Mewata Armoury Downtown Calgary

Mewata Armoury is located at the west end of Calgary’s downtown core and a well known landmark that’s stood here for over a century. Architecturally stunning, this brick and sandstone edifice is a ceremonial and training base for a number of Canadian Forces regiments/groups. Built during World War One, it was one of over hundred armouries, or drill halls, constructed across Canada. Most date from the late 1890s to the 1910s period but some were constructed into recent times and others go back well into to the 1800s.

Designed as a recruitment centre, training base and practice/lecture hall, Mewata Armoury still serves these same functions today. The post you’re reading here was actually first published in 2013 (we’ve been at it a long time), but it’s been revised, tidied up and new photos used. This includes the then image which comes from the Peel Collection at the University of Calgary. Thanks guys. You rock!

Mewata looks near impregnable and of course this was by design. It’s a place with a daunting presence and it means business. Notable features seen (typically also on other armouries elsewhere) include a rugged castellated exterior with turrets, towers, battlements and narrow slit windows. A large troop door leads to a massive main hall, both broad and with a high unobstructed ceiling. Other rooms in the building include offices, storage areas, recreation rooms and commissaries. A bowling alley and shooting range makes mention in some older papers but we’re not sure the current status. Anyone have an update?

At one time the second floor had living quarters for soldiers based here or in training.

The first image is from a postcard and shows Mewata Armoury at some undermined date, but the 1920s is suggested. This seems about right and we’ll elaborate on this. No buildings are shown on the street (8th Avenue SW) leading to the front entry and old aerial photos confirm there were none on these lots into the 1920s. The next decade that had changed and houses put in.

Buildings of more modern construction now block the overall view from this angle and that’s not surprising since we are on the edge of downtown. Open areas are few and far between out this way. When built, Mewata would have been some distance from the core and the area around once a residential neighbourhood. There’s still people living close by, but it’s in tall condo towers now and not houses.

It’s surprising how little Mewata has changed between the two shots and one would be hard pressed to find even one difference. Well, at least one significant difference and this must be one of the least changed buildings we’ve ever seen in this ongoing Then & Now series. The world is nothing like it was in 1917, on its completion, yet Mewata is timeless. It seems almost out of place, here in the modern city, as some strange throwback to a world of many generations ago.

Mewata Armoury cost just shy of three hundred thousand dollars to construct back in the day and just think what that would get you in 2022. Half a house, in a bad part of town, and not much more. Or a trailer in a Sunnyvale type place?

Some displays sit out front of the building and the most prominent is an M4A2E8 Sherman Tank (painted in WW2 colours, but a bit newer) resting on a Bailey Bridge. That’s a portable and easily erected temporary span. This setup is in honour of the 33rd Field Engineer Squadron, a company who would have been responsible for the placement of such bridges. Nearby there’s a small tracked personal carrier.

A plaque over the main door lists those regiments and cadet groups that presently use the facility. These include The 41st Canadian Brigade Group, The King’s Own Calgary Regiment, #15 Field Ambulance/Medical Detachment, The Calgary Highlanders, #2137 Army Cadets and the #604 Moose Squadron Air Cadets. The King’s Own and the Highlanders both date from 1910 and are a reconnaissance and a mounted light infantry regiment respectively. Mounted: originally horses but now in reference to armoured vehicles.

In the past other groups have been based out of the Armoury and these include The South Alberta Light Horse, The 19th Alberta Dragoons and The #746 Communications Squadron.

The building is sometimes refereed to as The Mewata Drill Hall, The Mewata Militia Base or The Calgary Drill Hall or as in the postcard, The Armory (minus the British usage “u”) in Calgary Can. The word Mewata is First Nations word (Cree) loosely meaning “Joy” or something “Joyous”. At times the hall is rented out for events and for one we recall a model train show we visited there in the 1990s.

Note the old streetcar tracks in the then image. Calgary had an extensive network from 1909-1950 and in the postcard the trolley wires must have been airbrushed out since none are seen. They’re always strung above the tracks and you can’t function without. “Shopping” in one form or another is nothing new and has been going on as long as there’s been photography. Today, it’s so easy and done in a few clicks but in the old days required a deft hand.

Track diagrams from the 1920s show a streetcar loop ending at Mewata but by the mid 1940s (the next map we could find), the track was no longer in place.

The building is a recognized historic site, by various governmental bodies, and this began in the late 1970s. It’s one of dozens of extant armouries or drill halls across Canada from the early days and really stands out in this part of town. All around, it’s modern condos and featureless office blocks and then there’s Mewata, looking terribly out of place, but proud and majestic in every sense.

Know more (new tabs): Mewata Armoury and Drill Halls/Armouries Canada.

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They’re saying…

”Always amazed to see what these two manage to find out about in the history of Alberta” Candy Belliveau. (we cover BC and Sask too.)

More T&Ns!
Sleepee Teepee Blairmore Alberta.
5th Ave Hanna Alberta.
Rosebery BC Then & Now.

If you wish more information on what’s seen here, don’t hesitate to: contact us!

Date of Adventure: Circa 1920s and October 2022.
Location(s): Calgary, AB.
Article references and thanks: Canada’s Historic Place – HistoricPlaces.ca, University of Calgary Peel Collection and the city of Calgary.

Mewata Armoury Calgary Then & Now.

It stands at the west end of downtown.

From 1917.

A plaque recognizing its historical status.

From the entrance and looking west into downtown.

A Sherman Tank on display out front.