Flatiron Building - Museum and Interpretive Centre

The Flatiron building in Lacombe, Alberta

Lacombe, Alberta

Lacombe is a city in Alberta, Canada. It is located north of Red Deer, the nearest major city, and south of Edmonton, the nearest metropolitan area...

 is the oldest flatiron building

Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building, or Fuller Building, as it was originally called, is located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York City and is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper. Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in the city and the only skyscraper...

 in the province. It was designed by architects Morley Hogle, and Huntley Ward Davis in 1903 and opened for business in 1904. The building served as the Merchants Bank of Canada for many years. For over a century, the infamous ‘Lacombe flatiron block’ was home to many businesses, law offices, and unique shops. Almost one hundred years after the building was erected, it was privately bought and restored as part of the Alberta Main Street Project. Today, this architectural landmark

Landmark

This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...

 is one of three historic-themed museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

s in Lacombe and is home to The Flatiron Museum and Interpretive Centre which showcases didactic displays of Lacombe’s local history.

History of Merchant’s Bank and Building

The Merchants Bank of Canada was the first bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 in Lacombe. Formed in 1901, the bank initlally rented out a room in a local school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

. Unfortunately, when bank workers arrived to their temporary location, they found it hadn’t been fully constructed. In consequence, the bank then rented a room in the local Victoria hotel, where the bank operated shortly for over a week. There is little documentation as to where the bank was located in between the time of the hotel and the opening of its’ permanent home in the flatiron building.

In 1922, the Merchants Bank of Canada was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal

The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...

. The Lacombe branch of the Merchants Bank became home to the Bank of Montreal's local branch until 1967.

Restoration of the building in 2001

In 2001, the building was privately bought and extensively renovated. The flatiron building now serves not only as a museum/interpretive center, but as a private residence and corporate offices. The renovations were completed in 2003.

Ben Cameron photo studios

The Ben Cameron photo studio display is one of the first things patrons see when they enter the interpretive centre. Ben Cameron was a local photographer and photographic historian for the community in the early 1900’s for over four decades. Some of the items that can be seen in the display case belonged to Mr. Cameron; these include antique camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

s, glass negatives, and photographs taken/developed at the Ben Cameron Studio.

Historic Downtown – buildings, businesses, train station

Lacombe is infamous for its beautifully preserved Edwardian architecture

Edwardian architecture

Edwardian architecture is the style popular when King Edward VII of the United Kingdom was in power; he reigned from 1901 to 1910, but the architecture style is generally considered to be indicative of the years 1901 to 1914....

 that lines its main street. Many of these historic brick buildings were erected between 1904 and 1928, just after the turn of the century. The interpretive centre has an area dedicated to Lacombe's historic downtown where visitors can see historic photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

s and read about the buildings in the downtown area.

Pioneers and significant people in Lacombe’s history

Lacombe would not have grown into today’s community without the early settlers and pioneers. In the interpretive centre, there is a small section that is dedicated to those who have helped shape the town into what it is today. These people endured many hardships both in the community and world wide; breaking land, sowing crops, building a community, fighting fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

s, natural disaster

Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...

s, world war

World war

A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....

s and economic catastrophes.

Recreation

For more than a century, the citizens of Lacombe have been actively involved with sport entertainment, and annual recreational events held at a local gem. As early as the first decade of the 20th century, Lacombe has had an active hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 league, baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 teams, and numerous curling

Curling

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

 competitions. Artifacts from the Lacombe Rockets hockey team, Lions Club Baseball team can be seen at the interpretive centre. Since the early settlers made their way to the Lacombe area, Gull Lake

Gull Lake (Alberta)

Gull Lake is a large lake in central Alberta, Canada. It is a popular recreational lake with its southern shores boasting large sandy beaches. Gull Lake is centrally located between Edmonton and Calgary and lies in two counties, Ponoka County and Lacombe County...

, located just west of the town has been a popular hotspot for over a century. In the early 1900’s, there were several hotels for guests, and some 200 cottages along the lake. Whether it be swimming and boat racing

Boat racing

-Types:* Canoe racing, competitive forms of canoeing and kayaking* Drag boat racing, a form of drag racing which takes place on water rather than land* Dragon boat racing, a type of human-powered watercraft racing...

 in the summer or skating

Skating

Skating may refer to:*Freestyle slalom skating*Ice skating and various sub-forms:**Figure skating**Speed skating**Tour skating*Inline skating and sub-forms:**Aggressive inline skating**Inline speed skating*Road skating*Roller skating...

in the winter, Gull Lake has always been an infamous attraction for members of the community since the very beginning. Pictures and text are on display at the flatiron museum and interpretive centre.
References:
Lacombe First Century, Lacombe and District Chamber of Commerce, 1982: 33, 269.

http://culture.alberta.ca/heritage/resourcemanagement/historicplacesstewardship/images/Flatiron.htm