Stephen Avenue, Calgary's National Historic District

 

A development permit has been submitted for 8th Avenue and 7th Avenue which could affect 17 heritage sites, including 7 designated sites.

"8th Avenue looking east, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1909-1912], (CU174731) by Unknown. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. Including: Clarence Block, Tribune Block, Calgary Hardware, Hudson’s Bay Dept Store 1891.

At the heart of downtown Calgary survives a striking streetscape reflecting the unique character of urban development on the Canadian Prairies between the 1880s amd 1930. Stephen Avenue, named for Canadian Pacific Railway’s first president Lord George Stephen, was Calgary’s main street in the 1890s and home to many important businesses, including the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Alberta Hotel, and The Calgary Herald. According to the City of Calgary, “It was the place to shop, gossip, and be seen.”[1]

Over 100 years later, Stephen Avenue remains the heart of downtown and has retained its original retail and small business focus. The sandstone buildings survive, and the juxtaposition of Victorian, Art Deco, and Beaux-Arts elements creates elegance, texture, and visual interest which is unique to Calgary.

Early Calgary was a town of tents and small wood-frame buildings with a boomtown front. Sandstone construction replaced timber-frame after a major fire in 1886, hence Calgary’s nickname “Sandstone City”. The physical transformation of Calgary was rapid and extensive as the result of building and population booms between 1905 and 1913. This period of activity has resulted in the streetscape we see today, which forms the highest concentration of designated historic resources in Calgary. The sandstone and brick buildings which line this street are an essential part of Calgary’s character.[2]

8th Avenue between First and Centre Street, featuring several buildings impacted by the development permit. "8th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1920s], (CU1105765) by Oliver, W. J. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.

A National Historic Site of Canada

In fact, Stephen Avenue is so unique that it was recognized as a National Historic Site in 2001 by the Government of Canada. Parks Canada provides an excellent description of its heritage value:

“The remarkable thing about Stephen Avenue is that it continues to perform its original function as Calgary’s main street, despite the dramatic changes that have transformed other retailing and urban cores across the country. Today, the rows of two to six storey commercial buildings that line both sides of the street continue to house a broad range of retail services, while their designs reflect the architectural revival styles of a bygone era, in sharp contrast to the office towers that now encircle the area.

Saved from redevelopment through the efforts of far-sighted Calgarians in the 1970s, the buildings along Stephen Avenue serve as reminders of the central role that retail streets have played, and continue to play, in sustaining the vitality of Canada’s cities.”[3]

View of the storefronts and pedestrians along 8th Avenue in Calgary, Alberta (1911). Peel’s Prairie Provinces.

Stephen Avenue Mall 1960s-90s

By the late 60s, main shopping districts began to experience declines in retail sales, a growth in vacancies, dereliction of buildings, and an emergence of social issues as resident populations were displaced by new growth. In this context, strategies to revive downtowns and re-position them as "active people places" through the development of malls and plazas emerged across North America. Over a 20-year period beginning in the 1960s and ending in the early 1980s, over 200 pedestrian malls were developed in cities as part of a city centre revival movement. By the mid-1990s approximately 30 remained, of which Calgary's Stephen Avenue is acknowledged to be one of the most successful examples.[4]

The establishment of the Stephen Avenue Mall in 1968 was initially marked by controversy and vigorous debate; The City favoured a transit mall and was unwilling to alter well-established transit routes. Ultimately the matter was settled in a Public Hearing at which the public's preferred pedestrian option was approved. The Mall was fully completed in 1972.[4]

The 1960s and 1970s were a period of tremendous growth, social change and unrest. In the summer months of the early 1970s the Mall became a focus of the unease as Calgary's youth and students congregated in large numbers. Controversy arose over what constituted acceptable activities on the newly established Mall—whether it should be considered a standard roadway with no political activities permitted or a public commons subject to its own by-law. The matter was settled after lengthy media debate and a court case, at the end of which the City was advised that if excessive control of citizen's freedoms were impinged upon it would be due cause for legal challenge.[4]

Anti-Vietnam War protests on Stephen Avenue, Calgary, Alberta. Published in the Calgary Herald, April 26, 1971. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.

