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Demolition application in for Brewery site in Inglewood
Note to moderators: I posted this as a separate thread as I feel it is more important than the regular heritage chit-chat. Let me know if you feel it should go in the heritage thread.
Demolition application in for Brewery site in Inglewood It has come out that a demolition permit has been applied for at City Hall for demolition of a 'substantial' portion of the former Calgary Brewing & Malting Company site in Inglewood. This is a site of great historic significance, going back to 1892, and indeed there to this day remain historic structures from 1892 through the 1960's. As Inglewood is the birthplace of Calgary, so it must be said that the Brewery is one of the key birthplaces of Calgary industry, established by one of the "Big Four", AE Cross. The information about the extent of the demolition applied for is vague, sources have indicated it is 'substantial' and perhaps involving 2/3 of the built structures on the site, including many of heritage value. The Brewery is a Category A site on the city's Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources. Due to this the city has asked the Province to formally designate the site, and indeed today May 8, 2009 the Ministry of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit issued a Historic Resource Impact Assessment Order to evaluate the site to determine its significance and integrity and to provide recommendations for the documentation, salvage and/or preservation of the site based upon the analysis of its significance and condition. This work must be completed prior to the start of any interventions that may impact the site or its setting. The Calgary Heritage Initiative Society will be following up with information on action the public can take in the near future. Statement of Significance prepared by the Province: " Calgary Brewing and Malting Co./Molsons Brewery Description of Historic Place The Calgary Brewing and Malting Co./Molsons Brewery is a cultural landscape comprising roughly 3 hectares in Calgary’s Alyth/Bonnybrook neighbourhood and encompassing 16 significant buildings, structures, landscape elements, and structural remains. The important structures still extant on the site were erected between 1892 and the early 1930s and include beer-making and storage facilities, office space, and a historic garden. Heritage Value The heritage value of the Calgary Brewing and Malting Co./Molsons Brewery lies in its association with the early industrial development of Calgary and in the varied architectural design of its buildings. The site also possesses heritage value for its association with prominent Calgary entrepreneur and politician Alfred Ernest (A.E.) Cross (1861-1932). In 1875, the North-West Territories Act was passed mandating, among other things, the prohibition of alcohol across the vast reaches of western Canada. Seventeen years later, in 1892, the Territorial Government repealed prohibition. At the time, Calgary was rapidly emerging as a bustling social and economic centre in southern Alberta, and local entrepreneurs believed robust profits could be found in slaking the community’s (now legal) thirsts. In the same year prohibition was repealed, A. E. Cross - one of Calgary’s first modern industrialists and an ambitious entrepreneur - assembled a cadre of financiers to establish the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company, Alberta’s first brewery. Operations began in 1893 and the enterprise quickly proved successful. Over the succeeding two decades Cross re-invested the company’s profits into growth and diversification. New buildings were constructed, trade was expanded to other provinces, smaller breweries and hotels were acquired, and the company introduced soft drinks and aerated water into its product line. A confident expansionist, Cross was also a relentless modernizer; the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company was one of the first industrial users of natural gas in western Canada. Between the 1910s and the 1950s, the company’s fortunes ebbed and flowed with World Wars One and Two, Prohibition between 1916 and 1923, and the Great Depression. By 1961, however, the company was beset by insurmountable challenges and was sold to Canadian Breweries. The site would subsequently pass through other owners and operators before ceasing production in 1994. The significant buildings and structures of the Calgary Brewing and Malting Co./Molsons Brewery date from 1892 until the 1930s and feature an array of architectural visions. The earliest extant building, the 1892 Brew House and Ale Cellars , was designed by Otto Wolf, a Philadelphia-based architect and engineer. Comprising a post and beam structure with timber capitals and an exterior of rusticated sandstone and brick, the building is one of the earliest and most impressive industrial designs and constructions in Calgary. It was significantly expanded in 1900. In 1904, the company initiated a major expansion. Bernard Barthel, a well-known architect of breweries throughout North America, visited Calgary in that year and provided designs for