Description of Historic Place

The Renwick Building is a two-storey brick and sandstone commercial building. Its front facade features large display windows and a recessed entryway on the ground floor and a centrally-located arched window flanked by three narrow rectangular windows on the second floor. The front facade is surmounted by a cornice and an entablature bearing the date of the building's construction. The Renwick Building is situated within the Fort Macleod Provincial Historic Area.

Heritage Value

The Renwick Building is a good example of a substantial commercial building erected in Alberta's urban centres prior to the First World War. Its heritage value lies in its contributions to the heritage character of the Fort Macleod Provincial Historic Area.

In the early 1900s, Macleod (renamed Fort Macleod in 1952) was a major urban centre and an important administrative, distribution and service point for southern Alberta. During this period, Macleod's commercial area developed quickly and many substantial brick and sandstone buildings were erected. In 1910, William Renwick constructed a two-storey brick and sandstone building with a full basement. He operated his hardware business from the main floor while residential apartments occupied the second floor. Constructed of locally-quarried sandstone, the Renwick Building features a number of architectural elements typical of commercial buildings of the period, including the large ground floor display windows with transoms, the centrally-located, recessed entryway, and the parapet with an entablature bearing the year of construction. In the 1930s, William Renwick sold the building to W. G. Andrews, who continued to operate it as a hardware store. Its long-standing use as a retail space and its association with numerous other historic sandstone and brick buildings make it a vital contributing element to the heritage character of Fort Macleod's commercial core.

Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2272)

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage value of the Renwick Building include such elements as:

Exterior
- large display windows and recessed doorway with prism glass transoms lights and bulkheads located on the first level of the front (south) facade;
- structural system of the storefront, consisting of an steel lintel above the transom windows bearing on a single steel column within the recessed entrance and riveted at this point to a steel girder that carries the second floor;
- rough-hewn sandstone on most of the second level and the pilaster at the extreme west edge of the front facade;
- centrally-located arched window opening surmounted by a semi-circular arch of smooth-faced sandstone voussoirs;
- two sets of three tall and narrow rectangular window openings set in sections of smooth-faced sandstone blocks flanking the central arched window opening;
- sandstone cornice separating the first and second levels of the front facade and two broken cornices surmounting the rectangular windows;
- parapet running the roofline of the front facade;
- entablature bearing the numeral 1910;
- rough-hewn sandstone quoins on the southwest corner;
- stucco-covered brick exterior walls on the rear (north) and west elevations;
- fenestration pattern of the rear (north) and the west elevations indicative of the layout of apartments on the second storey.

Interior
- open layout of the first floor characteristic of retail operations;
- layout of the second floor featuring small apartment opening off a central hallway and a single washroom located at the rear of the building;
- extant original lath and plaster interior walls and ceilings;
- fir wood-strip flooring;
- original 1908 boiler located in the basement;
- original cast-iron heating system including pipes and registers;
- stairway to second floor with original balustrade and newel posts;
- original trim work, door frames and window frames;
- three skylight openings with tongue and groove paneling in the ceiling of the second floor;
- extant original interior doors with original transom windows and brass hardware.