Landmark Building
BREWERY GARDENS, 1950S
1st Avenue South, Lethbridge
Built in 1950
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The Brewery Gardens were largely developed by the Sick's Brewery between 1960 and 1963, but may have been started as early as 1945 or 1950. The brewery, known originally as the Alberta Brewing & Malting Co., was the first in operation in Lethbridge, having opened in 1901. The name was later changed to Sick’s Lethbridge Brewery Ltd. It was built near the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company water tower, the only source of water at the top of the valley at the time. At its peak, Sick's Brewery could produce 100,000 barrels of beer a year. Their most popular product was their Alberta Pride pilsner beer, but the plant also produced soft drinks, notably Okla-Applo, an apple drink, and Sick's Ginger Ale. The Brewery was demolished in 1991, but the Brewery Gardens are still maintained, and are now home to Chinook Country Tourist Information.
The first roads linking Lethbridge with the expanding system of highways in the region came up from the river valley through the present location of the Brewery Gardens and near the present route of Whoop-Up Drive. They were known as Brewery Hill Road (after 1901), and Laundry Hill Road, respectively. Teamsters driving four-horse teams hauled two-ton loads of coal up these roads from the drift mines. Once at the top, the coal was weighed and put into railway cars. Brewery Hill Road was closed in 1950 with the development of Brewery Gardens.
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 Lethbridge Historical Walking Tour. Alberta Community Development and the Sir Alexander Galt Museum & Archives, n.d., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.