Feature Article

GREENE BLOCK

Written By: Michael Dawe
Published By: Red Deer Express
Article Used with permission. © Copyright Michael Dawe, 2008
2008-03-18

One of the most beautiful buildings in the heart of downtown Red Deer is the sandstone Greene Block, which stands on the south-west corner of Ross Street and Gaetz Avenue. It was named after the man who built it, George Wellington Greene.

George W. Greene was a young lawyer, originally from Athens, Ontario. While he practiced law in his home town for a few years, he was drawn by the prospects of the Canadian West. Consequently, he decided to move to the fledgling community of Red Deer in the spring of 1891 to start a practice.

Upon his arrival, he found that the community consisted of no more than a few dozen frame buildings, stretched along a couple of muddy streets. Undaunted, he pressed ahead with his plans.

He acquired, for his office, the tiny Stevenson-Hall Block on the corner of Ross Street and Gaetz Avenue. It had been built while the railroad was still under construction. It had been used as an outlet to sell groceries and likely alcohol to the labourers working on the rail line. This building still exists today and is now located in Heritage Square, next to the City Recreation Centre and Museum.

Greene’s legal practice and business ventures flourished. He was also very active in community affairs. He helped to found the Red Deer Board of Trade (Chamber of Commerce) in 1894 and served as the first secretary-treasurer. He also served as a trustee and secretary-treasurer of the Red Deer Public School District.

After the Village of Red Deer was formed in 1894, he served as secretary and chair of the annual ratepayers" meetings. In 1898, he was elected to be the overseer (combination mayor and secretary treasurer). He was so efficient both in his management of the budget and collection of taxes that he was able to run the village on accumulated surpluses and declare a "tax holiday" for a year.

In 1901, he helped lead the incorporation of Red Deer as a town. He was also appointed as the town solicitor, a position he was to hold for as long as he continued to live in Red Deer. He was initially not paid for the job.

Meanwhile, Greene decided to build an impressive sandstone edifice on the site of his original law office. The old building was moved to the south, facing Gaetz Avenue.

The sandstone came from the quarry, upstream from the town and close to what is now the Cronquist Business Park. While impressive looking, the sandstone blocks were also very expensive. Hence, Greene only used them on the north and east walls of the building and used local Piper’s brick on the south and west walls. Despite this cost cutting measure, Greene found it difficult to pay for all the stone he had ordered and was involved in legal disputes with the quarry owners for a few years after the building was finished.

Greene initially planned to open a private bank, Red Deer’s first, in his impressive new building. A large vault was consequently put into the basement. However, Greene soon leased the ground floor to the Canadian Bank of Commerce which had decided to open a branch in the community.

Not surprisingly, given Greene’s close connections with the newly formed Town of Red Deer, the second floor was used for the first Town Council Chambers. Tragedy struck shortly after the building was finished, when Robert M. Harper, a young 22 year old lawyer, died in his office of a sudden heart attack. Following his sudden passing, the legal documents for the purchase by the Town of the civic square in the 4800 block of Ross Street could not be found. Several years of legal disputes followed.

After Greene left Red Deer in 1915 to become a judge in Medicine Hat, the building was sold and had a variety of owners until it was acquired by Drs. Snell and Dodds. It was occupied for a few years by the Mitchell Jewellery Store (now Mitchell and Jewell).

In 1941, the building was acquired by Ron Holmes who ran a drug store in it for a great many years. Since 2000, it has been owned by Terry Balgobin who operates his Artistry in Gold business in the premises.