Edmonton buildings granted historic status

EDMONTON — Edmonton officials have granted two buildings historical status.

The city council announced that Strathcona Garage and the Nye Residence will both receive funding for rehabilitation costs.

The city noted in the years after the Strathcona Garage was built in 1912, cars have shifted from a luxury item for the elite to a something many Edmontonians could afford.

The Strathcona Garage was built in 1912 in the Queen Alexandra neighbourhood. The city noted that although the building itself was relatively simple in its design, it featured embellished ornamental features like arched entrances with decorative keystones and crenellated parapets to reinforce the grandeur of car ownership.

“I can imagine what it might have been like in its heyday for working people to walk by that showroom and see the latest models of cars and wonder if they would ever have the chance to own such a remarkable piece of technology,” said principal heritage planner Scott Ashe in a statement.

The city added for these reasons, the Strathcona Garage is a classic example of an early 20th century car dealership with commercial services on the first floor, including the showroom and repair facilities, and apartment suites on the second floor.

The Nye Residence, built in 1914, is a one-and-a-half-storey Craftsman-style home whose first residents, Frank and Harriet Nye, moved to Edmonton from Michigan in search of a new life. Frank partnered with WF Miller to form the Nye-Miller Co. Ltd, an office supply dealer that evolved into Miller Office Group.

The building has remained as it was except for a small addition added to the back in the 1930s. The building also had indoor heating and electricity installed when those services became available.

Strathcona Garage’s owners be given a grant of up to $500,000 from the city’s Heritage Resources Reserve fund to assist in rehabilitation costs to the building. The Nye home’s current owners will receive just over $56,000 to assist in rehabilitation costs for the structure.

The city’s Historic Resource Management Plan has been in effect since 1985. In that time 164 properties have been designated.