Kelly Ramsey Building

The Kelly Ramsey Building was an historic building located in Downtown Edmonton at 10040 101A Avenue on Rice Howard Way.[1]

Kelly Ramsey Building
Building in 2009
Location in Edmonton
General information
Architectural styleChicago commercial
Address10040 101A Avenue
Town or cityEdmonton, Alberta
CountryCanada
Coordinates53°32′32.8″N 113°29′33.9″W
Construction started1911
Completed1927
Demolished2013
Cost$250,000
Design and construction
ArchitectKelly, Van Siclen; Ramsey, Magoon & Macdonald

History

James Ramsey was a department store owner who opened up a store in the Tegler Building (to the north of the Kelly Ramsey Building). Shortly after moving to Edmonton in 1911, he required more space and moved into the building which was built by a blacksmith John Kelly. Not long after Kelly's death Ramsey bought the building from his widow in 1926 for $100,000. He then extended the story westward calling it the Ramsey Building. In the 1940s the Government of Alberta bought the building.[1] More recently, it had been owned by Worthington Properties.

In March 2009 a fire broke out and gutted most of the building. Police determined it was caused by arson and on April 2 a man was arrested for the fire.[2] In September 2009, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta ordered a judicial sale of the building due to foreclosure for $3 million, down from its previous price of $10 million.[3]

In 2013 the building was demolished, to be replaced by Enbridge Centre.[4][5] Enbridge Centre is a 25-storey office building, which recreated the original building facades on the tower's podium.[6][7][8] The tower was completed in late 2016 and opened on October 13, 2016, with the original facade incorporated into the new building.[9][10]


Architecture

The building was two four-story, brick and steel frame buildings. The Ramsey portion was an addition to the Kelly Block. The two buildings were quite different. The Kelly Block was done in dark brick and the Ramsey Building had a stone facade, three-part windows, and a smaller cornice.[1]

References
  1. Ivany, Kathryn (2004). Historic Walks of Edmonton. Red Deer Press. pp. 200, 201. ISBN 0-88995-298-1.
  2. Drake, Laura (April 2, 2009). "Man charged in downtown Edmonton fire". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
  3. Simon, Paula (November 14, 2009). "Social, economic cost to losing Kelly-Ramsey block: $3M a bargain to protect, preserve key historic site downtown". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  4. Young, Tom (October 6, 2013). "Edmonton Today: Kelly-Ramsay Demolition". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  5. "Enbridge adds vibrancy, energy to Edmonton skyline". Enbridge. June 8, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  6. Parrish, Julia (March 28, 2013). "City report outlines proposed plans for historic building". CTV Edmonton. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. Mah, Bill (November 11, 2013). "Brick By Brick The Kelly-Ramsey Block Comes Tumbling Down". Edmonton Journal. Tina K. Fournier. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  8. Mertz, Emily (8 April 2016). "Gallary:Edmonton's old Kelly Ramsey Tower is new again". Corus Entertainment Inc. Global News Edmonton. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  9. "Kelly Ramsey Tower". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  10. Morris, Kyle (October 13, 2016). "Enbridge Centre now open in downtown Edmonton". iNews 880 AM. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
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