Arlington Apartments was an exceptional example of early apartment architecture.

When the City of Edmonton issued a demolition order for the Arlington Apartments on September 9th, it signalled the end of the road for Edmonton’s first apartment building. The city has ruled that the 1909 building at 100th Avenue and 106th Street, left a barren shell of blackened bricks in a deliberately set fire April 5, 2005, is beyond salvage.

It’s a tragic end for the five-story red brick Arlington, which officially opened as “Edmonton’s most modern and up-to-date residential apartment,” in late 1909. The Arlington was an exceptional example of early apartment architecture.

From the grand arched entranceway, with “499 Arlington” etched into marble, to hardwood floors, abundant windows and funky fixtures, the building brimmed with turn-of-the-century character. Its 49 suites boasted such features as retractable “Murphy” beds (which pulled down from the wall), china cabinets, a bookcase and writing cabinets.

Constructed by Winnipeg contractor Robert Grant, the Edwardian-influenced Arlington was erected between July and December 1909 at a cost of $130,000. The Edmonton Bulletin reported that the shell went up very quickly, “a storey a week,” with a workforce of 25 bricklayers and 50 carpenters. No architect has been identified, although there were blueprints and it is possible Grant was also the designer.

The Arlington introduced to Edmonton a high coverage residential building with central corridors and suites opening to both sides. Lemarchand Mansions, which received a building permit May 29, 1909 (two months earlier than the Arlington) was of a kindred school of design. But Lemarchand encountered construction delays and was not occupied until 1911.

The Arlington was financed by a consortium of local business leaders who formed the Arlington Apartment Company. Among the original owners were George Swaisland, an Ontario-born banker who managed the Molson’s Bank in Edmonton and Patrick O. Dwyer, the president of the Northern Investment Agency Limited.

Title was transferred to the Northern Investment Agency in 1932 and the building valued at $85,000. In 1943, brothers M.L. (Mickey) and G. Patrick Ryan, operators of a northern transportation company, purchased the property. Two days later, G.P. bought out his brother.

Ryan transferred the title from himself to Arlington Apartment Limited, which he controlled, in 1947. Phyllis Mabel Barham of Long Beach, California purchased the structure in 1972, with an Assurance Fund value of $214,000. The building was purchased by Saraswati Singh in 1987.

A report prepared a dozen years ago by Commonwealth Historic Resource Management for the city’s planning and development department called the architecture of the building “plain in design,” punctuated by precious ornamental details. One of them is the tall pilastered arch at the main entrance, with its projecting facade wall and three tiers of four windows above it combining as a subtle frontispiece.

The designation “499 Arlington” on the marble front step refers to the building’s former address at 499 Victoria Avenue. The five-storey, 150-foot wide brick structure was distinguished by a bold dentilled cornice at the roof level, with stone keystones and sills at the windows.

Since its beginning, the Arlington attracted a broad mix of professional people. Early residents included businessmen, barristers, clerks, a physician, two music teachers, a government worker and a foreman.

Over the years, famous tenants have included James P. Watson, the infamous wife- killer nicknamed Bluebeard who admitted to killing nine of his at least 20 wives and was sentenced to life in a California prison. Bluebeard Watson ran a collection agency in Edmonton from 1914 to 1918 and lived in the Arlington’s Suite 14. A trove of love letters, kept in a storage locker at the Arlington, were used as evidence in his trial.

In the 1920s, the Arlington was home to vaudeville performer Jolly Della Pringle and her son, silent film star John Gilbert Pringle. Richard Hardisty, the son of a former Fort Edmonton factor and John Blue, the first provincial librarian, also rented at the Arlington. Originally, the steam heating system was fuelled by coal but converted to natural gas sometime during the late 1920s. On the rooftop, a tea room was constructed and that is where ladies used to come for tea and bridge and gaze out over the fledgling city. More recently the tea room, which was said to be haunted by ghosts, was used for storage.

The Arlington was a favoured Edmonton address until the 1970s, as settlement patterns and the neighbourhood around it changed. In 1980, a group of about 200 Arlington residents signed a petition demanding that city council deal with rampant prostitution in the area. In the early 1980s, a developer proposed to tear the Arlington down and construct a 15-storey building.

Fire nearly destroyed the apartment once before, in 1990. A basement fire, likely deliberately set, burned for a few hours before being extinguished. Even as buildings around it fell by one by one, the Arlington soldiered on as a true survivor. Recognizing its significance, it was declared a Provincial Historic Resource by the province in 1995.

Municipal designation followed in 1998, along with nearly $400,000 for renovation work which replaced the building’s 280 tired windows, repointed the brick and dressed up the facade.

Last spring, owner Saraswati Singh and architect Fraser Brinsmead brought forward a proposal to retain three walls and build a 20-storey condominium tower behind them. Back-and-forth negotiations with the city stalled, and as the building continued to deteriorate, it was only a matter of time until safety and logistical considerations trumped historical significance.

If you’d like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com.