One of the last historic structures on River Street West is no more after contractors demolished the crumbling century-old red-brick building that was once known as the Merchant Block.
Contractors tore down the 118-year-old building on March 27 and continued throughout the week to clean up the site and remove debris from the former building’s well-built basement.
Surrounding the open hole were piles of building materials, including sheet metal on one side and a voluminous number of bricks on the other. Meanwhile, an excavator sat on the pit’s south edge, removing the remaining pieces of wood, stone and concrete.
The property owners had erected a fence around the building within the last year because a large hole had appeared at the front entrance, making it a hazard to anyone walking past.
According to city hall, the cost of the demolition permit was $75, the property’s value is $75,000, the owner plans to recycle some of the materials, and any future property development is up to the owner.
As of April 3, contractors had cleaned up most of the site and were preparing to haul the material to the dump.
The structure had the address of 51 and 53 River Street West and was the final building in that area that was constructed during Moose Jaw’s early history.
According to community historian Bruce Fairman, in late 1904, brothers William A. and Frank C. Doctor opened their new grocery store and farm implement business next to Simpson’s lumber yard. They were agents for Frost and Wood Grocers & Farm Implements at 15 River Street West, which was the pre-1914 address for this building.
Early in 1905, Simpson’s sold its implement department to the Doctor brothers. Fairman believes the building in which Simpson’s Company operated that department had existed on that lot for several years — 1902, or possibly earlier — but the structure may have been wood and not brick.
In June 1905, the Doctor brothers determined it was necessary to construct a larger building for their growing business. Ellis & Son were awarded the contract; they constructed a new building that was 50 feet by 70 feet in size and placed it on lots 8 and 8A.
“There was some thought to making the building two (storeys) eventually, so the foundation was made strong enough to allow for that,” Fairman wrote. “The new brick building opened for business on Sept. 15, 1905. They called it the Red Store.”
In 1921 the Red Store moved to the new McMillan building one lot to the west. It was there until 1924.
In May 1906, the Doctor brothers decided to add hardware and furnishings to their business, so they purchased the complete stock of the Porto Rico Lumber Co. The latter company had recently purchased the E. Simpson Lumber Co. and planned to concentrate on the lumber business.
Meanwhile, the brothers already had a train carload of hardware on the way from manufacturers in Eastern Canada, while they also added crockery to their overall business sales.
“Looking at the brickwork of the building … it is apparent that it has been expanded towards the (back) lane twice over its life to date,” Fairman added. “The second floor never materialized.”
According to a timeline Fairman constructed, some business types that operated in the red brick building included general merchants, a bowling alley, a pool room, a warehouse, a jeweller, a tailor and cleaner, and an auto and transmission shop.
