Committee recommends Oliver Block be designated for historic value

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on April 30, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber The first step has been taken to having the downtown Oliver Block be designated as a municipal historic resource

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The first steps have been taken to designate the downtown Oliver Block as a municipal historic resource.
The Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee on Wednesday recommended council direct the city clerk to send a notice of intent to designate to the Oliver Block’s owner and that a designation bylaw be prepared for consideration by council after the passing of the required 60 days notice.
The owner of the building made the application for the designation.
The Oliver Block, located at 316 5 St. S., has significance to the city for its association with early commercial development in Lethbridge as well as for its association with William Oliver and for its design.
Oliver was a prominent citizen in the early days of Lethbridge who moved here in 1884 to work for the Alberta Railway and Coal Company. In 1887, he started a brickyard and by 1890, Oliver had gotten into the general building and construction business and opened the city’s first sash and door factory.
Oliver was elected mayor four times and also served as an alderman multiple times.
Built around 1900, the two-storey building replaced a wood-framed structure that had been used as a theatre and was built in two phases so its owner could continue operating his business during construction.
The Oliver Block was rented to businesses including a billiards hall in its basement in 1914, the Bank of Toronto on the ground floor from 1913-15, and the White Lunch and Stokes Drug Store, says a statement of significance.
That statement said the block’s owner also built several other buildings here including the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall and Oliver Apartments.
The brick flat-roofed Oliver Block’s design is significant because fire bylaws passed in 1891 limited the types of construction materials used in the business district.
The statement of significance adds “the odd rhythm of the bays and upper floor windows reveals that the Oliver building is actually composed of two distinct original buildings, one with a later addition, all of which were combined as one, with a uniform brick facade. Readily available brick from local brickyards meant that decorative details such as the pilasters and corralled brick entablature were much easier to incorporate into the building’s design.”
The block was first identified as having potential merit for designation in 2009 as part of the city’s second heritage inventory project.
On Wednesday, acting mayor Belinda Crowson tweeted her support for the SPC’s decision, saying about 10 years ago, she sat in a meeting at City Hall on behalf of the Lethbridge Historical Society and was told “there are even people dumb enough to try & preserve the Oliver Building. Well those of us who were ‘dumb enough’ are so happy” the building has gone through the first step toward designation.
Crowson thanked the historical society, Ted Stilson when he was with the Downtown Lethbridge BRZ and others who fought for the building as well as Hunter Heggie and the people “who preserved and renovated it. You rock,” Crowson tweeted.

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