The 1980s and early 1990s marked the gradual emergence of a civic debate on the future of the district and its unique collection of historic buildings. The Province, in response to the ongoing loss of historic buildings due to new developments, moved to block large-scale development in the 100 and 200 West Blocks by designating four mid-block and end of block buildings and the private sector undertook isolated rehabilitations and adaptive re-use of buildings in the 100W Block.[4]

The City and the Downtown Business Association undertook a series of measures guiding the revitalization of the Stephen Avenue Mall. These included the passage of Height Restrictions, Sunlight Guidelines, a streetscapes program, and density transfer provisions for historic buildings within the 100 West Block of 8th Avenue Mall.[4]

These actions contributed to the establishment in 1992 of the Stephen Avenue Heritage Area Grant Program for the rehabilitation and economic re-use of the area's heritage buildings. The $4.3 million Program, jointly funded by the Province and The City through the Downtown Development Fund grants up to $200,000 for façade restoration to be matched by the private sector's rehabilitation of the buildings' interiors. Over the next 10 years, the Program resulted in the rehabilitation of 34 buildings and their return to active economic re-use and recognition by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 2002.[4]

Stephen Avenue on April 1970, a few months before the Stephen Avenue Mall officially opened on July 1 of that year. The Mall turned the street into a pedestrian-only walk full of shopping and entertainment destinations. Avenue Calgary.

2022 Development Permit

As of May 2022, development firm Triovest has submitted a development permit to The City of Calgary with plans for a major redevelopment project on Stephen Avenue which could affect a significant number of heritage sites.

Dubbed Stephen Avenue Quarter, the multi-phase proposal includes plans for office and residential towers, retail space and a hotel. One proposed high-rise would be 66 stories, making it the tallest building in Calgary.

There are a total of 17 historically significant sites present in the redevelopment area, several of which are legally protected under heritage designations from both municipal and provincial governments. The 100 West block of Stephen Avenue and 7 Avenue includes the following sites: 

  • Tribune Block, 1892. 118 8 Ave SW. Municipal designation 1998/3/23,

8th Avenue and 1st Street SW, looking east, Calgary, with stores and shops on the either side or pedestrians on the sidewalk and cars are driving and parked on either side. Bank of Montreal building is visible on right-hand side (1930s). Peel’s Prairie Provinces.

What You Can Do

In Alberta, a municipal heritage designation is legislated under the provincial Historic Resources Act; a legally designated historic resource is prevented from being demolished and requires City approval for alterations to historic elements. Several of the sites impacted by this development permit are already designated at the municipal and provincial levels, which leads to questions over how Triovest plans to approach these buildings.

The proposed plans appear to demolish all but two of these sites (Bank of Montreal Building and Central Methodist Church), while retaining only six façades along Stephen Avenue. The plans would presumably require the de-designation of 5 municipally designated sites to facilitate demolition, the de-designation of 1 municipally designated site to retain only the façade, and the de-designation of 1 provincial historic resource to retain only the façade. According to the Development Proposal, along Stephen Avenue the Norman Block, Clarence Block, Tribune Block, Molson’s Bank, Calgary Hardware, Hudson’s Bay Company Department Store (1891) will be reduced to façades only.

You can submit your comments on the development permit until May 30: https://developmentmap.calgary.ca/?find=DP2022-02927. On the development permit, click “Details” and then “Share your comments.”   


Sources:

[1] A Walk Down Stephen Avenue; Historical Walking Tour for Students. City of Calgary. 2003. https://www.calgary.ca/content/dam/www/pda/pd/documents/heritage-planning/heritage-walking-tours/heritage-stephen-ave-student-walk-tour-teacher-guide.pdf

[2] Stephen Avenue and Area Historical Walking Tour, Alberta Community Development and Stephen Avenue Heritage Area Society, 1995: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3dfea578-504b-46a3-a3d6-78fefaf8a3d0/resource/f1b29cd2-50ef-447b-973e-28e50b5cc637/download/tour-calgary-stephen-avenue.pdf

[3] Parks Canada via Historic Resources Management Branch, Alberta Culture. https://albertashistoricplaces.com/tag/stephen-avenue/

[4] Stephen Avenue Mall 1956 – 2010; An Overview of Shifting Commercial, Social and Regulatory Factors. RM Graham, 12/03/2019. https://www.calgary.ca/content/dam/www/pda/pd/documents/current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/stephen-avenue/historical-report.pdf

The Canadian Register of Historic Places. Stephen Avenue National Historic Site of Canada. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7774

Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources. City of Calgary and Heritage Calgary. https://maps.calgary.ca/HeritageInventory/

 
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