Key Number:	HS 6937
Site Name:	North West Travellers Building
Other Names:
Site Type:	0499 - Mercantile/Commercial: Other

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			23	1	5

Address:	515 - 1 Street SE
Number:	15
Street:	1 SE
Avenue:	5 SE
Other:
Town:	Calgary
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: Stone
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Double Semi-Detached, Non-Related Wings: Either Side Wall Design and Detail: Pier or Pilaster Wall Design and Detail: Entablature Wall Design and Detail: Decorated Parapet Wall Design and Detail: Carving Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Roof Trim Material - Verges: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Other Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Other Chimney Stack Material: Unknown Chimney Stack Massing: Other Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoirs Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Keystone Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Brick Window - Sill Type: Plain Lug Sill Window - Sill Material: Brick Window - Number of Sashes: Two, Double Hung 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: Voussoir Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Concrete 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 - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Side Lights 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 - Height: None
Exterior:	Tin modillioned cornice on east and south elevations; engaged brick pilasters from 1st to 4th floor, topped with decorative motiffs; buiking name on friece, east elevation; radiating voussoirs on 2nd and 3rd floors; arcaded, sandstone keystones and cornerstones; east elevation, central panels; sandstone lintels and sills on all other windows; south elevation has large Bay doors, main floor; brick parapet topped with tin. Renovated front floor-2 and 3rd front windows have keystone above them, front main windows have arch radiating voussoirs, decorative cornices on corner of building and front with printing on front facing. Sandstone foundation.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Located next to old #2 firehall; downtown commercial core. Faces east. Lot size: 66.40' x 100' Property Features: None
Condition:	Good (1980)
Alterations:	Addition of service bays, thrift store. Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Wall Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Window Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Door Site: Original

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started c. 1909 or 1913	1912/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
NW travellers - offices, club rooms Salvation Army	1913/01/01 1968/03/10
Owner:	Owner Date:
N/A

Architect:	Burroughs & Richards
Builder:	P. Lyall & Sons
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Help Attorney Generals Dept. 1914. * * 'When the proposal for the North Travellers' Building was made public in Feb. 1912, there was a real estate boom in the immediate vicinity. One woman who owned 4 lots across the street was each $44,000 for the lots which she had bought from the CPR for only $400. When the building was completed, it was said to be 'one of the best built blocks in the city, substantial and comfortable'. Located on the ground floor were various businesses, and on the upper floors were residential flats, and a large club room and reading rooms of the Travellers' Assoc. By the 1930's, the Assoc. no longer needed such a large building, and the floors were rented out to various groups, such as the Commercial High School. Between 1930 and 1935 the Calgary Public Museum was located in the building. In 1949 the Salvation Army purchased the building to use as a men's hostel, a social bureau, a labor bureau, an Army store, and a central registry for transients'.   HISTORICAL CONTEXT:   After the arrival of the CPR near Fort Calgary in 1883, the community which emerged outside the Fort soon assumed the position of a district metropolis to its farming and ranching hinterland.   As such, it became not only a supply and service center, but, being on the transcontinental railway, it also became a center for the wholesale and distribution of goods to retail outlets in surrounding communities.   By the turn of the twentieth century, this included much of south central Alberta. With this development, industries in central Canada began to locate agents in Calgary to oversee what goods would be in demand, and in what communities and districts the demands would be greatest.   As a result, a number of commercial travelers were also hired to provide a link between Calgary and these outlying districts and the communities within them.   As in most parts of rural North America, they carried samples of products with them, and took orders while en route.   In time, the so-called “traveling Salesman” became a familiar figure around the countryside.   Many of these salesmen were members of the Northwest Commercial Travellers Association of Canada, a Winnipeg-based organization, founded as early as 1882.   It was intended to provide information and benefits to its members, which included not only the salesmen, but also manufacturers’ agents, sales executives, and proprietors of wholesaling and distributing companies. In 1905, the Association established a branch in Calgary.   With business in the hinterland booming along with that in the City itself, it was not long before the Calgary Branch could justify maintaining its own building.   Early in 1912 therefore, the Association announced that it was constructing a four-story office building with reinforced concrete next to Fire Hall #1 on First Street and Fifth Avenue SE.   The architects were Burroughs & Richards, and P. Lyall & Sons were the builders.   In November 1913, the Western Standard announced the pending opening of the new business block, and that “the commercial men … will be located in the finest quarters occupied by any similar organization west of the Great Lakes.”   As was intended, the Association’s offices were located on the fourth floor, along with a meeting room, a dining room, a lounge and a writing room.   The ground floor was set aside for “sample rooms,” where the salesmen might display their wares.   The second and third floors were to be rented out as offices.   The basement was intended mainly for storage.   When the building was officially opened in January 1914, the overall cost was estimated to be $140.000. The Northwest Travellers Building went on to accommodate a number of residential and commercial tenants over the next few years, as well as government offices.   For a short while, it also served as the home of the Commercial Club.   In 1926 however, the Northwest Commercial Travellers rented the building to the Calgary School Board for use as the City’s Commercial High School.   The Association itself moved to another facility, and the School Board proceeded to sub-let space to other tenants.   The most visible of the other occupants was the municipally financed Calgary Public Museum, which began to locate its exhibits there in 1928.   Due to the    Depression however, it was forced to close in 1935.   By this time, the Commercial High School had also been relocated, and Toole, Peet & Co. took charge of the building on behalf of the Northwest Travellers, whose offices were again located there.   The building did not generate revenue however, and, in 1945, it was sold and converted into the Hotel Bliss.   Six years later, the building was acquired by the Salvation Army, for which it has seen service ever since. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:     The historical significance of the Northwest Travellers Building lies in its provision of structural evidence of the commercial boom that gripped Calgary during the early years of the 20 th century.   It also represents the central role played by Calgary in the commercial life of south-central Alberta, and the role of the traveling salesman in small town Alberta during the first half of the twentieth century.   It is important also in having housed the Calgary Public Museum and the Commercial High School, as well as the Commercial Club and several provincial government offices.   Its use by the Salvation Army is also significant, and indicative of a continuing need for social services in a late 20 th century boom city recognized for its commercial advancements.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	2003/01/20

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0817