Decently without any fanfare a new mural appeared in the back alley between Stephen Avenue and 7th Avenue SW at Centre Street on the back of the Hudson Block.

You can’t miss It – it is big, bold and colourful!

Celebrating Calgary & Canada’s History

Turns out the mural was created by Van Charles Designs in celebration of the history of Stephen Avenue (particularly its namesake Baron George Stephen) and the Hudson’s Block itself.

Lindsay Schrader, the Hudson Block property manager shared this explanation of the mural to an Everyday Tourist reader who then shared it to me and Lindsay then gave me permission to use it.

Without getting into too great of detail, the mural is centered around Baron George Stephen and is surrounded by visuals celebrating his importance to Calgary and Canada alike. The idea behind the mural is to instill pride in Calgary’s history. While most Calgarians know Stephen Avenue is Calgary’s premier historic street, few of us know where the name came from and how the CPR influenced the development of our city and Canada 100 years ago.

The Mural’s symbolism:

The train represents Baron Stephen’s integral role in founding / building / completing the Canadian Pacific Railway to unite Canada from coast to coast.
The mountain is Mount Stephen in Yoho National Park.
The visual to Baron Stephen’s left represents his appointment as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1905. Inside the visual are elements speaking to his life as a builder and philanthropist.
The animal visuals serve to represent those from across Canada. The beaver represents HBC’s tenancy of the Hudson’s Block and the beginning of Calgary’s economic life in a material way, on Stephen’s Ave
The mountain lion, serves to represent Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) who moved into the building after the Hudson Bay Company moved into their larger building down the block. This was the beginning of Calgary as a financial centre and Stephen Avenue as a banking street. Yes, RBC uses an African lion symbol in its branding, but we wanted to use Canadian animals.
The flora throughout the mural represents of various plants from coast to coast within Canada and again speaks to George Stephen’s life as a nation builder of Canada.

The Building’s History

(fromHistoric Walks of Calgary by Harry M. Sanders)

When the Calgary settlement moved from its original location around Fort Calgary in 1884, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) acquired this site (102 8th Ave SW) and built a wood framed store that remained in use until 1890. That year, the HBC built the eastern portion of this rusticated sandstone building and in 1895 it was doubled in size. A further addition in 1905 took over the site of a home once occupied by Senator James A Lougheed (grandfather of Premier Peter Lougheed) and his family.

Calgary’s phenomenal growth prior to WW 1 led the HBC to construct a massive new department store a block west. When it opened in 1913, the Bay sold its old premises to the Royal Bank of Canada for a record-setting fee at the peak of the real estate boom.

The building was repaired after a devastating fire in 1921. While the original, modified Italian Renaissance exterior remains, the rear cinderblock wall (on which the mural is painted) reveals a complete interior reconstruction that took place in 1977. The Royal Bank brought stonemasons from Britain to work on the façade, including one who had worked on St. Paul’s Cathedral, Windsor Castle and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Last Word

It seems like almost every week a new mural or sculpture is being unveiled in and around our downtown. Over the past three years Calgary has developed a very ambitious mural program that has made our streets much more pedestrian friendly.

While Calgary’s official Art Walk (celebrating 37 years) is this weekend (September 19 & 20th), you can literally do your own Art Walk any day of the year.

Link: Calgary Success Stories: City Centre Transformed Into An Outdoor Art Gallery