Montreal Street School

Constructed in 1904, Montreal Street School was one of Medicine Hat's very first permanent schools. Now nearing 110 years old, the building is still in use today, and was rededicated in 2001 as St. Louis School (a Catholic elementary school). 

Naturally, the building has been renovated and expanded over the years, but much like St. John's Church, some of the original sandstone foundation and brickwork has decades old graffiti carved into it from the kids who went here. It serves to emphasize just how many people have passed through this building in its lifetime, which makes me further appreciate what a beautiful old building this really is.  

Montreal Street School ca. 1910-1920s

Montreal Street School ca. 1910s

Editing Luke Promo 2013

Instead of starting from scratch, this recent update of my Editing Luke promo reel is more like a mashup of my previous ones with some new footage cut in. In fact, I used the promo I edited in 2011 as the basis for this new edit, and simply cut the narration out and revised the footage and music I wanted to include. 

The idea behind these promos isn't really to create a production reel, it's actually more about emphasizing the variety and style of this site, my portfolio, and my approach to new media. In general terms, it's like a highlight reel of some of the people, places, and things that have inspired me as of late.

Pingle's Drug and Book Store Interior

This downtown Medicine Hat location has been abandoned for years now, and the interior has been altered numerous times over the decades. Obviously there is still a story attached and clues to the building's uses over the years that are rather interesting, but the current interior isn't what I'd call historic. Frankly, the exterior painted wall is the building's best feature.

Two notable businesses that used the building were Pingle's Drug Store in the early half of the 20th century and the Medicine Hat Credit Union throughout the 1960s. These two operations stand out because there are a few details left from their time here.

Pingle's Drug interior ca. 1940s

You can see in the archival image above that there used to be a tin ceiling in Pingle's, however a drop ceiling was later installed by one of the businesses that followed. While exploring the space, I pointed my flashlight through an open hatch in the roof and got a glimpse of a tin tile. The original ceilings may still all be there, which is cool when you combine that with the vintage ad painted outside. You can see that the framework of the entrance is still pretty much the same too, with small doors on each side to access the store front windows.

In the back half of the building you enter an addition that likely came when the Credit Union did. The biggest clue is immediately to the right in the form of an old walk-in safe. After the 2007 fire in the neighbouring building, water leaked in and rusted the safe door closed. I'm not sure how long the door had been locked since then, but to get inside a giant hole had to be drilled through the concrete and the door was opened from the inside. The hole shows just how thick the walls are, and I found the two concrete plugs that were removed stacked in the bathroom.

The inside of the safe wasn't full of any treasures anymore unfortunately.  Instead it was being used as a storage room for old desks and other office furniture. Aside from an old stretcher, the rest of the space was mostly empty. The interior did take me by surprise though, because had I not have been invited to check it out, I would've never thought there was anything worth seeing here. It was actually really neat.