Calgary’s Grand Story: The Making of a Prairie Metropolis from the Viewpoint of Two Heritage Buildings (review)

Calgary’s Grand Story is a local history that is told through the biographies of the people connected to two heritage buildings. All of these people are linked in some way to the Lougheed Building and the Grand Theatre, which were erected by Senator James Lougheed in 1912, at the height of Calgary’s real estate boom. The Lougheed Building was a six-storey building with retail outlets and the entrance to the Grand Theatre on the ground floor, offices on the middle floors, and apartments on the top floors. The history of the buildings is the story of Calgary’s growth as a regional metropolis. Thus the book’s title, a play on the name of the Grand Theatre, sums up the content and intent of the book.

This book was inspired by a campaign to save the buildings from the wrecker’s ball. Donald Smith, a professor at the University of Calgary, who was involved in this campaign, decided to write a book that would record the history of these landmarks in downtown Calgary.

The book begins with the night of the first performance at the Grand Theatre. By introducing us to the people in the audience, Smith tells us about the cultural life of Calgary. Then he describes the attractions that played at the Grand over the years and how the Grand evolved into a movie theatre. As much as possible, the Grand’s story is told by focusing on the men who managed the theatre. Since the attractions that came to the Grand were touring across Canada and the United States, and at times the manager of the Grand cooperated with managers in other cities, the story of the Grand sheds light on Canadian theatre history beyond Calgary.

Through his description of the careers of the men who came to Calgary to make their fortunes, shortly after the Canadian Pacific Railway opened up the area for settlement, Smith conveys the exhilaration of living in a new community and a land of opportunity. He shows how legal work for the Canadian Pacific Railway and connections in the Methodist Church and the Conservative Party enabled the young James Lougheed to amass wealth and advance socially by marrying Belle Hardisty, who was the daughter of William Hardisty, chief factor of the Mackenzie Valley and the niece of Donald A. Smith. He contrasts the career of the Conservative lawyer with that of Will Tregillus, agrarian radical and president of the United Farmers of Alberta, who, like Lougheed, had come to the West in search of opportunity and had done very well.

In telling his story, Smith tries to create a well-rounded portrait of early Calgary society, which he characterizes as British. As to be expected from an author who has published extensively on Native history, Smith tries to place Aboriginals, Blacks, and Asians in Calgary society and mentions incidents of racism. In addition to describing the lives of Calgary’s commercial elite, Smith comments on the conditions of the working class and mentions the labour troubles that affected the construction of the Lougheed Building.

Smith relates the activities of the tenants of the Lougheed Building to the growth of Calgary. Because the city was a service centre for agriculture, and later for oil and gas production, the tenants included agricultural organizations and oil companies and the accounting and legal firms that served them. Smith tries to make the portions of the book dealing with the tenants of the Lougheed Building much more than a city directory listing by providing information about individuals, office life, and women’s role in it. He explains how the boom-bust cycle of Calgary’s real estate market, the two world wars, and the Depression affected the fortunes of the tenants. He also notes that from the 1960s onwards tenants became more cosmopolitan, like the city itself.

Telling the story of...