LONG, Harle Benson (1903-1985), of Kirkland Lake, Ont., and one of the first professional architects to maintain a successful practise in Northern Ontario before WWII. Born in St. Catharines, Ont. on 29 September 1903, he had already begun his career as an architect before 1930. He became a registered member of the Ontario Assoc. of Architects on 30 Dec. 1931, and later joined the Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects in 1935, which permitted him to carry out commissions across the Quebec border in Rouyn and neighbouring towns. His best-known works there include the Art Deco design for the Cartier Theatre in Timmins (1938), the LaSalle Theatre in Kirkland Lake (1939), and a similar moderne design for the Capitol Theatre in nearby Rouyn, Que. (1937).
During WWII he moved to Ottawa and enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in September 1940, serving in the Construction Engineering Branch, and overseeing several difficult and complex construction projects in Western Canada from 1940 to 1945. For his effort, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946, and he remained with the RCAF until 1958, rising to the position of Air Commodore. His service included acting as senior staff officer with the Construction Engineering Division (1946-49), and as Chief of Construction Engineering (1952-55). Long retired from the RCAF in November 1958, and in 1962 he was appointed as an Associate with A.D. Margison & Assoc., Consulting Engineers & Architects, employed as Manager of their Buildings Division (Ottawa Journal, 28 June 1962, 8, port.). Long later died in Ontario in 1985 (biog. of H.B. Long in the Porcupine Advance [Timmins], 7 Nov. 1938, Section Two, p. 1)
(works in Kirkland Lake)
SECOND STREET, public school, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 16 April 1930, 67)
DOMINION PUBLIC BUILDING, with Post Office, for the Dept. of Public Works, Duncan Avenue at Kirkland Street, 1935 (C.R., xlix, 28 Aug. 1935, 27; The Nugget [North Bay], 25 Sept. 1935, 16)
ROBERGE BLOCK, stores and offices for Mrs. G. Roberge, 1936 (dwgs. at Toronto Dominion Bank, Premises Div., North East Div.)
SERVICE SUPPLY STORES LTD., major addition to retail store, 1936 (The Nugget [North Bay], 22 April 1936, 14)
TECHINICAL SCHOOL, Duncan Avenue, near the high school, for the Teck Township Board of Education, 1936 (C.R., Vol. 50, 23 Sept. 1936, 28; 10 March 1937, 27)
GOVERNMENT ROAD, apartment block for Richard Blais, 1937 (C.R., Vol. 50, 5 May 1937, 32)
WOOD STREET, public school, 1938 (Ottawa Journal, 12 July 1938, 17, t.c.)
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE & VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, major addition of six classrooms, 1938-39 (The Nugget [North Bay], 21 Dec. 1938, 8, descrip.)
TECK TOWNSHIP, public school, 1939 (C.R., lii, 15 March 1939, 36)
LA SALLE THEATRE, Government Road West at the foot of Wood Street, for the Rousson-Trudeau Cinema Co., 1939 (C.R., lii, 22 March 1939, 41)
GOVERNMENT ROAD WEST, hotel for an unnamed client, 1939 (C.R., lii, 3 May 1939, 41)
(works elsewhere)
KAPUSKASING, ONT., a staff residence for the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Co., 1929 (C.R., xliii, 11 Sept. 1929, 70)
TIMMINS, ONT., Cartier Theatre, Third Avenue at Mountjoy Street, 1938 (Porcupine Advance [Timmins], 7 Nov. 1938, Section Two, p. 1, illus. & descrip.)
ROUYN, QUE., Capitol Theatre, a movie theatre for D. Korman, Main Street, 1937 (C.R., Vol. 50, 10 March 1937, 28; 7 July 1937, 38)
COMPETITIONS
TIMMINS, ONT., Town Hall, 1937. H.B. Long was one of four architects who submitted drawings to the Town Council for the new Town Hall (Porcupine Advance [Timmins], 21 June 1937, 1). The design by Long was passed over and the commission was awarded to P.J. O'Gorman of Sudbury.