Medicine Hat Brick & Tile Plant Site

One of the pleasures in shooting a photo series about unique local sites in Medicine Hat, Alberta is that it allows people to look at places they've seen many times in new ways, or discover a place they may have overlooked or never even knew existed. Perhaps what I've enjoyed most is that Around the Hat has allowed me to make connections with individuals linked to a lot of these amazing places and get more acquainted with the stories surrounding them.  

Recently, I was given the opportunity to go behind closed doors and explore the abandoned Medicine Hat Brick and Tile Factory that was acquired by the Friends of Medalta in late 2011. This was an amazing opportunity, not just to satisfy my own curiosity, but to showcase a landmark that hasn't been widely photographed.

The Brick and Tile site dates back to 1886, and is believed to be the oldest industrial site in Alberta.  I-XL Industries owned and operated the site from 1929 until June 2010, when the plant was significantly damaged by flooding and ceased operations.  After careful consideration and a clean up of the site, it was decided that the plant would not reopen due to the substantial cost of replacing all of the machinery.  

Recognizing the significance and local history tied up in the facility, the Friends of Medalta took over the property with a sizable donation from I-XL.  There are a number of plans on the table for utilizing the Brick and Tile complex, but at the moment this landmark within the historic clay district remains closed to the public.

During my afternoon visit several weekends ago I shot hundreds of images around the abandoned site.  So many in fact, I'm dividing this set into several posts.  While (not surprisingly) the best shots came from inside, I wanted to open with the images I shot of the exterior of the Brick and Tile plant.   As you'll see, these include the old kilns at the back of the facility, the rusting corrugated siding of an older section of the plant, and even a couple shots I was able to snap from the roof.

I want to give a shout out to Quentin Randall from Medalta Potteries who initially contacted me after my very first Around the Hat post of that location.  I wouldn't have had this opportunity were it not for him, so thanks very much!  There's lots more to come of this incredible location - view the interior shots here.     

Catching Up With Wendy

I have to admit that I love taking unsuspecting pictures of people while chatting with them on skype.  I realized just how apparent my fascination was when I looked back at my library of screenshots after catching up with Wendy on Thursday night.  

The last few days have been kind of a blur and having not talked with Wendy on a one on one basis in a while, it seemed like the timing was right.  The death of my grandma early in the week couldn't have come at a stranger time if I'm honest.  It was only a few weeks from now just last year that my friend Dave passed away, and with the preparation I've been doing with my Searching Salvation project, having another funeral for someone I was close to just seemed to further engage some emotions that were already resurfacing.  It was nice to connect with Wendy, not just because of Dave, but because at this point it feels important to me to me to help move the conversation forward without constantly dwelling on the past.

Wendy and I discussed everything from Darwin's 1st birthday to personal projects, relationships, and what the future of the old Regina-crew might look like.  The weird thing that hit me during our conversation was that Wendy was actually filling a role that Dave used to play for me.  It was nice to be able to bounce ideas and thoughts around with someone who could relate to a lot of my feelings at the moment.  I think we're well on our way to a new beginning.  

Canadian Bank of Commerce

Of all of the buildings and locations that I photographed for my Around the Hat photo series so far, this one seems especially noteworthy.  It's age and prominence on the corner of 2nd Street and 6 Avenue make the evolution of downtown obvious between photographs of different eras. The details and textures of the building also seem slightly underplayed by its modest size, but historically this is a significant building in Medicine Hat, Alberta.  

Constructed in 1907, the Canadian Bank of Commerce (later known as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) is a structure representative of the economic expansion that was occurring in the community at the time. With the railway creating a hub for the region, the Canadian Bank of Commerce was eager to compete in the Western grain trade and appeal to ranchers and natural gas producers in the area. Notably, it is one of only a few surviving buildings from the pre-World War I era in the downtown core today.

The building has since ceased operation as a bank and is now used as a law office. As seen in several of the historical images below, the area surrounding the Bank of Commerce has also changed dramatically. The original city hall and post office that shared the neighbouring corners of the intersection have long since been demolished. The Cypress Club next door remains one of the most recognizable landmarks from the Canadian Bank of Commerce's early days.    

Canadian Bank of Commerce ca. 1915

Ghosting image showing my current shot merged with the archival one.

Another ghosting image of the past merged with my 2012 image.