several new buildings. Though it has undergone significant alterations, the 1905 Brew House reflects Barthel’s aesthetic sensibility: simple and functional with enormous windows, the new building was distinguished by its lack of embellishment and its emphasis upon natural lighting. Its simplified architecture may reflect both Cross’ utilitarian ethic and the influence of the architectural styles of Chicago upon Barthel’s work. The 1905 Smokestack designed by Barthel is also distinctive, featuring corbelled brick at the top and imitating the appearance of a column, complete with base, shaft, and capital. It has been an icon of the site since its construction. Another architectural sensibility is evident in the 1907-08 Administration Building designed by the well-known Calgary architectural firm, Hodgson and Bates. The building is clearly an office structure, distinct from the industrial structures that surround it, and features an elegant marriage of brick walls and sandstone trim. The Administration Building’s most prominent feature is a relief sandstone carving of a buffalo head and horseshoe – the iconic logo of the company. The 1930s witnessed two significant additions to the site. In the early 1930s, J. B. Cross, continuing his father’s legacy of community service, built a large garden adjacent to the brewery as a make work project for his Depression-era employees. Begun in 1932, the garden eventually included a variety of species of flora, fish hatcheries, waterfalls, and an 1875 Metis cabin brought to the site from near the original Fort Calgary. In the late 1930s, architect George Fordyce designed a pub in the Tudor Revival style that was incorporated into the east portion of the 1892 Brew House and Ale Celllars. The buildings, structures, and landscape elements at the site thus represent an evolution of both industrial facilities and architectural sensibilities. Source: Alberta Community Development, Heritage Resource Management Branch (File: Des. 2048) Character-Defining Elements The character-defining elements of the Calgary Brewing and Malting Co./Molsons Brewery include such features as: 1892 Brew House and Ale Cellars : - mass, form, and style; - concrete foundations; - sandstone and brick walls; - dimensional lumber floor joists; - fenestration pattern; - original windows; - shallow arches above windows and doors of sandstone voussoirs and keystones; - modified large timber post and beam structural system and stone fireplace in pub; - wood subfloor and concrete floors; - original equipment. 1892 Malt Kiln: - remaining mass, form, and style. 1892 Original Boiler Room: - remaining mass, form, and style. 1903 Storage Cellars: - mass, form, and style; - brick and sandstone walls. 1905 Wash House (Empty Barrel Storage later): - mass, form, and style; - brick and sandstone walls. 1905 Brew House: - mass, form, and style; - sandstone and brick facades; - original windows; - load-bearing sandstone and brick exterior walls; - concrete encased steel beams supported on cast iron columns; - original floor plan. 1905 Malt Kiln: - remaining mass, form, and style. 1905 Boiler House: - mass, form, and style; - sandstone and brick walls; - concrete roof slab; - original boiler. 1905 Smokestack: - mass, form, and style; - brick construction; - corbelling and decorative masonry features. 1905 Racking Room Storage (Later Full Keg Cold Storage with North Addition): - mass, form, and style; - brick and sandstone walls. 1905 Bottling House (Empty Bottle Storage later): - mass, form, and style; - brick and sandstone walls. 1907 Administration Building: - mass, form, and style; - sandstone foundation; - bricks walls and sandstone trim; - sandstone sculpture of buffalo head; - original cornerstone; - fenestration pattern; - brick corbels below the parapet cap; - original lath and plaster walls and ceilings (now covered). 1913 Engine Room: - mass, form, and style; - brick walls; - steel beam roof structure - corbelled band of brick just below the parapet. 1913 Well: - mass, form, and style; - brick construction. 1932 Brewery Gardens: - mass, form, and style; - irregular flagstone walks; - concrete ponds, wooden pole railings, wooden plank railings, wooden bridges; - variety of trees, shrubs, and perennials. 1933 1875 Metis Cabin: - mass, form, and style. Theme(s): Developing Economies: Extraction and Production Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life: Architecture and Design" ----------------- Excerpt from Historic Walks of Calgary, Harry Sanders: "Rancher Alfred Ernest Cross headed the group of businessmen who established the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company in 1892, the year prohibition ended in the NWT and licensed liquor sales began. (When prohibition returned to Alberta from 1916-24, the brewery sold soft drinks for domestic consumption but continued brewing beer for export.) The Calgary Brewery marketed its beers using a distinctive buffalo head label. Like other breweries in the province, it built up a chain of hotels where its product could be marketed. By the 1950s, the provincial government came to regard this practice as a monopoly and passed legislation requiring breweries to