A building in downtown North Bay known as the Colgan Liddle Block has been deemed historically significant by the North Bay Municipal Heritage Committee.
While the name of the building, which extends from 114 to 124 Main Street East, may not be familiar to residents, the businesses are.
One of them is Moose FM at 118.
It occupies one of the four units, the others being Splurge, the White Water Gallery and Mitchell Architects.
Peter Carello, the city’s Senior Planner of Current Operations and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Heritage Committee says the Colgan Liddle Block is more than 100 years old having been built during the 1910s.
As for the name, Carello says it was either the name of the builders or owners at the time.
As for why the committee chose it, Carello says it’s “very emblematic of what you would expect in the downtown”.
“Some of the buildings have gone through a number of changes over the years to remain relevant and practical to the downtown,” Carello said.
“A lot of the older characteristics are no longer there, at least not as they were when originally constructed. But if you look at some of the historical photos, it’s very much in character of the time. So when it was constructed it would have been very symbolic of construction in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Generally speaking it still maintains that overall appearance to this day.”
Carello says one of the unique characteristics of the building is the ceiling.
He says all four unit have a tin ceiling which although the committee isn’t 100 percent positive, strongly believes the ceiling is the original or close to the original.
Over the years the building has housed a variety of different businesses.
Carello says initially it started as a dance hall and later accommodated a billiard hall and years later a furniture store just to name some of the earlier businesses.
The historical significance designation doesn’t restrict future renovations on the building.
However, Carello says the committee likes to work with landlords “to try and maintain those (characteristics) on an ongoing basis in the future”.
The basements of all four units show signs of the initial construction.
That’s especially true of the brickwork which in some cases came from different buildings and got used in the Colgan Liddle Block thereby accounting for the different colours of the brick.
One aspect of the building can’t be seen by the public and technically is not a true part of the building.
Before the Colgan Liddle Block went up, adjacent to it was a building with an outside mural business sign depicting the name Despatch and Tribune Fine Job Printing and it’s a building that was built prior to1910.
When the Colgan Liddle Block was built, it ended up covering the business sign of the adjacent building.
Carello says the sign would have been lost to history.
But a while back when Mitchell Architects was renovating its building and removed some of its walls, the sign mural was discovered.
Carello says Mitchell restored the mural and it’s now visible through one of the firm’s offices.
“It’s like a window into the past,” Carello said.
The Colgan Liddle Block building will be recognized with a plaque and the Heritage Committee will hold an unveiling ceremony in the near future recognizing its significance.
