STURDIE PROPANE LIMITED

Firm: Cook and Bouzan

Address: 4632 1 Street SE

Date: 1953

Status: standing as built

Sturdie Propane Limited was founded around 1948 in Lethbridge. The groundwork for the company was laid by John Vivian Johansen (1904–1947) before his death. After Johansen's death, three members of the Asplund family formed the company officially. For more information, see here. In October 1952, a group led by N. Eldon Tanner acquired controlling interest of the company, and Tanner became president. Tanner's son-in-law Cliff Walker became a director. In December 1953, controlling interest in the company was acquired by the International Utilities Corporation. Tanner resigned the presidency in 1954 to become president of Trans-Canada Pipe Lines. He was replaced as president by F. Austin Brownie (1908–1956). In 1956 the company was acquired from International Utilities by Canadian Hydrocarbons Limited. Sturdie appears to have disappeared around 1961.

The company's new head office and warehouse was built in Manchester in 1953. The front office section was designed by Cook and Bouzan. The steel warehouse at the rear was constructed by Calgary Steel Building Sales and Service Limited, which was the local dealer for Butler steel buildings.

The building was featured in the September 1953 issue of the RAIC Journal (p. 266). Cook and Bouzan was a short-lived partnership between John Herbert Cook and Benedict Bouzan, both of whom were new University of Manitoba graduates. In 1954, Cook formed J. H. Cook and Associates, and Bouzan moved to Edmonton. The only other Cook and Bouzan project I've identified is the original Calhoun Library, from 1953 also. It was demolished in the mid-1980s after the completion of Ken Hutchinson's new library.