| Architect: Ross and Macdonald of Montreal - architects for
the Montreal Eaton's store. Associate architect was
George Fordyce of Calgary.
Contractor:
J. McDiarmid Company of
Winnipeg. (built Provincial Institute of Technology). Sub
contracts to Calgary companies
Original
cost:
$1,000,000.
Construction materials:
Steel and reinforced
concrete structure clad in Manitoba Tyndall limestone
(easily carved for decorative detail).
Architectural style:
Renaissance Revival.
Four storeys and a basement. Facade was comprised of
three main divisions; main floor - large display windows
framed in bronze, second storey - series of round arched
windows arranged in groups of three with a cornice
between it and the third storey. Elaborate spiral - wound
engaged pilasters framing the windows. The third and
fourth storeys visually integrated with rectangular
windows contained in recessed panels and spanning the two
storeys.
Original interior
details:
Five passenger
elevators, faced with cast bronze panels of intertwined
ribbons and griffins. The first escalator in the city. It
had wooden treads and operated from the ground to the
main floor. Entire building finished in white plaster and
marble. Tiled floors throughout.
Historical highlights:
- in 1927 the T.
Eaton Company bought two city blocks at 4th
Street and 8th Avenue S.W., the western edge of
the downtown core.
- originally Eaton's
envisioned a ten storey structure covering an
entire city block, but the economy faltered in
the years leading up to the depression.
- in April 1928 the
Commercial Cartage Company began excavation of
the site. Approximately 18,000 barrels of cement
from the plant at Exshaw, Alberta were used in
construction.
- Lady Eaton,
accompanied by her eldest son Timothy, turned a
gold key in the lock on February 28, 1929 to
officially open the new store.
- store hired between
400 and 500 staff
- local papers
estimated that more than 5,000 customers passed
through the 4 main entrances during the first
half- hour on opening day.
- basement - cash and
carry grocery department, fresh meat and fruit,
hardware and sporting goods departments and the
luncheonette. Ground floor - men's wear, ladies
neckwear, notions, drugs, candy, stationery,
jewelry and optical furnishings. Second floor -
ladies garments, fancy goods, furs, millinery,
shoes, whitewear, staples, silks and woolens.
linen and bedding, customer's writing and rest
room. Third floor - tea room, house furnishings,
hair dressing and beauty parlors, china and
carpets. Fourth floor - wall paper, pictures,
paints and musical instruments. Pianos,
gramophones and radios were a specialty.
- Alhambra Tea Room
on third floor was planned in the "Moorish
design" and finished by Lewis and White
"one of the outstanding mural artists on the
continent."
- "the arcade on
the ground floor is to be in Louis the Fourteenth
style, and will provide a promenade the length of
the building, lined with showcases."
- 1936 - 8th Avenue
arcade eliminated in order to augment ground
floor space by 6,000 feet.
- 1950s - a
substantial addition built to the north side
- city council
approved plan for demolition in 1986
- as a result of
extensive renovations over a sixty year period,
very little of the original interior remained by
the time the building was demolished in 1988.
- $110 million 78
store retail portion of the Calgary Eaton Centre
built on the site of the original 1929 store
opens in 1990.
|
Eaton's
Store