AGT Elbow Park (Peter Rule)

On October 2, 2020 the Heritage Calgary board approved the following site to be updated to the Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.

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AGT Elbow Park (Peter Rule) (1928; 1951)
3604 7A ST SW, Elbow Park

Re-Evaluated as a City Wide Historic Resource (CWHR)

The AGT Elbow Park (Peter Rule) Telephone Exchange, (1928, extended 1951) represents the ongoing development of Elbow Park, specifically its second wave of growth in the 1920s as Calgary surged as a center for oil-related businesses following strikes in the Turner Valley. (Symbolic Value, Community-wide Significance)

This Alberta Government Telephones (AGT) exchange was needed to serve Elbow Park’s rising population the 1920s, replacing one built in 1910. AGT started in 1906 by building lines and buying independent telephone systems (notably Bell in 1908) to create a province-wide public utility that would reach rural areas. (Institution Value, Community-wide Significance)

Like other AGT exchanges, this purpose-built structure employed double-wall brick-and-concrete construction to maintain a controlled environment for the sensitive equipment. (Construction Value, Community-wide Significance)

This building was designed to resemble a house, an AGT policy in the 1920s. This was the only one of that type built in Calgary, and one of the most elaborate designs. (Design Value, City-wide Significance)

This building is in the English Arts & Crafts (aka English Domestic Revival, English Cottage) style. An Arts & Crafts building so directly influenced by English precedents is rare in Calgary. (Style Value, City-wide Significance)

The clinker-brick facing of this building is rare in Calgary. Along with being cheaper than standard bricks, these irregular “seconds” would have suited the Arts and Crafts taste for a rustic look. (Design Value, Community-wide Significance)

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