HARMON BUILDING Banff Alberta
This project was completed in 2002 after several years of refurbishment and restoration.
The owner is Carole Harmon, granddaughter of the original builder, Byron Harmon, a famous mountain photographer and entrepreneur, who came to Banff in 1903. Carole is herself a photographer. Byron Harmon opened his first studio across the street from the present site at 111 Banff Avenue. Later he constructed a small wood-frame structure on the site of the present building. In 1914, he constructed a more permanent building to house his businesses and the first public movie theater in Banff. This building had prominent river stone columns along Banff Avenue. On January 3, 1917 the entire building was destroyed by fire, except for the stone columns. By June that year the first phase of the current building, designed by Calgary Architect Rex Arlo Millar, was re-constructed. By 1919, the remainder of the building was finished. The building survived intact until the 1960’s when Byron’s son Don Harmon undertook major renovations to update the building’s appearance according to the tastes of the time. The columns were covered in fieldstone and the storefronts were replaced.
Carol Harmon, the third generation owner and a photographer as well, decided to make a small addition to the second floor, then restore the front of her building to its original 1919 appearance. Fortunately the original stone columns, under the 1960’s fieldstone veneer, were largely undamaged. They were uncovered and repaired, and the storefronts were reconstructed per original. Numerous interior main floor improvements were also constructed to return the interior appearance to the same era as the restored exterior.
The Harmon Building is the first building to be designated as a Municipal Historic Resource by the Town of Banff. This project was undertaken in several phases between 1999 and 2002.