim Material - Verges: Unknown Towers, Steeples and Domes: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: None 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: Wood Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Material: Wood Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Special Types: None Window - Pane Arrangements: 2 over 2 Main Entrance - Location: Centre (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: Wood Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain 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 Porch - Type: Closed Porch Main Porch - Special Features: None Main Porch - Material: Concrete
Exterior:	Recessed Panels Reconstiuted stone cladding; black marble base; glass block at inset corner entry; chevron patterned metal spandrels; wooden sash paired windows with horizontal mulions; incised deco figure above front entry. This structure displays any features in its exterior design that are typical of the Moderne Style. Glass block is used in the ground floor and above both the main entrance and the secondary entrance located at the southern extreme of the east facade, chevron motif reliefs typical of the Moderne Style decorate black metal panels which separate the main from the upper floor windows. The latter have metal frames with only horizontal mullions, are arranged in pairs and inset slightly from the plane of the facade. Stylized dentils are found above the second floor windows, and columns are suggested by vertical flutes in the cast terrazzo panels making up the upper part of the facade. The north facade of the building has one paired bay, while the east side has six pairs and one single set of windows. The main entrance is set at an angle into the corner of the building and faces directly onto Churchill Square (which was originally occupied by the Moderne Style Stevenson's Furniture building). The design of the exterior is characterized by smooth surfaces and minimal decoration. Geometric figures such as hexagons and circles are used in the parapet. Reflective or shiny materials such as mirror-like polished black granite are used to face the ground floor and stainless steel is employed on the entrance doors and door frames. Two very fine original light fixtures of metal and glass which continue the geometric motif of the decorative programme flank the main entrance. Above the main entrance is a cast (or perhaps carved) relief of a winged figure standing on a globe and holding a bundle of cables in its right hand and a number of lighting bolts in its left hand. Framed in steel, the Edmonton Telephone building employed both concrete and brick in its construction. The brick is clearly visible on the alley side of the building, where some of the plaster which was used to cover it (inscribed and painted to imitate the finer materials of the main facade) has come off. It is interesting to note the use of preformed components is commonplace today, it would have been unusual, if not revolutionary at the time in Edmonton.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Downtown In the downtown the Edmonton Telephone Building is a familiar structure, a landmark on Churchill Square and historically a source of civic pride. Around the time of its construction, the Telephones Building was part of a concentration of civic and governmental structures at the heart of Edmonton. In close proximity were the Court House, the Land Titles Building, the Public Market, the Civic Block, the Post office and the Train Station. In 1957, the City Hall was added to this list. At the time of its construction, this building was in scale with its environs. Today, dwarfed by neighbouring buildings, it plays a different yet important role, both by recalling the earlier scale of the city and by bringing the scale of recent construcction down to a more human frame of reference. Its angled corner provide a balance and counterpoint to the Land Titles building, which faces onto the northwest corner of Churchill Square. It is visible from most areas of the square, and provides relief, through its scale and level of detailing, from the Edmonton Centre building.
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	Entry boarded up. An elevator, installed to facilitate access to the raised first floor, disrupts the original space, taking up one half of the width of the staircase. On the main floor, previously the location of administrative and billing offices, the original chequered floor, stylized columns and modern style lighting fixtures have been removed or obscured. Both a raised floor and a dropped ceiling were installed at some point. The capitals, and original enclosed offices complete with door hardware and panelling are extant, but the state of the floor is unknown. The upper floor, used to house switching equipment, is completely stripped of any previous character.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Construction ended	1945/01/01 1947/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Commercial/office
Owner:	Owner Date:
N/A

