My Town Monday - Christmas Windows on Whyte

Back to Old Strathcona we go. Not to see the architecture or the murals this time, but, to see the Christmas displays that they have put up in a few of the windows. They call it The Return of the Magic and I was quite impressed, never having seen this as a child.

The last large scale animatronic display in Edmonton was sometime in the '60's, according to the history on the site. Even if my parents had manage to take us kids down town to have a look, I would have been but a babe in arms. Sorry for the poor quality photos, but please click to enlarge.

The Nativity Scene

Santa's Workshop

Winter Wonderland Romance

The Honeytones Bear Band

 

The Candy Land Kids

 

Gnome Family Christmas

Snowman Stan & The Magnificent Monkey Band

The Christmas Eve Adventure

 The Nutcracker

This last one was my favourite. I have linked each title to it's own page on the website, each page has a link to a story on the making of the display and a soundtrack to go with the scenes. Quite a lot of effort went into making these displays and I am proud to have them in my city. 

The only thing I think would have made them better would have been music outside each store. There were a number of people that just walked by without even a glance, in spite of the three of us oohing and snapping photos. Yes, they provided more than one method to get the MP3 files, but I know myself, I didn't have enough room to download all of them for one night and several people I know do not even own them. That is minor though and we quite enjoyed ourselves.

To enjoy more MTM posts from around the globe, drop by the MTM blog.

Have a good day all.

MTM: Edmonton High Level Street Car (corrected)

It has been awhile since I've done one of these, But I vaguely remember mentioning the High Level Street Car in one of my other posts. We finally got around to taking a ride on it a couple of weeks ago and I even had my camera along!


The Edmonton Radial Rail Society has put in thousands of volunteer hours yearly to restore and locate cars. They run on a short section of track from Strathcona to Jasper Avenue as well as in Fort Edmonton Park. We took the run over the High Level Bridge and I can see we will have to go to Ft. Edmonton Park as well. That will be at least two posts worth too ;)

This is where we start, just behind the the bus barns and Museum. Click any photo to enlarge.

Here comes the Street Car.

Hmm, seems a little modern and plastic!

Is that German?

Yes, it sure is! This is the car from Hanover, Germany!
The trip is about the ride anyway.

Approaching the tunnel that runs under 109 St and some apartment buildings!

Once out of the tunnel you can almost believe you have left the city behind.

But no...there it is, just hidden behind trees.

To the East is our ball diamond, yes, we have a team... um... Edmonton Capitals (forgive me they were the Cracker Cats two years ago and I don't follow the sport) and they belong to the Golden League.
Oops! This is Kinsmen field on the South side of the river (hard to tell in the little photo). The diamond (Telus Field)for the Capitals would be behind the Rossdale plant.

This is the view to the West from the bridge.

This is the Rossdale Power Plant (it seems they are decommissioning it) and the Walterdale bridge which the locals call the 5th street bridge - because we're too lazy to say one hundred and 5th.

The dome of our Legislature building and a few of our high rises.

Picking up a passenger at the Grandin stop.

The end of the line....Jasper Avenue, surrounded by Apartments and office towers.



For $4.00 you can stay down town all day and take the street car back in the late afternoon...cheaper by far than the daily fare for regular transit - if you live near the Strathcona terminal. Regular transit is $2.75 and you get a 90 minute transfer.

Southbound for the return trip you can see the bridge for the LRT and in the background residences and other buildings (hospital) for the U of Alberta.

Oh, look! The LRT! Which to be honest I didn't even notice until I processed the photos... it probably beat us to the other side of the river. Behind that is the Royal Glenora Club and Victoria Park and behind that are residential high rises.



MTM  is being hosted by Clare2e from Women of Mystery and it even has it's own blog now...My town Monday.

Have a good day all.

MTM: Old Strathcona - Part IV

If you recall I have done a few other posts on a district called Old Strathcona, it is a wonderful funky, area on the south side of the river in Edmonton that used to be, many years ago, a town in it's own right. The links for the other posts are at the bottom of the page. Please click on any photo to enlarge.

Strathcona Public Library

From old buildings declared heritage sites to new buildings designed to look like they are from the same era, Old Strathcona is a bustling busy place filled with people of every type.

We have jocks during hockey play-offs in spite of the arena being on the far north end of the city.

Being so close to the University we have all the students trying out various persona's, deciding who they want to be.

Historical designation

Off the main drag, it is a bit quieter and we find places like the public library.
















This is a mural painted on the back of a newer building, that depicts what the area might have been like back in the days of yore.

The artist is in fact someone my sister and I went to school with and he is quite well known throughout Alberta for his murals, his name is Tim Heimdal and this article on him, is pretty accurate.

Connaught Armory

Connaught Armoury was built in 1911-12 in the then separate city of Strathcona. It served as the base for one of Alberta's most famous regiments, the 19th Alberta Dragoons. The regiment served with great distinction in the First and Second World Wars. Like many cavalry regiments it was reorganized as an armoured regiment, and after 1945 it became known as the 19th Alberta Armoured Car Regiment. The building is a fine example of military building in Alberta, and presents a formidable, fortress-like appearance with its stylized roof crenellations, heavy brick and masonry walls, and formal entry porch.

Unfortunately the above is the only information I can find on the Armoury aside from plans to turn it into something else and a news article denying the Legion the building to house their hall, instead it was to be used as a youth shelter.

It is a great building, I hope they don't screw it up.








However, the entire area is taken over for the Fringe festival and many of these structures are turned into impromptu theatres.















Some of the old buildings have been re-purposed far from the original intent as seen here.