sell their hotels by 1967. Besides its capacity as one of Inglewood's largest employers, the brewery was also an important component in the district's social and sporting life. It provided Depression relief work through the development of the Brewery gardens, fish hatchery, and trout ponds. The Calgary Brewery Cabin, a Metis or settler cabin originally located near the Hunt House, was relocated to the Brewery gardens in the 1930s as a relic of Calgary's origins. Further community endeavors included the Horseman's Hall of Fame museum and the salt-water aquarium that opened to the public in the 1960s. The museum closed in 1975, and the aquarium was shipped to Montreal. The Calgary Brewing and Malting Company was sold to Canadian Breweries Ltd. in 1961, and, in 1989, it was taken over by Molson's Breweries. The plant was closed permanently in 1994." ----------------- All photos care of www.glenbow.org 1897 http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc4/q/na-2171-2.jpg 1905/1906 (much if these buildings still exist under newer additions) http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc4/v/na-2307-38.jpg 1924-1927 - Calgary Malting & Brewing Company Stampede beer garden http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-384.jpg 1925 - Guy Weadick, founder of the Calgary Stampede, AE Cross, one of the "Big Four" Stampede financiers, and "Hoot" Gibson, film star http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc3/r/na-1483-4.jpg 1932 - Men working on the Brewery Gardens during the Great Depression http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-420-7.jpg 1935 - Brewery Gardens http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-420-16.jpg 1935 - Brewery Gardens http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-420-19.jpg 1940s http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-421-14.jpg 1945 http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc4/g/na-1846-19.jpg 1954 - Fish Hatcheries http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc9/h/na-5600-7499b.jpg 1956 - Mrs. A. E. Cross being presented with flowers at laying of new office building at Calgary brewery. http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-296.jpg 1957 - Distinctive Buffalo head label (1920's bottle and larger 1957 bottle) http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc9/l/na-5600-8171.jpg 1960 - Opening of the aquarium http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-308.jpg 1960 - James B Cross speaking at the opening http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-317.jpg 1960 - Premier Ernest Manning and James B. Cross at opening of aquarium, Calgary Brewing and Malting Company. http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-318.jpg 1960 - Premier Ernest Manning cutting ribbon at opening of aquarium, Calgary Brewing and Malting Company. http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc6/n/na-3164-320.jpg 1960s - Calgary Safety Roundup and School Patrol children receiving prizes, Calgary, Alberta. The children are holding soft drinks made by the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company. http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-427-3.jpg 1960s - Decorated for Christmas http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arcm/13/a/m-9009-428-2.jpg 1972 - People watching trout in the Brewery Gardens http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/d/na-2864-21533.jpg 1972 http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/z/na-4476-1017.jpg 1972 - Malt Room http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/z/na-4476-1031.jpg 1972 - Horseman's Hall of Fame http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/z/na-4476-1040.jpg http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/z/na-4476-1042.jpg http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc11/z/na-4476-1047.jpg http://ww2.glenbow.org/dbimages/arc7/l/na-3884-7.jpg Some examples of brewery redevelopments: http://www.firstpathway.com/projects/pabst-brewery-redevelopment http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com (National historic site in Toronto) http://www.amarchitects.com/redtruckbrewery.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/4464862/Seagram-Lofts-Waterloo-Ontario http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/ And of course the nearby Ramsay Exchange project is a good example of former industrial put to use in a mixed use new development: http://www.ramsayexchange.com/ |
Great info... thanks! I never knew that there was so much history to that site.
I hope that these historical structures can be saved and put to good use. |
i'll gladly chain myself to this structure to prevent it from going away! I couldn't imagine a drive through Inglewood without having this sucker to look at!
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It would be extremely disappointing if this were to go through, particularly as we know that the site would likely remain vacant for however many years until market conditions improved. I would like to see an adaptive re-use of this building. Glad to see the City and Province aren't rolling over just yet.
