Landmark Building
BAWTINHEIMER/ DUPLEX BUILDING
5818 & 5820 -51 Avenue, Red Deer
Built By: Bawtinheimer & Sons
Built in 1911
','Bawtinheimer / Duplex Building', 'Source: North Red Deer, Historic Walking Tours <br />(© Alberta Culture and Community Spirit)'); "Bawtinheimer / Duplex Building")
This modest commercial brick building caused some interest when it was constructed during the summer of 1911 by Bawtinheimer & Sons to house their second butcher shop in the Red Deer area to cater to the residents of North Red Deer. In February 1912,
Bawtinheimer sold the store as a going concern to Oliver Langevin, who in turn sold it to Frank Michener in April that year. Michener then bought out the entire meat market side of Bawtinheimer & Sons' business. The building itself was purchased in June 1912 by John Herbert of Pine Lake, presumably as rental property for commercial enterprises. By 1945 the building had been acquired by James Livesay, who operated a wood working business with his brother. The property was bought in 1948 by Ed and Geoff Carter and became the home of Red Deer Sash and Door, which manufactured windows, doors, shelves, cupboards, and store fixtures, as well as doing general woodwork repairs. The building has most recently housed two separate residential units.
This building’s long rectangular shape, with a shed roof hidden by parapets to make the building look larger, is typical of early commercial properties. It was constructed as two units. A 1912 advertisement mentioned that one of them was equipped with refrigeration. Each unit has a stepped recessed doorway, located at the opposite ends of the front facade. There was also a rear entry door on the west unit. An addition on the north-east corner of the building provided residential quarters for Ed Carter and his family. Although the building is clearly recognizable from historic photographs, some changes have taken place over the years. The original brick exterior has been covered by stucco, and the original windows have been removed. It is likely that the multi-pane fixed sash windows with numerous mullions and transoms which can be seen in the photograph above were an improvement added some time after construction, and were intended to illustrate the skills of one of the woodworking businesses in the building. These were in turn removed in favour of the large single pane fixed windows in place today.
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 North Red Deer: Historical Walking Tours. Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism, 1992, with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.