There are so many beautiful buildings downtown Saskatoon. The
location of this cache is near a few of these buildings: McKague's
Funeral Home; K.W. Nasser Centre; McLean's Building; Travellers
Block; Connaught Building; Glengarry Building; Hotel Senator;
Avenue Building. Start at the cache site & take a stroll along
the block to the north to see the these buildings.
McKague's Funeral Home, 300 3rd Ave. S
G.H. McKague and sons, funeral directors, came to Saskatoon in
1913. At that time they opened a funeral home at 240 3rd Avenue
South in the Travellers Block. In 1921 the present downtown
location opened at 300 3rd Avenue South. The building was enlarged
and remodeled in 1929. McKague's has the distinction of
having the first & automobile funeral& in Saskatoon in
March of 1918. Prior to this most funeral processions were
horsedrawn.
K.W. Nasser Centre, 256 Third Avenue S
The building was originally built in 1912 as the Willoughby Sumner
Block, occupied by residential units on the top 3 floors and retail
merchants on the main floor. The building saw a few major
renovation projects throughout the years and transformed to a
commercial building with a change of name to Bevan Building and
then to London Building. Some of the major tenants were the
Department of Veteran Affairs and Revenue Canada. The building sat
vacant for a number of years after that until Victory Companies
bought it in 1994. Victory gutted, renovated and converted the use
of the building in 1998 and called it The Vienna building. It
included 30 residential condominium units on the top 3 floors and
the Vienna Boutiques with 17 retail outlets on the main and lower
levels. The U of S's College of Commerce, known as the Edwards
School of Business, opened a downtown campus in the fall of 2009,
naming it K.W.Nassar Center.
The McLean Building, 265 3rd Ave S
The McLean Building, originally known as the Helgerson Block. It
was built in 1912 by O.M. Helgerson, a young farmer from Iowa.
Since its construction, the building has housed a number of
tenants, but its original floorplan remained relatively intact. The
upper floors are particularly well-preserved and have most of the
original mullioned windows, hardwood flooring and walk-in safes. In
2009, an extensive renovation was completed to the main floor and
basement. Souleio Foods, a joint venture between Calories
restaurant and Pine View Farms, opened a restaurant/food store here
in July 2009. The Community Radio Society of Saskatoon (CRSS)
formed after the University of Saskatchewan's station, CJUS,
disbanded in 1985. CFCR-FM, operating at 90.5 MHz, signed on the
air on September 7, 1991. It occupies the third floor of the
building, its second location since coming into
existence.
Traveller's Block, 228 - 3rd Avenue S
This historic office building is home to several businesses. The
site is the original site of St. John's Church, which relocated to
its present location on Spadina Ave. in 1912.
Photo by Daryl Mitchell
Connaught Building,
Six-storey mixed use building, constructed in 1912. Adjoins the
Glengarry Building, built at the same time.
Glengarry Building,
Six-storey mixed-used building, constructed in 1912. Currently
under renovation. It was home to the Bassment jazz club for 25
years before the building was sold to Malcolm Kaye. Kaye, who grew
up in Vancouver and has a brother living in Saskatoon, has said he
purchased the Glengarry building because he was attracted by the
city's booming economy. He plans to renovate the rundown edifice
with a sympathetic eye to its 1912 heritage.
Hotel Senator, 243 21 Street E
The Senator (Flanagan) Hotel was built by James Flanagan in 1908.
For years it was the most elegant hotel in the city with a marble
lobby staircase, paneled dining room, and ornate plaster ceilings.
Much of this grandeur is still in place today. Unfortunately, the
most distinctive feature of the hotel, a domed "cupola" on the
corner tower was removed in a previous "modernization". Thankfully
most of the other efforts to modernize the exterior have been
removed, restoring the look of this prominent Saskatoon landmark.
Restoration of the interior has also taken place in the lobby and
dining room. The Senator is Saskatoon's oldest hotel. It was
renamed the Senator Hotel in 1940 (much to the disdain of the
locals).
Avenue Building, 220 3 Ave S
The Avenue Building was Saskatoon 's first and finest department
store. It was built in 1912 by F.R. MacMillian who sold the
business in 1927 to the T. Eaton Company. MacMillian then converted
the building to office space and renamed it the Avenue Building.
The basement of the building was also the site of the much loved
Avenue Ballroom that boasted an inlaid hexagonal hardwood floor,
supported by six hundred rubber tires obtained from a garage-owner
who had a huge stock of tires that needed to be
re-treaded.
