Italian Hall - Coleman, AB
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T0SHEA
N 49° 38.028 W 114° 30.249
11U E 680216 N 5500907
One of the first commercial buildings to be erected in the new town of Coleman, it opened its doors for the first time in 1904 as a hardware store. The next time it opened its doors, in 1912, it was as the home of the Italian Benevolent Society.
Waymark Code: WMPCE7
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/08/2015
Views: 1
We don't known what architectural style the building may have exhibited when built, but in 1935, then Art Deco was reaching its peak in popularity, its exterior was remodeled in that style. Though it has lost a lot of its sheen over the years, the Art Deco motif still shines through.
Italian Hall
A local Italian Benevolent Society was founded in Lille in 1906. When the society moved to Coleman in 1912 they purchased this former hardware store, one of Coleman's original commercial buildings built around 1904. The ground floor held the Italian Co-operative Store, and later Charlie Milo's pool hall and a beauty salon. Upstairs was a meeting and dance hall and in back were residences.
The exterior clapboard façade was covered with concrete in an Art Deco style and other details in 1935.
The need for benevolent societies declined as union-negotiated benefits and public health care increased. The Italian Benevolent Society here outlasted most others; the mother lodge in Calgary closed in 1970 but the Coleman branch lasted to 1996.
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