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In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our Architrivia.
As the city around it matured, Mewata Armoury seems to have stood frozen in time. The Canadian Forces reserve armoury, built between 1915 and 1918, presents a solid and impregnable front via its battlemented facade and striking brick and sandstone exterior. The sprawling structure comprises a terminating vista at the western end of 8 Avenue SW and forms an unmistakable and variegated silhouette next to the Centennial Planetarium.
Built to look like a fortress — with narrow windows, bartizans and turrets punturing the design — the building is currently one of the most notable examples of a structure associated with the federal government's push in the late 19th-century to build militia training recruitment centres. By building large drill halls in all major Canadian cities, the volunteer militia would be concentrated in easily accessible urban centres. Continuing as an active militia establishment, currently home to the King's Own Calgary Regiment and the Calgary Highlanders, Mewata Armoury historically served as a home for militia and permanent force units between the two world wars. The size of the facility would prove an ideal place to set up a training camp during the Second World War.
The Tudor Gothic style of architecture was a ubiquitous design choice in militia buildings up until the First World War. Heavily sheathed in bricks, two factories at Redcliff and Montgomery were specifically constructed to provide the cladding for the project. Designed by Thomas W. Fuller and built by A.G. Creelman Co. of Vancouver, the original interior included a central drill hall with 117 rooms at the perimeter, and a basement hosting a range of time-wasting activities, from bowling to shooting. The barracks have since been converted into offices and storage space.
The plaque installed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada partially reads: The seale and bold design of the Mewata Armoury exemplify the wave of national pride that greeted Canada's strong performance in the South African War. In western Canada this military enthusiasm led to a dramatic increase in militia enrolment and resulted in the construction of new drill halls and armouries on an unprecedented scale.
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