Landmark Building
BATES ELECTRIC WELDING
1449 - 11th Avenue SE, Calgary
Built By: Wilfred Bates
Built in 1919
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Wilfred Bates arrived in Calgary in 1914 after working as a welder and boilermaker on the construction of the Panama Canal. He started a small iron works which he sold to Union Iron Works (Dominion Bridge). With this money he established Bates Electric Welding in 1918, and in 1919 built this, one of Calgary’s first electric welding shops. By the late 1920s the business was prospering, supplying the heavy industries in East Calgary. Mr. Bates lived nearby at 1427 – 10 Avenue SE from 1923.
The shop was designed to accommodate new welding techniques, a boiler works and heavy machine repair. It contained a blacksmith and forge area, semi-circular crane, line drive pulley systems, a general fabrication shop and warehousing areas. Pressed tin and rolled roofing materials were applied as siding. The roof was also originally pressed tin. The double hung windows and large doors are original.
By the beginning of World War II, Bates Electric Welding had declined significantly because of competition from larger companies. It was sold in 1944 to two welders and machinists, Anthony Palko and Bill Munroe (brothers-in-law), and several other minority shareholders. Palko, who left home at the age of twelve, apprenticed as a mechanic with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and became a master mechanic in Detroit. He opened a garage in Taber and then moved to Calgary in the early 1940s. Mr. Palko lived across the street at 1430 – 11 Avenue SE.
The business expanded to include the manufacture of overhead loader systems and more heavy machine work. A new welding shop was added to the west side. This addition was restructured from an old Air Force building for which Palko engineered the framing and foundation. The company name was changed to Independent Machinery in 1953.
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.