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This would be a good one to have an architectural competition to restore the place, and figure out what to do with everything.
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It's been mentioned by a number of people, myself included, and I believe the prez of the Inglewood community association that the site, with the adjacent empty sites to the west would make a great ACAD campus.
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Should definitely keep it.
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dizzy you should make this a facebook group to help spread awareness of this impending tragedy.
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At the moment we're sort of monitoring what is going to happen as far as the province, but we do have various actions being planned should things seem to go the wrong way.
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yikes what kinda shape is the roofs on the complex are they leaking ect...
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Added more old industrial reuse links at the bottom.
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Some great info Dizzy! I had no idea the Brewery had so much history. I would really hate to see them tear down this thing. Some of the newer parts don't hold much hertigae value, but the older ones do. It would be so cool to incroporate the old portions in with a new development.
Have either newspapers mentioned anything about this? |
^ Not yet, although I'm kinda hoping things stay quiet for another couple days so we can talk to a few other organizations.
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One thing I noticed, the windows in the building to the left are HUGE, and make the structures look a lot smaller than they really are. I've put in an arrow pointing to a man to give some scale.
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/4788/tinyperson.jpg |
Although I knew that the site itself is an important piece of Calgary's history, I had absolutely no idea that there were so many buildings with historical significance. Thanks so much for enlightening me - I'll be keeping an eye on this issue now.
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From the Calgary Herald. As always many of the of the comments on the site are brutal to read... some people really don't seem to care about anything that isn't in their own backyard.
Ingelwood brewery saved from demolition...for now Province to assess historical significance, but building could come down regardless The Inglewood Brewery in Calgary, Alberta on June 10, 2009 sits empty. It has been spared demolition by the provincial government in order for a historical assessment to take place. Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald CALGARY- A Calgary financier’s bid to demolish some of the oldest buildings at the original 1892 Calgary Brewery has been halted by the provincial government as it assesses the structures’ historical significant. City Hall lists the Inglewood brewery as one of Calgary’s most significant heritage sites, and the buildings rank as some of its oldest remaining industrial plants. But since it’s private property — owned by major landowner and Calfrac Well Services chairman Ronald Mathison, no less — such heritage status couldn’t legally block an application to tear down buildings that are 104, 106 and 117 years old as early as mid-June. This week, the province’s Culture ministry essentially stopped that hourglass by ordering a historic resources impact assessment to thoroughly study the value and structural integrity of the the old brew house, boilers and cellars that face the wrecking ball. “Anybody who owns a historic building that’s anything over 100 years old, you’ve got to know that you’re not just able to knock them down without having Alberta Historical Resources Foundation take a look at it,” Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett said today in an interview. However, he didn't say how far the government would go to block the owners' wishes, or how long the assessment may take. It’s unclear what Mathison’s plans are for the site should the demolition go ahead, although many newer buildings, the old brewery gardens and the 1875 Metis cabin on the historic grounds will remain standing under the plans. Mathison and other representatives for the site could not be reached immediately for comment. “It’s really important to buy some time,” Darryl Cariou, the city’s senior heritage planner, said of the demolition proposal and the province’s review. The Calgary Brewery and Malting Co. was constructed in 1892, the same year the Northwest Territories government repealed prohibition across most of Western Canada. From the sandstone and brick structures ultimately flowed the hugely successful prodcuer of Calgary Export beer, well before the factory was taken over by Molson and closed by the beer giant in 1994. The brewery wasn’t only among Inglewood’s largest employers, but it also hosted a popular gardens, saltwater gardens and a horseman’s museum. The company’s founder adds to the heritage — it was A.E. Cross, one of the Big Four founders of the Calgary Stampede and a Conservative MLA before Alberta was founded. Heritage advocates expressed hope the century-old buildings will be saved, reasoning the site would be ideal for a mixed-use development that incorporates the historical architecture. A major Calgary architectural firm had been working for years with the owner on such a concept on the brewery grounds, but hadn't discussed them with Mathison's people in a year and were unaware of the demolition proposal until contacted by the media. [email protected] © Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald |
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Glad we've bought some time...but it is ridiculous that the owners would consider demolition without even disclosing what they plan to do with the site. |
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