Some, are still being used as offices as they might have been when they were built.












New construction is being done in such a manner as to blend in with the old. Sometimes better than other times.








The Art Walk is held on Whyte Avenue and down 104 St, artists showcase their works on the street and show passersby what they are working on, or how they achieve certain results.








The bank even went as far as to have the date inscribed in a plaque on the front of the building ;)














I think that is quite enough for today. There is much, much more to know about Old Strathcona though, so look for more posts on it in the future. If you would like to revisit the other posts, they are linked here:

Part I
Part II
Part III


Have a good day all.

For more My Town Monday posts, drop by Travis Erwins blog, he is the genius that started us on this journey and many people from all round the world join us.

MTM: Old Strathcona -Part III

Whyte Avenue or 82 Ave, is the "main drag" in the Old Strathcona area. It is four lanes of heavy traffic all of the time. On Summer evenings and weekends, you would think it was a set for "American Graffiti". It is where everyone with a tricked out or restored car comes to cruise. It is where bikers hang around in parking lots, unless they are cruising as well. You can see the most amazingly restored vehicles, hear the roar of Harley's and choke on exhaust fumes from any of the outdoor cafes, restaurants or bars along Whyte.

Click to enlarge

From the Old Strathcona website:

Princess Theatre 1914: 10337 Whyte Avenue

When it opened in 1915, the Princess Theatre was said to have the largest stage in western Canada. Early fare included high-class musical vaudeville and musical concerts. When television arrived in the 1950s, the lobby of the Princess was converted to retail use for more than 15 years.

The first commercial film shown at the Princess Theatre was The Eagle's Mate, starring Mary Pickford. Until 1940, the Princess was the only commercial theatre in south Edmonton.

click to enlarge

Periods building abound in the area. Unfortunately a few have been lost over the years to fire and bad planning.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

If you happen to be in the neighbourhood in the spring during Stanley Cup playoffs and the Oilers have made it that far, you can be assured that the city police will be shutting the streets down to vehicle traffic and will be out in full force. During any of the playoff games, there is a huge potential for a riot, if we win, you want to be safe at home.

click to enlarge

Some of these are from the 50's through the '70's and were built to the style of the time. They are a couple of blocks to the west of the period buildings, but they represent an era of their own too.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Since 1974's founding of the Old Strathcona foundation, buildings only get replaced, if they have been damaged beyond repair as in the case of fire. New buildings whether replacements or not are being built to "fit" in with their older neighbours, both in style and by being clad in brick.

click to enlarge

I have so far only covered the main shopping area, there is so much more to cover, but I think next week I will take a look at a different area of my city. Strathcona will continue in the future.

For more My Town Mondays drop by Travis Erwins blog for links to other places around the world.

Have a good day all.

P.S. For those following the sewing saga...I had to take the bodice off yet again and this time put a hole in it. Back to the drawing board to redesign. *sigh*

MTM: Old Strathcona - Part II

In hindsight, I should have posted this first. Too late now, so we must just forge ahead. Click on any photo to enlarge.

In 1891, that Calgary and Edmonton Railway Company, decided to complete the line between the two cities. They decided to end the line on the South bank of the North Saskatchewan River for purely greedy reasons. They wanted to create a new commercial centre and take over Edmonton which was located on the North bank. They called the community South Edmonton and set about building the rail station, section house, engine house and an hotel.

This is the train side of the station that replaced the original station.


Unfortunately they are re-doing the roof on the street side, so it is a bit obscured by scaffolding.

From the Old Strathcona website:

Canadian Pacific Railway Station 1908: 8101 103rd Street

Separate waiting rooms for men and women and a smoking lounge were the talk of the town when the station opened in January 1908. Built for $24,000, it replaced a modest wood frame station that had been constructed in 1891.


This is the sign between the new & the old stations, they built the new station in a style similar to that of the old station. (I didn't think to get a photo of it)

From the Old Strathcona website:

Strathcona Hotel 1891: 10302 Whyte Avenue

The Calgary & Edmonton Railway Company built what was first called the Edmonton House Hotel in 1891, making it the oldest wood frame commercial building on Whyte Avenue. Originally the rectangular wood frame building had 45 guest-rooms, a dining room and beer parlour. The old gal still knows how to kick up her heels.

During Prohibition, the Strathcona Hotel served as the Westminister Ladies College.

Two additions, in 1907 and 1913, were built onto the north end of the Strathcona Hotel.

Sign with an archival photo placed by the city designating this as historical.


From Wikipedia:

In 1899, Strathcona was incorporated as a town and named after "Lord Strathcona, a pioneer fur trader and clerk whose real name was Donald A. Smith".^[1] It became a city in 1907.

In 1902, alarmed by fires that swept through many prairie communities at the time, Strathcona's town council passed an ordinance requiring that all buildings be constructed of materials like brick that are resistant to fire. This, along with municipal development moving north of the river after amalgamation, means Strathcona has one of the largest stocks of vintage buildings in western Canada.

The University of Alberta was established in the city of Strathcona in 1908.

Today, those parts of the City of Strathcona around Whyte Avenue are known as Old Strathcona.

In the 1970's many of these buildings were threatened with demolition. Fortunately there were a lot of community minded citizens that got together and created the Old Strathcona Foundation and put an end to the threat. In 2007 it was finally given recognition by the province as an historical area.

Next week I will show you some of the more interesting buildings along Whyte Avenue.


My Town Mondays are hosted by Travis Erwin, drop by his blog and read about other places from around the globe.

Edit: for info about Prohibition in Canada go here.