Landmark Building
AULL BLOCK
1227 - 9 Avenue SE, Calgary
Built By: Erastus Aull
Built in 1908
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The Aull Block, among the oldest commercial buildings on Atlantic Avenue, was the first to be conserved by the Inglewood Business Revitalization Zone and the Alberta Main Street Programme. In 1993, the façade was restored to its original character, and the tin cornice was removed, repaired, repainted and re-installed. A layer of stucco was removed exposing the façade of Calgary Brick beneath it. These had been manufactured at the Kempling Brickyard, active from 1906 to 1910 on a site between Centre Street and 4th Street East. The façade was completely dismantled and rebuilt. In 1995 the building received a City of Calgary Heritage Award.
Erastus Aull, a Calgary physician, had this block built in 1908. Born in Hastings County, Ontario, Aull received his education at Trinity College, Toronto, graduating in 1899. Dr. Aull came west in 1901, ended up in Winnipeg, and spent the winter of 1901-1902 practicing medicine at the General Hospital. Success in real estate speculation during this time allowed him to visit several European cities and to further his education. Upon returning to Canada, he decided to go to Calgary since he felt that it had the greatest possibilities in the West. He arrived in 1904, and practiced medicine in Calgary until his death in July, 1944.
In 1905, Dr. Aull bought several lots in East Calgary for $300.00 each. One year later he sold two lots for $3,000.00 each. With these windfall profits, he developed the
Aull Block. It was a professional building with storefronts and offices for other physicians. Early tenants included a druggist, a physician, a veterinary surgeon, and the first offices of Henry Jenkins of Jenkins and Cornfoot Grocers. By 1913, the storefront was refurbished to house the Commercial Café. Following this, a succession of restaurants occupied the site until the 1920s.
Dr. Aull sold this block to the Sheftels in 1931. The brothers, Leo, Harry, Harvey and Benjamin, came to Calgary from Russia in 1922, and became prominent Calgary businessmen. The building was renamed the Sheftel Block and it remained in the family until the death of Harry Sheftel in 1977. The Sheftel brothers’ East Calgary Empress Grocery was the principal tenant of the building from 1931 to 1955; the name is still visible, stamped in the concrete at the front door. The building’s restoration prompted a return to its original name.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Calgary: Atlantic Avenue Inglewood: Historical Walking Tours. Heritage Inventory Program, Alberta Community Development, and the Old Town Calgary Society, 1999, with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.