In the shadow of the Sallows & Boyd, on the corner of 11th Avenue and 102nd Street, stands the vacant, neglected and forgotten old bus depot.
Many are under the impression the old building is part of the Sallows & Boyd. It isn't, but the two buildings share a common load-bearing wall. The old bus depot's brick work is lighter in colour and less ornate. The building is also smaller than the Sallows & Boyd. Notwithstanding, this old structure was important to the city's and province's transportation enterprises, North Battleford's business and commerce, and even its social life. This historic building, that housed the old bus depot and many other businesses and agencies during most of the 20th century, lays claim to an extraordinary history.
According to the City's building department and based on tax records, the building was constructed in 1908. There are no records indicating who the original builders were. Nor was I able to determine the identity of the succession of owners during the first decades of the building's existence. Jack Calvert likely purchased the building in the 1950s. The present owner is Barbara Calvert of Mission Ridge, B.C. who acquired the property from her father's estate.
The Bus Depot
The Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) was established as a crown corporation by the government of Tommy Douglas on April 1, 1946. Harvey Cashmere noted the first bus depot in North Battleford was situated on Railway Avenue - west of the present day liquor board. During the mid 1960s, both depot managers and the city were not happy with the location and quality of service, particularly because the street had to be used for arrivals and departures. So it was determined a new location was necessary. For a time the city was without a permanent bus depot. Both bus companies were required to use various businesses as temporary depots. There was even a formal plan brought before city council to use the Bowlarena on 99th Street as the new bus depot. It didn't happen. The search for a new bus depot proved to be a difficult task, so difficult that depot managers and government politicians asked the City for assistance in finding a new location.
Finally in June, 1966, a temporary bus station was located on 102nd Street at Jack Calvert's car lot, across from the Co-op Store. Edna Cruikshank, now age 92 and living in Camrose, Alta., who managed the bus depot with her husband Len, referred to this building as a "shack." She later conceded that it wasn't a shack, just a small building.
A few months later, the depot was again moved to the old bus depot location at the corner of 11th Avenue and 102nd Street where the main floor was leased from Jack Calvert. Greyhound also located at the 11th Avenue centre and covered routes to destinations both west and east of the Battlefords. STC routes ran north and south. To give some indication of the cost of travel, a round trip ticket to Meadow Lake cost $8 in 1968.
Edna and Len continued to run the depot at the 11th Avenue location until Len's death in 1969 after which Edna continued to manage the business alone. Gordon Mullet, a former STC co-manager, related that the STC Bus Depot moved from the 11th Avenue location to the CN building on December 29, 1971. After the move, Edna worked at the new bus depot for a few years for co-managers Gordon Mullet and Johnny Hillman.
Waiting rooms and the popular B & L Cafe were located at the front of the old bus depot on 11th Avenue. The buses, which were considerably smaller in those days, were angle parked on the East side of the building.
A unique feature of the bus depot was the pay toilet which could be operated by a bus-weary traveler for a mere dime. I'm not sure what contingency was made for a patron who did not have a dime.
Terry Cruikshank, Edna's and Len's son, who has lived in Edmonton for the past 40 years, related that the longest serving and best know bus driver was Louie Cooney, a "million-miler," who had residences in both North Battleford and Meadow Lake.
The bus depot moved once again from the CN location to its present location on 98th Street, close to Sylvester RV, on Jan. 16, 2008. The new location boasts 2, 600 square feet of air-conditioned, efficient main floor space - a modern, new facility. Some have wondered about the location. How does a bus traveller get down town, and to the hotels, which appear to be miles to the south? By taxi?
Other Businesses and Agencies
The International Order of Oddfellows held regular meetings at their upstairs hall, which included a caretaker's suite on the north end of the building, from 1924 to 1950, long before the bus depot began operations from the 11th Avenue location. In 1950, the IOOF moved to a new building at 1392 - 100th St. The Masons also held their meetings at the Oddfellows Hall at the 11th Avenue location and then at the IOOF location on 100th Street until they moved to a new building on 92nd Street.
Local historian, Fred Walker, indicated that the Nash Simington Co. Ltd ran a wholesale business called the Dominion Fruit Company from the 11th Avenue location from 1924 to 1947. Even before the fruit company conducted its business from the main floor at this location, the Canadian Order of Foresters, which had organized in North Battleford in 1905, also held their meetings in this building during the early years of its existence.
The Co-op Store replaced the Dominion Fruit Company in 1947 and operated from these premises until 1954, at which time it moved to a new location on 102nd Street. Leola McDonald, whose father was on the board of directors, remembered stocking shelves at the Co-op Store in the late 1940s. The Saskatchewan Liquor Board owned part of the adjoining vacant lot.
A Taxi Service
People's Cab, operated from a small building on the South-East side of the building during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Brothers Jeep George and Moe George subsequently bought the taxi business and moved it across the street to the Truckadero.
About 60 per cent of the second floor was occupied by the Co-op Hall on the north side. In addition, there were a number of offices on the south side overlooking the sidewalk which were leased to various North Battleford businesses and government agencies.
to be continued
