In this Then and Now attention is focused on the old Dominion Bridge Factory in the Calgary neighbourhood of Ramsay. The first photo is undated but we believe it’s from 1960 (we’ll explain) and ours is from 2014. There’s many buildings in the complex but in the photos only one is seen. Dominion Bridge is spelled out up near the peak of that building, albeit a bit obscured in the old photo, and today a faint outline can still be seen.
A travelling crane occupies the factory yard in the old photo and there’s a gated entrance out front. Two cars are parked on the street and several men, presumably Dominion Bridge employees, are gathered around one. Another fellow is getting out of the second car in back. All men are seemingly wearing hats, which might seem like a trivial matter to mention, but everyone did back then. Look at old photos and you’ll know what we mean.
Dominion Bridge Calgary (Ramsay): over 60 years apart. Across time with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Thanks to “Anonymous” for sponsoring this post and many others at BIGDOer.com – big hugs for you. Do the same…
There’s a sign speaking of Lost Time Accidents visible (it looks to read “2” which would not something to brag about) and several pickets are seen at the gate. When the photo is enlarged the words “United Steel Workers of America #5044” can be read on several of the signs and this can mean only one thing. There’s labour issues and this event is a clue that can help establish the year of capture. There’s other elements in the scene as well and we’ll share as we go.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
Records show a big strike occurred at this plant (plus other Dominion Bridge Plants, and they had many) in 1960. It began late that summer and lasted well into fall. This is well documented and by the numbers it’s likely this is what the photographer of old captured. No other strikes make mention that would correspond with the cars seen. The newest of the pair is from later in the 1950s.
We can say with reasonable certainty but always with a air of caution that it’s the year stated.
News of the strike ending from the Lethbridge Herald dated November 9th, 1960…
“CALGARY: An agreement was signed Tuesday ending the strike begun 77 days ago by United Steelworkers of America against the Calgary plant of the Dominion Bridge Company Limited.
Wage increases and welfare benefits were granted in the two-year agreement.
About 300 men were involved at the start of the strike. The plant will reopen Monday with men going back to jobs gradually.
Plant manager R. Bessell and union representative Bill Elliott issued a joint statement saying the settlement provides for added welfare benefits of $3,000 life insurance and a $40 weekly indemnity coverage.
The wage settlement provides a 10-cent-per-hour increases over the two-year period, hiking the basic hourly rate to $1.68 and the top rate to $2.70.”
Ten whole cents? Those were different times! Those wages, incidentally, seem in line with a published study done by Statistics Canada in and around 1960.
The cars seen in front, both from Chevrolet, include a late 1940s/early 1950s model on the left and a ’57 on the right. The latter is particularly popular with car collectors and would be quite desirable today.
We spoke with the owner of the photo and they were unsure if the people seen were friends of his father, who shot the image, or just random folks. His dad may have simply been photographing the factory building, or scene, and they just happened to be in the frame.
This Dominion Bridge Factory Complex dates from 1927 and expanded upon many times over the years. The building seen here goes back to at least the 1940s, but could be from earlier. Information is spotty. However, we know the right half of the building (the section lower than the main structure) did not get added until the late 1950s and this helps further confirm the date theory.
The plant originally belonged to Riverside Iron Works and they’re a long established Calgary firm. They moved here from an earlier factory elsewhere in town and parts of that complex still remain. It’s located in Bridgeland, right across from downtown and beside the Bow River. The huge Dominion Bridge Company took over the operations of the Ramsay plant a year or so after it opened. Dominion Bridge had factories all over the country and held a near monopoly in certain fields.
This plant made all manner of steelwork, including lots of stuff for the oil and gas sectors. In addition, general metal fabrication work, custom manufacturing and assembly jobs for steel-framed buildings were also undertaken. An interesting photo turned up during research and shows a horse starting gate the firm made. It’s seen leaving the plant and headed to the Calgary Stampede racetrack a short distance away. There’s a Then & Now in the works for that one.
Given the name of the company, one would assume bridges were built at this plant as well, but records are unclear on the matter. Perhaps the made some, but we can’t say for certain when and how many, they may have constructed. We know other Dominion Bridge factories concentrated on this market and it seems the Calgary operation functioned more as a general steelworks. Any bridges we’ve found in our travels (a lot – we have a thing for them) that came from the firm, have builder’s plates from the Winnipeg plant.
The Calgary Dominion Bridge plant closed in the 1980s and converted into an industrial park not long after. The building seen at the time of our photo housed F&D Scene Changes and they’re an interesting firm. They make movie and theatre sets, display art pieces and parade floats among others.
As a construction-materials delivery driver in the 1990s, I (Chris) used to haul lumber into this company and recall movie props getting made. Memories of a big submarine come to mind.
F&D has since taken over other sections of the Dominion Bridge/Riverside Iron Works complex, but it’s believed they still use this structure as well. Some buildings in the sprawling factory were converted to office space, whereas others remain industrial in nature.
Now let’s see what’s changed and chat about it.
The travelling crane is gone (it shows in aerial photos into the 1980s), and the entrance gate appears a bit different. Otherwise things are as they were and the building itself is rather timeless. The main door got enlarged at some point and the sign, while faded, is still there. Our now shot is from 2014 (more on this in a moment), but even a decade later this scene is pretty much the same. We pass it by all the time and often stop at the coffee place at the far end of the former plant.
The people seen and the cars…well…they’re likely history now.
Ramsay is one of Calgary’s more mature communities and is located just east of and across the Elbow River from downtown. It’s mostly residential, but with some industrial, and is home to many old, historic buildings. The Dominion Bridge complex is one and highly noted for its long time connection to the community.
The original image is courtesy of James Tworow and comes from his father’s photo collection. It’s from a Kodachrome slide and let’s all thank him for allowing us use of it. We enjoyed shooting the now version but everyone knows we love what we do. This is not the first time we’ve used photos he’s supplied in this way and here’s another: Waiting on the Queen (Calgary 1973).
Contact us if you have an old family photo you think could be used this way and let’s have some fun!
This is a repost of an older article recently lost to a system crash. It took out hundreds of posts from pre-2016 and we’re still picking up the pieces. Rather than simply restore this one from a backup and be done with it, we thought it could use a do-over anyway. So it’s gotten a rewrite and new bits added.
The original photos were reused, which are fine enough, but we could likely do better today. We thought of reshooting, however, but the view back then seemed a little better than today. The yard has been pretty cluttered every time we passed it by in the last few years.
Thanks for stopping in and look for more Then & Nows in the coming months. We’ve got a lot in the works!
“Chris and Connie have a unique way of documenting the places they visit, not copying the style or technique of others, but making it their own.” Alex Craig, Filmmaker.
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Date of adventure: ca1960 & June 2014. Location: Calgary (Ramsay), Alberta. Article references and thanks: James Tworow, University of Calgary Archives, City of Calgary, University of Lethbrige Archives, Library and Archives Canada (CollectionsCanada.gc.ca), Statistics Canada, and United Steel Workers of America records.
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