STEVENSON, James McIntyre (1888-1964), a leading architect in Calgary, Alta. where he maintained an office for nearly fifty years, either under his own name, or in partnership with other Calgary architects in various firms that included:
Dowler & Stevenson, 1912-1916 (with Leo Dowler)
J.M. Stevenson, Resident Architect for Alberta, representing the Federal Dept. of Public Works, (1919-1927)
Fordyce & Stevenson, 1928-1944 (with George Fordyce)
J.M. Stevenson & Son 1945-1947 (with James Stevenson Jr.)
Stevenson, Cawston & Stevenson 1947-1949 (with John A. Cawston)
Stevenson, Cawston & Dewar, 1949-1951 (with John A. Cawston and Maxwell C. Dewar)
Stevenson & Dewar, 1951-1955 (with Maxwell C. Dewar)
J. Stevenson & Assoc. 1955-1966
Born at Slamannan, Stirlingshire, Scotland on 30 December 1887, he attended the Glasgow Technical School, and the Glasgow School of Arts, but left school in 1907 and articled with Henry E. Higgins, RIBA, a local architect in Glasgow. He emigrated to Canada in March 1911 and settled in Calgary where he found a job as draftsman with Leo Dowler. The following year, Dowler invited him to form a partnership (see works under Dowler & Stevenson). In late 1915 Stevenson joined the Canadian Army and went overseas to France, but was wounded at Ypres in June 1916 and spent a year recovering in England. By May 1919 he was once again in Calgary, where he accepted the appointment as Resident Architect for the federal Dept. of Public Works, overseeing the construction or renovation of all federal buildings in Alberta from 1919 to 1927. During this period he also served as President of the Alberta Assoc. of Architects (1926-27). In early 1928 he returned to private practise, forming a partnership with George Fordyce (see works under Fordyce & Stevenson). After the death of Fordyce in December 1944, the post-war era in Calgary proved to be a particularly prosperous period and Stevenson, in partnership with his son John, later joined by John Cawston, grew from a small firm of 4 employees to over 40 architects, interior designers, engineers and draftsmen, making it one of the largest architectural offices in western Canada.
When M.C. Dewar joined the firm, they opened a branch office in Edmonton in late 1949 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvi, Dec. 1949, 448). Stevenson Sr. retired from the firm in the spring of 1956, succeeded by his son James Jr., who headed the new firm of J. Stevenson & Associates. Stevenson Sr. died in Calgary on 4 May 1964 (obituary Calgary Herald, 5 May 1964, 23; biog. and port in Calgary Herald Magazine, 1 Dec. 1956, 3). A large collection of architectural drawings by Stevenson and his firms was donated to the Canadian Architectural Archives at the University of Calgary in 1978 (Stevenson Raines Coll. 37A/78.25).
J.M. STEVENSON, Alberta Dept. of Public Works
(works in Calgary unless noted)
WOMEN’S HOSTEL, 4th Avenue West near 1st Street, major addition, 1920 (dwgs. Univ. of Calgary, Canadian Architectural Archives)
HIGH RIVER, ALTA., Aerodrome, for the Dominion Air Board, 1921 (dwgs. Univ. of Calgary, Canadian Architectural Archives)
STEVENSON, CAWSTON & STEVENSON
GLENMORE HEIGHTS, residence for H. Snelson, near 82nd Avenue S.W., 1946 (dwgs. Univ. of Calgary, Canadian Architectural Archives)
RED DEER, ALTA., two public schools, including a school in South Red Deer, and a school in North Red Deer, 1946-47 (Red Deer Advocate, 20 Nov. 1946, 1, descrip.; 12 March 1947, 2, descrip.)
CALGARY BREWING & MALTING CO., 9th Avenue East, in East Calgary, bottling plant, 1947 (C.R., lx, July 1947, 106)
CITY OF CALGARY, 2nd Avenue West, garage and workshop, perhaps a bus garage for the Calgary Transit System, 1947 (C.R., lx, July 1947, 108)
(with W.L. Somerville) JUNIOR RED CROSS CRIPPLED CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, Richmond Road, 1948 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, Sept. 1948, 330-32, illus.)
RED DEER, ALTA., Outdoor Public Swimming Pool, with offices and change rooms, 1949 (Red Deer Advocate, 12 Jan. 1949, 1, illus. & descrip.)
RED DEER, ALTA., Royal Canadian Legion, 49th Avenue at 32nd Street, 1949 (C.R., lxii, June 1949, 118-19)
GRAND THEATRE, 1st Street West near 6th Avenue, theatre, office building and eight shops, 1949 (C.R., lxii, June 1949, 119; lxiii, Feb. 1950, 132)
ROYALITE OIL CO. LTD., 6th Avenue West at 2nd Street, 1949 (C.R., lxii, July 1949, 135)
(with W.L. Somerville) CALGARY GENERAL HOSPITAL, McDougall Road, 1949-50 (C.R., lxii, Feb. 1949, 148; Canadian Hotel Review [Toronto], xxviii, 15 Nov. 1950, 72)
BARRON BUILDING, 8th Avenue S.W., large office block, 1949-51 (Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 15, illus. & descrip.)
CALGARY ICE HOCKEY ARENA, at the foot of 3rd Avenue S.E. at 17th Avenue, on the grounds of Stampede Park, 1949-50; demol. 2020-21 (The Albertan [Calgary], 22 Dec. 1950, 18, illus. & detailed descrip.)
STEVENSON, CAWSTON & DEWAR
CALGARY, ALTA., Jenkins Groceteria Ltd., 9th Avenue at 19th Street East, large warehouse and distribution complex, 1950 (Financial Post [Toronto], 18 March 1950, 2, detailed descrip.)
RED DEER, ALTA., major addition to Red Deer General Hospital, 50A Avenue, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, July 1950, 122)
CALGARY, ALTA., Young Men's Christian Assoc., 6th Avenue West at 3rd Street West, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Sept. 1950, 129)
EDMONTON, ALTA., St. Stephen's Theological College, on the campus of the University of Alberta, a new building containing a Library, lecture rooms, and common room, and conversion of the old building (built 1910) into a residence, for the United Church of Canada, 1950-51 (Calgary Daily Herald, 7 Dec. 1950, 19, illus. & descrip.)
CALGARY, ALTA., Marda Movie Theatre, with block of retail stores, 33rd Avenue West at 21st Street S.W., for M.E. Jenkins, 1950-51 (The Albertan [Calgary], 22 Dec. 1950, 26)