Architect:	Edmonton City Architect
Builder:	Bennett White Construction Co.
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Edmonton's first telephone line was installed by Alex Taylor in 1885, and connected the telegraph office in the Hudson's Bay Company Fort to St. Albert. In the ensuing 22 years the main exchange of the telephone system had a wandering existence. From the Fort, it was moved in 1892 to Raymer's Jewellery Store, to the Post Office in 1894, and in 1898 to the Gariepy Block on 102 Street and Jasper Avenue. In 1905, under Bylaw Number 4, the new City of Edmonton purchased the telephone company from Taylor for the sum of $17,000. In 1906, work was begun on the first Municipal Telephone Building, located on the west side of 100 Street (then McDougall Avenue) between 101A and 102 Avenues (then Rice and Elizabeth Avenues respectively) on the north side of the alley. It was not until late 1907, however, that the new building was finished, and only in 1908 that the telephone equipment was installed. A brick and concrete building covering the south half of lot 52, it was of very sturdy construction in order to support the heavy automatic exchange equipment. Edmonton was at the forefront of telephone technology when it installed the new Strowger system automatic exchanges; only one other such system was then in use in Canada. This was the first telephone building located on the side of the present structure, and was the City of Edmonton's first purpose-built telephone building. By 1919 it was evident that the old exchange was inadequate to meet the demands for telephone service in Edmonton. In 1921 it was vacated, and an expanded battery of upgraded equipment on the adjacent lot, number 51, came into service in a new building. Located on 102 Avenue, the Municipal Telephone System building was first listed at 10009 - 102 Avenue in the Henderson's Directory in 1922. Built in the Classical Revival Style, it complemented the Court House located only a half block to the north. The old telephone building became the Labor Hall, headquarters for the Edmonton Trade and Labor Council until 1945. In that year the Labor Hall was demolished to make way for a brand new, modern addition to the 102 Avenue telephone building. City Architect Max Dewar was in charge of the project, and the contract for construction went to the Bennett and White Construction Company with a bid of $182,055. Building was originally scheduled to commence on May 1, 1945, but difficulties in obtaining materials and labour due to World War II delayed progress, and excavation did not being until August. Rather than put construction further behind, it was decided to work on the project through the winter. Two-storey high hoardings of pine boards and tarpaulins were erected, and eight gas furnaces were installed throughout the building to make conditions bearable. In spite of such efforts, it was not until 1947 that the new building was opened. To begin with, all personnel were moved over from the 1921 exchange, freeing up space in the older structure for more machinery. Only later was equipment installed in the new building. Predictably, as Edmonton grew, so did the demand for telephone service. By the fifties it was again necessary to find more space for exchange equipment. The solution was found by remodelling and modernizing the old exchange through the addition of a four storey block on the street side. A permit was obtained for this purpose in 1958. After 1958 no major additions or alterations were made to the exterior of the telephone building, known as the Churchill Exchange. Despite the various changes made to its interior in subsequent years, the demand for more space for equipment and people eventually outstripped the building's capacity. In 1984-5 it was vacated and the telephone equipment was removed. Since that date the building has remained unoccupied and in 1989-90 the plumbing was drained and the heat was turned off. The Edmonton Telephones building reflects the very strong move away from traditional modes of design to an aesthetic inspired by modern materials, technologies and machines which took place in the 1940s in Edmonton. A large number of Edmonton's downtown buildings from this period were either converted to or constructed in the Moderne Style, though few now survive. The Edmonton Telephones building - an excellent example of the type - is one of the few that does. The Moderne Style was derived from Art Deco, which first emerged in Paris in 1925, at the historic Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels. Unlike Art Deco, however, it tended to be more hard-edged and machine-like, and less sumptuous, sensual, and curvilinear. Althtough both these styles were common in eastern North America in the late twenties and throughout the thirties, it was not until later that they appeared in Alberta. By the fifties, however, the Moderne Style had been employed to such an extent that it can be said to characterize the forties in Edmonton in the same way that boomtown front structures did the city's earliest period. Above the main entrance is a cast (or perhaps carved) relief of a winged figure standing on a globe and holding a bundle of cables in its right hand and a number of lighting bolts in its left hand. Strictly speaking, this is not an image of Mercury, the Greek messenger god, as he is not represented with the traditional winged sandals, helmet or staff. Rather, this is an adaptation of the theme, perhaps intended to show science in the place of legend and superstition. As historic photographs indicate, this relief was originally coloured, and was exactly the same as the metal reliefs to each side of the main entrance to the now demolished Alberta Government Telephones building located at 10011 - 102 Avenue. This is an interesting fact, as the latter building, also in the Moderne Style, was apparently not erected until 1951. It would appear that if the Edmonton Telephones sculpture was not copied by the AGT designers, they were certainly working from the same - unknown - original model. The interior of the building has been much altered. The entrance foyer has a pair of original telephone booths flanking the main staircase, a vaulted ceiling, and is panelled in fine travertine marble. 1905 - The newly-formed City of Edmonton passed Bylaw No.4, purchasing Alex Taylor's telephone system. - The City of Edmonton purchases the south half of lot 52. 1906-7 - First telephone building constructed by the City of Edmotnon at 10180 - 100 Street, on south half of lot 52. 1919-21 - First building becomes Labor Hall. 1923 - The City of Edmonton purchases the north half of lot 52. 1945 - Labor Hall (first telephone building) demolished. 1958 - Permit obtained for the addition of a four storey block on the street side. 1984-5 - Telephone building vacated. 1989 - Title to lots 51 and 52 transferred to the Edmonton Telephones Corporation. 1989-90 - Heat turned off.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal A List

Register:	A29

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: