From this morning:

An update from earlier today. Not much has changed (as far as I could tell) since Kaizen went by:

I think you've got me figured perfectly on both accounts occidentalcapital... It’s funny, because for the longest time I would've been right there with you. Pointing to all the little baubles and bibelots on a building is pretty fun. It can tell you so much about the era it’s from, the ideals...

I agree with you! Seriously, I do. Edmonton’s architectural story has been rife with “demolition through neglect.” In the last fifteen years alone we’ve seen the destruction of the Gem Theatre, the Arlington Apartments, the Minchau Blacksmith Shop, the Mitchell & Reed Auction House, and dozens...

It’s not really an excuse, so much as it is just a point at how limited the building’s reuse prospects are. If it’s not a film theatre then its next best option would be a live theatre, right? But even there its prospects are tight. I’ll fully concede, however, that the lack of back-rooms might...

^Yeah, they've really have done an amazing job to make the area feel far more urban. I had come south down 107th/106th from the Yellowhead for the first time in ages yesterday and their impact on the skyline was ridiculous.

Yesterday via the Kingsway parkade:

I mean, this isn't really a smoking gun. If you had read the next sentence you'd see why I said that... From an architectural perspective, the loss of Ritchie School was lessened by the fact that it has two literal twins (in the form of Parkdale and McCauley) and one sibling (H.A. Grey) still...

It's on the City's Inventory of Historic Resources and is one helluva cool looking building. I hope somebody can think of something cool to do with it. For those who don't know: https://www.edmontonsarchitecturalheritage.ca/index.cfm/structures/glenora-substation-station-650/...

I don't wan't my long windedness to further sidetrack the discussion too much, so I'll spoiler tag everything:

A picture of a picture will only get so much across. When you look at it in person it's clear. Squinting's your next best option. Irregardless, I know what I'm looking at here. Even broke out the ol' magnifying glass to double check. The streetcar catenary runs horizontal, not vertical. They've...

I know that photo's there, I'm the one who posted it after all. There's two reasons I've attached it again. Firstly, the new one's a far higher resolution scan where you can actually make out the details of the building pretty clearly. Secondly, it also proves we don't need a new picture — it's...

That’s what makes researching history so special to me. Being able to reconstruct some sliver of a person's life, no matter how small, helps set a building apart from being just a building and changes it into something that’s actually tangible, that you can think about, and in turn relate to...

Interestingly enough, unlike many systems there were no underhanded shenanigans in the closure of Edmonton's street railway. The process was incredibly slow. The first line to be abandoned was the Green Line, a branch into Glenora down 102nd, in 1932. It was a case where low ridership and...

Well here it is, the first comprehensive history on the Archibald Block (as far as I’m aware anyways). My writing isn't that great, so I'm not hoping to convince anybody. I do hope though that it’ll at least be some food for thought to help those opposed to the building's preservation understand...

Yes, sorry, I should have also included the Glenbow Archives in that list. That's where that particular photo came from. Their photo collections are being held by the UofC. The statement from them suggests it maybe be possible to get a copy while they're off site. I might shoot them a message...

Both the City and Provincial Archives are closed until further notice given the lockdown.

If this was somewhere downtown sure, but I’ll disagree here. The Archibald Block isn’t some sore thumb standing alone. Half of Whyte Ave between 104th and 105th is of similar scale. There’s eighteen buildings along that section, eight of which are one-storey. Another two (10422 and 10462) are...

^Really appreciate the walkthrough CplKlinger!

Oh for sure and I wholeheartedly agree! For more flimsily constructed boomtown buildings you really do need to do the math and see if there’s historical, architectural, or an even economical reason to keep them around. Say with Beljan’s Tipton Investment Building down the street. If it was in a...