Constructed in 1912 as the Hull Block (now Gaslight Plaza) this large downtown building is perhaps most famous for housing Eaton's department store from 1941-1991. For decades this location represented the pinnacle of shopping in Medicine Hat, and was a huge retail space.
When Eaton's announced it was closing the Medicine Hat store in 1990 there was an outcry from locals. Competition from malls and free parking were cited as some of the reasons for closure, however mismanagement of the Eaton's company saw the entire national chain go belly up in 1999. The Hull Block was renovated for office space after Eaton's closed, and it's used largely for that purpose today.
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| Hull Block ca. 1910s |
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| Gaslight Plaza ca. 2013 |
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| Eaton's Department Store ca. 1970s |
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| Eaton's Sign ca. 1975 |
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| Eaton's Department Store ca. 1970s |
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| Hull Block (left) ca. 1913 |
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| Hull Block ca. 1913 |
1 comment :
Thanks for this wonderful history! William Roper Hull was, incidentally, the first guardian of a famous Canadian dog, Muggins (1913-1920), born in Huill's Calgary mansion, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars during WWI for war-related charities. My biography of Muggins was published in BC in 2021.
Grant Hayter-Menzies
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