TRACE, John Edward (1892-1968) was born in London, Ont. on 7 August 1892 and trained with local architects there including W.G. Murray (in 1911-12) and with H.C. McBride (1913-14). He moved to Detroit in early 1915 and was employed as a draftsman with the leading firm of Albert Kahn & Assoc. (in 1915-16), and then joined the office of Baxter, O'Dell & Halpin (in 1916-17). After returning to Canada he formed a partnership with Guy B. Colthurst in 1918 (see list of works under Colthurst & Trace), and in 1921 he created a new firm with the Detroit architect George F. Diehl, operating a cross-border office responsible for the design of buildings both in Detroit and in Windsor. Their business was dissolved in 1929, and Trace then formed a new partnership with another Detroit architect H. Augustus O'Dell, but that firm was shortlived, and closed in 1931. After WWII Trace entered local politics, serving on the Town Council of Riverside in 1948-49, and worked as general manager and vice-president of Giffels & Vallet Canada, a large engineering and design firm based in the United States. Trace died in Windsor on 10 February 1968 (obit. Windsor Star, 12 Feb. 1968, 5 & 6; inf. Ontario Association of Architects)
TRACE & DIEHL
KENSINGTON MANOR APARTMENTS, Ouellette Avenue, apartment block for Clinton T. Laidlaw, 1924-25 (C.R., xxxviii, 6 Aug. 1924, 57; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 24 April 1926, Section Two, 6, reference to this earlier project for C.T. Laidlaw)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., South Lincoln Road Methodist Church, 1924-25, and later called Ottawa United Church (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 25 Oct. 1924, Section One, 11, illus. & descrip.)
SOUTH WINDSOR, twelve houses for South Windsor Homes Ltd., on Dominion Boulevard, on Daytona Avenue, and on Victoria Avenue, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 14 Sept. 1927, 58; inf. Ian Mason, Sarnia)
PIGGOTT LODGE APARTMENTS, Dougall Avenue at Park Street, a three storey apartment block for the Greater Windsor Development Co., designed 1926; built 1927-28 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 24 April 1926, 2, descrip.; 29 Nov. 1927, 5; C.R., xli, 23 Nov. 1927, 51; xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 49)
GLENCOURT APARTMENTS, Wyandotte Street East at Hall Avenue, for Clinton T. Laidlaw, 1926 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 24 April 1926, Section Two, 6, descrip.)
ROYAL WINDSOR GARAGE, Dougall Avenue, an auto parking garage and 18 storey apartment-hotel for the Greater Windsor Development Co., 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 23 Nov. 1927, 50; Detroit Free Press, 4 Dec. 1927, Section Five, 3, illus.)
ROYAL WINDSOR HOTEL, London Street at Dougall Avenue, a proposed 30 storey high skyscraper hotel tower, 1928 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 7 July 1928, 5, descrip.)
WINDSOR PUBLIC MARKET, Market Square at Pitt Street East, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 6 March 1929, 56; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 10 Aug. 1929, Real Estate Section, 1 & 5, illus. & descrip.)
SOUTH WINDSOR, "The Granville", a prototype for a single family residence on Granville Avenue, Roselawn, for the Detroit Free Press Home Building Programme, 1929 (Detroit Free Press, 13 Jan. 1929, Section Six, p. 1, illus.; 26 May 1929, Section Six, 6 & 7, illus. and descrip.; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 25 May 1929, Real Estate Section, pages 1, 2 and 6, illus. & extensive descrip.)
(with Sheppard & Masson and Guy B. Colthurst) DOMINION PUBLIC BUILDING, Ouellette Avenue at Pitt Street, 1932-33 (C.R., xlvi, 6 Jan. 1932, 44; xlvii, 6 Dec. 1933, 1101-10, illus. & descrip.; Canada, Sessional Papers, 1932-33, iv, Report of the Chief Architect, 20-1, descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
WALKERVILLE, ONT., Metropolitan General Hospital, Lens Avenue at Byng Road, 1926. The office of Trace & Diehl was one of 8 local architects who competed for this job (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 27 Jan. 1926, 5). Their submission was passed over in favour of Pennington & Boyde.