Prince Albert Historical Society
The greatest boom in the Canadian West occurred between 1910 and 1913. Immigration to the area approached 393,000 people, world trade and investment rose rapidly, and every index of prosperity climbed annually. Cities, including Prince Albert, were the recipients of the greater share of this boom. In a single week in March 1910 more land changed hands locally than in the two years previous, leading to a prediction that the city would shortly equal Winnipeg in size. It was rumoured that there were more millionaires in the city than anywhere else in western Canada.
Evidence of the city’s financial enhancement could be seen in the formation of the Prince Albert Club and the construction by the community’s nouveau riche of an exquisite building to house it. This was not the first such club for the businessmen of the city, but by far the grandest. In July 1882, the Kinistino Club had been founded by twenty-four members of the community’s elite. Renamed the Prince Albert Club, and later the Saskatchewan Club, it had existed in rented premises which later became the Royal Hotel.
Erected in 1913 at a cost of about $50,000, the Prince Albert Club was a fine building of burned brick, of substantial construction, and with a well finished interior. It had hardwood floors throughout, marble window sills, and mahogany woodwork. The club was run on a generous scale. Before its opening, the wine order was of such a magnitude that it put to shame “even the largest liquor house in Canada”. Men sitting at any of the tables could order another drink simply by pushing a bell attached to the table. Unfortunately, the club was run in such a grandiose manner that its finances weakened and finally collapsed. The Dominion Life Assurance company of Waterloo, Ontario, which held a $30,000 mortgage, foreclosed in 1916. The club came to an untimely end and, although a reorganized club formed in 1920 looked into redeeming the building, it was considered to be too expensive. Altogether, including the initial mortgage, accrued interest, rates and taxes, the estimated amount outstanding that year was $40,000, although the newly organised club was advised that it would be able to purchase the property for $30,000.
It was, therefore, a considerable surprise for the local citizens when it was announced in the Prince Albert Daily Herald on January 29, 1920 that the property had been sold for $15,000. According to the story in the newspaper, a consortium of members of the Knights of Columbus had purchased the building. Plans for its use were indefinite, but it was understood that the building would be used as the Knights of Columbus club rooms, as they had determined sometime previously that their quarters in the K.C. building (now the Canada Building at 1311 Central Avenue) were inadequate. The representatives of the society who carried through the negotiations for the property included J.E. Arpin, C.S. Lacroix, A.J. Reynolds, F.J. O’Leary, and F.G. Harvey acting for the Knights of Columbus. All were officials of the local branch of the order.
The building at that time was leased to the Provincial Police for use as its headquarters for its Prince Albert division. The Provincial Police had a lease that ran about three years from April 1918, and for which only a nominal rental was being paid. It was unknown if the lease was subject to sale, so that it was not yet definitely known whether the police headquarters would continue there, or new headquarters would be sought.
A continued lease of the building by the Provincial Police seemed to be the most appropriate direction for the province to take. The ground floor included Inspector Tait’s office, the court room, the office and detachment room. The second floor was used as living quarters. There was a fine basement, the main room there being formerly used as a billiard room, while storage space included an area for the liquor previously sold to members of the club. Of course, a cell in the basement for prisoners had been constructed for use by the police.
The following day, January 30th, the newspaper carried a further story, once again suggesting uncertainty with respect to the future of the building. The lease which the Provincial Police held on the building would not expire until April, 1921, and doubt existed whether the lease might have contained a clause rendering it subject to the sale of the property. Copies of the lease were held at police headquarters in Regina, with a second one held by the Dominion Life Assurance Company of Waterloo, Ontario. Locally, no one knew whether or not the sale clause was contained in the lease. Further confusing the situation was the fact that the Knights of Columbus had already given notice of the vacation of their lease in the K.C. building, a building in which they had no interest but in which they had merely rented.
On April 26th, the newspaper reported that the final disposition of the Prince Albert club building remained in doubt. The building, it noted, had been purchased by A.E. Arpin, C.S. Lacroix, Frank Harvey, C.A. Cooney and Frank Russell, who offered the building to the Knights of Columbus, of which society they were members, and which was in need of new quarters.
The building was considered ideal for the purposes of the Knights of Columbus, but it was not yet certain whether the society would take it over. At present the building was being used by the Provincial Police as district headquarters. The Provincial Police had a lease which expired the following year, but it was not definitely known whether the lease was subject to sale or not. If the lease was subject to sale, and taken over by the new purchasers, it would be necessary for the police to be quartered elsewhere. The Hon. A.P. McNab, minister of public works, looked into the matter when in the city the week before but made no pronouncement as to his intentions.
At the end of May, more officials were in Prince Albert on a tour of inspection seeking space
for various government offices. The commissioner of the Provincial Police, C.A. Mahony, along with the deputy minister of public works and C.J. Milligan, master of titles, joined with Prince Albert’s MLA, Charles McDonald, and Inspector Tait, to inspect several buildings, including the Bank of Ottawa building. No decision had been reached with respect to the buildings inspected, and other premises were to be inspected prior to the three officials returning to Regina.
Interestingly, no further public information could be found after a June 2nd, 1920 report in the Daily Herald. The story indicated that the building was still retained by the local businessmen who had purchased it, but that the provincial public works department had taken a month’s option on the building. The option price was not made public.
The fact that the Provincial Police remained headquartered in the building until it was dissolved in 1928 would indicate that the Department of Public Works went through with the purchase. It would suggest that the businessmen who had purchased the building in January were now somewhat wealthier, although how much richer is unknown. A room which had been described by the Daily Herald as “an interesting if gruesome reminder of capital crimes in the district” also remained on display: remnants of the ropes used in the executions at the first provincial gaol covering the period from August 1919 to August 1920, a total of twelve executions, including those ropes used in the triple hanging of the Steep Creek murderers.
In 1928, the RCMP, who took over provincial policing from the provincial force, and the Prince Albert City Police, remained on site in the building. By 1932, the RCMP were housed at their barracks building at 20th Street and 9th Avenue West, and the City Police were back in their building on Avenue B East.
Further proof that the department of public works had exercised their option on the building exists in the fact that it was the home of the Department of Natural Resources. Provincial government offices occupied the building until 1948 when those departments moved into the newly constructed provincial government building at 49 – 12th Street East.
It was in 1950 that the Prince Albert Public Library moved into the building, leaving its location in the Holmes Block on the corner of 8th Street and 1st Avenue East. At some point after that Prince Albert Library was incised into the space above the front door.
By 1951, the street address for the building changed from 50 – 12th Street West to 56 – 12th Street West. It was also in that year that the Prince Albert Public Library began to share the building with the newly created Prince Albert Regional Library (later the North Central Regional Library and now the Wapiti Regional Library). The Regional Library moved in the early 1960s to its own building at 145 – 12th Street East, and the Prince Albert Public Library (now the John Cuelenaere Library) moved into its current location at 125 – 12th Street East in 11973.
The “Old Library” building sat vacant for a brief period of time before more provincial departments moved into it in 1974, although it again became vacant in 1975 and 1976. From 1977 on, it served as a location for real estate agencies, school boards, and First Nations offices. However, mostly from 1986 to the current time, it has been vacant.
The original “good bones” of the building remain, but sadly deteriorating, with its bright red roof, moved from a demolished restaurant (the Country Kitchen) when that building was demolished.
