The iconic downtown Calgary Hudson’s Bay Company building has been placed on the National Trust for Canada’s Endangered Places List, which shines a national spotlight on heritage places at risk, from places of faith to Indigenous cultural landscapes, historic homes and schools to traditional main streets.
The organization described its current status as “Immediate Threat.”
“Despite its architectural merit and deep social legacy the Calgary Bay building lacks formal heritage designation, leaving it vulnerable to demolition and redevelopment,” said the organization.
“Prominently located on historic Stephen Avenue, the Calgary Hudson’s Bay Company Building is one of the most architecturally and historically significant commercial buildings in Western Canada. Completed in 1913 and expanded in 1930 and 1958, the six-storey Edwardian Classical landmark was designed by renowned Toronto firm Burke, Horwood and White. It features Chicago Commercial-style massing, rare cream-glazed terracotta cladding, granite columns, and a sweeping colonnade — making it a showpiece of early 20th-century department store design and Calgary’s first large-scale commercial concrete structure. As a national prototype, Calgary’s Bay building would go on to inspire similar flagships in Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg — setting the tone for a retail empire across the West.
“The collapse of the Hudson’s Bay Company has put this and other landmark Bay buildings at risk. Now vacant, the future of the Calgary Bay Building is uncertain. The Hudson’s Bay Company has announced the closure of nearly all its remaining stores across Canada. Earlier this year, the Calgary building’s financial caretaker stated it will no longer inject capital into the site. Former historic Bay stores in other cities, including Winnipeg, are finding new life as housing and cultural hubs.”
In September, the James Bay Eeyou Corporation and JHD Immobilier announced their intention to bid on the acquisition of the former Hudson’s Bay building in downtown Montreal, located at 585 Sainte-Catherine Street West. With a $400 million investment, the developers plan to transform this iconic building into a museum and cultural hub, celebrating the heritage and contemporary vitality of the Cree Nation.
“The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) opened the downtown Winnipeg department store in 1926 as its Canadian flagship, prominently situated on Portage Avenue with sightlines to the nearby Manitoba Legislative Building. It was a monumental retail emporium with 600,000 square feet of retail space spread over eight storeys (six above ground and two below), including a grocery store, the iconic Paddlewheel restaurant, and a museum reflecting the company’s key role in the colonization of Western and Northern Canada. A symbol of local construction prowess, it was the largest poured reinforced concrete building in Canada when built – offering tremendous load-bearing strength – and its Classical Revival style exterior clad in 125,000 cubic feet of Manitoba Tyndall limestone. One of the city’s most prominent buildings and a beloved civic landmark, it received a municipal heritage designation from Winnipeg City Council in 2019,” it said.
“Beginning about 2000, HBC’s retail footprint in the building began to progressively shrink to just two floors, and on November 30, 2020 the store was permanently closed. This has increased civic concern that the Bay building will eventually be demolished like the massive nearby Eaton’s department store in 2002, just three years after that chain’s bankruptcy. Over the past decade, the Bay building has seen multiple reuse proposals explored – from Manitoba Hydro, to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the University of Winnipeg – but all have floundered on adaptation and funding issues. Recently there have been calls for the adaptive reuse of the building to leverage HBC’s history and help support Reconciliation efforts. Heritage Winnipeg has been working with the community, and Winnipeg’s Mayor created an advisory committee to advance solutions, given that the funding challenges are daunting. The Bay building’s predicament underscores the need for catalytic tripartite financial support (municipal, provincial-territorial, and federal government) for heritage rehabilitation projects to entice and strengthen public/private partnerships.”
Once a year, the National Trust releases the Endangered Places List to bring media attention and support to local groups involved in challenging campaigns to save heritage places. Nominations are reviewed by National Trust staff and additions to the list are chosen in consultation with local community stakeholders and subject matter experts.
“The National Trust is an independent national charity that empowers communities to save and renew heritage places. Heritage places are the backbone of resilient, diverse and sustainable communities: think of historic lighthouses and schools, rural landscapes, Indigenous heritage sites, places of faith, older homes and neighbourhoods, and the buildings and vibe on Main Street,” it says.
“We work with partners, donors and funders to see heritage places play their part as cornerstones of climate action and social cohesion, and we spark important conversations about Canada at the places our members visit and discover.
“We empower local heritage sites with game-changing coaching and expertise, we inspire travellers with beautiful historic places to visit and discover, and we challenge the status quo to keep useful older and heritage buildings out of landfill.”
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