H.R. Hutchings took over the building in 1934, and by 1950 it was known as Hutchings and Sharp Clothing Limited. The business remained in operation for decades, becoming the essential western clothing shop in Medicine Hat. When I first photographed the Hutchinson Block in 2013, Hutchings and Sharp had already been closed for years despite much of the signage and decor remaining.
Coincidentally, this is another abandoned downtown building that I happened to photograph only a year before it underwent a complete renovation. I was invited back in 2014 to capture some of the progress, and back again in 2015 to see the finished work. The Hutchinson Block is now occupied and a beautifully restored historic building in the city's core. Below you'll find a series of images I shot while the Hutchinson Block was abandoned, being renovated, and restored.
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| Hutchings and Sharp (vacant) in 2013. |
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| Inside the closed Hutchings and Sharp in 2013. |
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| Inside the renovated Hutchinson Block in 2015. |
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| Old brands hung up in the closed Hutchings and Sharp in 2013. |
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| Exterior in 2013. |
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| Renovation on the exterior in 2014. |
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| Old western suit jackets left behind in 2013. |
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| Old signage and register in the basement. |
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| Interior in 2013. |
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| Renovation underway in 2014. |
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| Upstairs renovations in 2015. |
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| Renovations in the basement in 2014. |
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| Empty storefront windows in 2013. |
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| Hutchings and Sharp storefront windows in the 1980s. |
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| Basement renovations in 2014. |
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| Exterior in 2017. |
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| Exterior in 2013. |
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| Hutchings and Sharp horse in 2013. |
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| Storefront renovations in 2014. |
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| Hutchings and Sharp in the 1980s. |
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| Upstairs renovations in 2015. |
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| Exterior in 2017. |
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| Hutchings and Sharp in 1963. |
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