City Council designates three buildings as historic resources in Edmonton

February 4, 2025

Many of Edmonton’s homes, parks, buildings and infrastructure played an important role in the history and development of the city. In an effort to continue to honour the significance of these landmarks, three more buildings have been added to the City’s list of historical resources: 

South Side Market

This 100+ year-old institution in Old Strathcona has served as a farmers’ market, offices and now restaurants, and is now designated a Municipal Historic Resource. 

The South Side Market, built in 1923 at 83 Avenue and 104 Street, is a fine example of Edwardian-influenced architecture and is associated with John Martland, who served as Edmonton’s City Architect from 1919 to 1944. Martland also designed other city buildings including major additions to the original Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Victoria Golf Course clubhouse, the No. 2 Firehall and the original Blatchford Hangar. 

“Generations of Edmontonians know this building from its time as a health clinic to its days as the home of Packrat Louie restaurant,” said Principal Heritage Planner David Johnston. “It has been repurposed many times since it was first built and it’s wonderful to know that this Old Strathcona gem will be protected into the future.“

The South Side Market has been municipally owned since its construction in 1923 and has received heritage designation in conjunction with its sale to the current restaurant operators. No rehabilitation funds are being provided as part of the designation but the building does qualify for future maintenance grants. The building has retained the majority of its material and contributes to the architectural theme and feeling of the surrounding Old Strathcona Provincial Historic Area.

McClory/Brennan Residences

Two special Glenora neighbourhood homes have also been designated as Municipal Historic Resources.

The McClory Residence

Built in 1927 for John Albert McClory and his wife Isabel, the McClory Residence was designed by noted local architects MacDonald and Magoon, who also designed the Salvation Army Citadel, the Armstrong Block and the Metals Limited Building.

The home’s Georgian Revival style of architecture became one of the most prominent residential forms in the early twentieth century. The Georgian style featured boxy form, a symmetrical façade with balanced windows and prominent pedimented open entryway with a central front door. 

The Brennan Residence

The Brennan Residence was constructed in 1921 and purchased by James Edmond Brennan, then a clerk at Devereaux Hardware, and his wife Ina. The couple lived in the home for 64 years. The house is one of the few homes in Glenora which faces Stony Plain Road.

The residence is an early and modest example of the Arts and Crafts style of architecture that became popular in the 1910s and 1920s. The home features this style through its brick and shingle exterior, front-gabled front projection and single and double assembly multi-light windows, which permit light to flood the interior.

“The McClory and Brennan residences are excellent examples of different types of architecture favoured around the early years of the 20th Century,” said Johnston. “Both homes were well loved and cared for by their owners and fit perfectly into the garden suburb idea that was the vision for Glenora. The City’s heritage team thanks the owners of both residences for taking the steps to preserve these homes for future generations of Edmontonians.” 

The owners of the McClory and Brennan residences are eligible to receive $100,000 each from the City’s Heritage Resources Reserve fund to match the amount they will spend to renovate and refurbish the homes. 

While continuing to work on heritage designations, the City’s heritage planning team is working on a new city-wide heritage initiative called the Heritage Places Strategy. The strategy, which will replace the existing Historic Resource Management Plan, will reflect a wider lens of Edmonton’s history and address important issues like climate adaptation and how best to preserve heritage in a densifying city. 

These buildings are the 188th, 189th and 190th properties to be designated as Municipal Historic Resources in Edmonton since 1985.

For more information:

edmonton.ca/historicresources

Media contact:

Mary-Ann Thurber

Communications Advisor

Urban Planning and Environment

780-619-3254