CENTENNIAL BUILDING

Firm: Abugov and Sunderland

Address: 816 7 Avenue SW

Date of final plans: 1964

Status: standing as built

The Centennial Building was built and owned by a company called Jemp Investments, which was run by Morris Kowall. Planning for the building had been in the works as early as 1962. The original plan was for a 12-storey building to house manufacturing companies from Eastern Canada and the West Coast. Floors 2-6 would be offices, and floors 7-12 would be accommodations for out-of-town employees of the companies during their time in Calgary.

The original plan was scaled back to a seven-storey office tower. Design was done by Abugov and Sunderland with construction undertaken by Sam Hashman. The unique feature is the three-stall front parking area. Personally, I dislike this feature, as these sorts of front parking spaces tend to become grimy.