The CN Tower is an , 26- storey

office building An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

located in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta, Canada. The building was built by the

Canadian National Railway Company The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

as Edmonton's first skyscraper, and at its completion in 1966 was the tallest building in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. The CN Tower would remain Edmonton's and Western Canada's tallest building until 1971 when it was surpassed by Edmonton House.

History

The building site was originally to the CNR Edmonton station which was constructed in 1905, and subsequently expanded in 1928. The CNR Station was demolished in 1953 and the area in which the expansion was constructed would become the spot the CN Tower would be constructed on in 1966. CNR train station Edmonton PC006360

Plans for the building would be announced in 1963, with construction started in fall of 1964. Allied Development Corporation of Calgary would hire Abugov & Sunderland to design, and Hashman Construction Company to build the

CA$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

10.5-million CN Tower, which was Western Canada's tallest office building when completed in October 1966. The

opening ceremonies An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

for the building were attended by

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

Grant MacEwan John Walter Grant MacEwan (August 12, 1902 – June 15, 2000) was a Canadian farmer, professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislat ...

and Premier

Ernest Manning Ernest Charles Manning, (September 20, 1908 – February 19, 1996), a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any other premier in Alberta's histor ...

. The CN Tower exemplified the modern International Style of architecture and is an early example of the tower-

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

design. The CN Tower was purchased by the Calgary-based Strategic Group as part of a distress sale, and the last remaining Canadian National Railway employees moved out of the building in 2008. The Canadian National Railway logo is still found over the main entrance and on the top of the building. Canadian National sought to develop a second building in Edmonton as part of a larger downtown redevelopment program, which would have been , 42-storey office building in 1969, however the project was subsequently cancelled. Built to overlook the

old Canadian National rail yard The Old Canadian National rail yard in Edmonton was once the centre of economic activity in that city. Its redevelopment has fundamentally altered the appearance of the city. The former yard occupied a long, narrow strip from 103 Avenue to 105 A ...

, the building's basement once housed Edmonton's main passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, until the

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

railway tracks leading to

Downtown Edmonton Downtown Edmonton is the central business district of Edmonton, Alberta. Located at the geographical centre of the city, the downtown area is bounded by 109 Street to the west, 105 Avenue to the north, 97 Street to the east, 97 Avenue and Rossdale ...

were removed in 1998. Since then, passenger trains serving Edmonton have stopped at the Edmonton railway station situated near the former Edmonton City Centre Airport which ceased operations in 2013. The building suffered structural damage to the exterior on 18 July 2009, during a

severe thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

. Two vehicles were crushed by falling debris at the base of the building.

References

External links

* * {{Edmonton landmarks Railway stations in Canada opened in 1966 Canadian National Railway stations in Alberta Via Rail stations in Alberta Disused railway stations in Canada Office buildings completed in 1966 Skyscraper office buildings in Canada Skyscrapers in Edmonton Railway stations closed in 1998 Terminating vistas in Canada Towers in Alberta International style architecture in Canada

History

See also

References

External links