COLEMAN UNION HALL / HOSPITAL
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Coleman Union Hall/Hospital is a one and one-half storey, T-shaped wood frame structure located on two city lots in downtown Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass.
HERITAGE VALUE
The heritage value of the Coleman Union Hall/Hospital resides in its historic role as a community institution serving the medical and social needs of the area's citizens.
The Coleman Union Hall/Hospital was financed and built between 1905 and 1906 by the local miner's union. Designed for use as a hospital by a civil engineer employed by the International Coal and Coke Company, the architecture of the Coleman Union Hall/Hospital was far simpler and more utilitarian than other medical institutions of the day. When the hospital opened, it admitted only union members and their families, but later opened its doors to the public. By 1922 the coal companies deducted hospital fees from all employees. Elsewhere in Alberta hospitals were the nearly exclusive domain of the Catholic Church or municipal governments. The case of a union providing medical services to its members and a community is unique and an important demonstration of local initiative in providing social services in an industrial company town. The hospital remained in union control, serving the entire Crowsnest Pass, until 1949, when a new municipal hospital was built and the old hospital was renovated for use as a union hall and meeting place for retired miners.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements of the Coleman Union Hall/Hospital include:
- location;
- form, scale and massing;
- T-shaped plan with rear at right angles to hall area;
- gable roof;
- mass and form of enclosed front veranda;
- second floor three-over-one double hung windows;
- paired window fenestration;
- scalloped eaves on south facing gable, returned eaves on east and west facing gable, and evidence of shingle treatment in upper area of gable ends;
- original remaining interior elements and fittings such as: second floor plan layout, the staircase and railings, original hardwood floors.
From Historic Places Canada