SCHMALZ, William Herbert Eugene (1890-1981), active in Kitchener, Ont. where he lived and worked as an architect from 1914 until after 1960. Born in Kitchener on 29 July 1890, he studied architecture at the University of Toronto and served an apprenticeship in Toronto with the firm of Darling & Pearson, one of the most important architectural offices in Canada in the period from 1900 to 1914. Schmalz was the son of William H. Schmalz, the mayor of Berlin and the local manager of the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and it was his father who was instrumental in commissioning his son, along with Charles Knechtel, to prepare a design for the headquarters building of the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in 1916. This refined Beaux-Arts landmark still stands at the present time at 16-20 Queen Street North in Kitchener (see the Berlin News Record [Kitchener], 19 Aug. 1916, 6, illus. and detailed architectural descrip.)
Schmalz opened his own office in Kitchener in 1918, and his best known work, designed in collaboration with Bernal A. Jones, was the striking Beaux-Arts design for the City Hall in Kitchener (1923-24; all demol. 1973 except for clock tower & cupola, later moved to Victoria Park). Schmalz appears to have entered into a formal partnership as Schmalz & Jones Architects in early 1922, but their collaboration ended after March 1926, and by January 1928 both partners had opened separate offices in Kitchener under their own names. Schmalz remained active until after 1950, and he later died in Welland, Ontario on 25 January 1981 (obituary Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 26 Jan. 1981; biog., list of works and photographic portrait in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 11 June 1977, 7; biog. and port. in the Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, Vol. 50, 1962, 8-9).
(works in Kitchener)
(with Charles Knechtel) ECONOMICAL MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO., Queen Street North, a three storey commercial block, 1916; still standing in 2021 (Berlin News Record [Kitchener], 19 Aug. 1916, 6, illus. and detailed architectural descrip.; Kitchener Public Library, Rare Book Room, publication entitled Industry & Enterprise 1871-1921, by the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Co., with photograph of building stamped "Knechtel & Schmalz, Architects"; dwgs. at University of Waterloo Library, Special Collections & Archives, Fonds SCA 243 GA244, Schmalz Collection; inf. Karl Kessler, Kitchener)
unnamed street, residence for Frederick Daub, 1920 (News Record [Kitchener], 20 Feb. 1920, 2)
FREDERICK STREET, near the Five Points, residence for Fred Martin, 1920 (News Record [Kitchener], 20 Feb. 1920, 2)
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, King Street West, extensive interior alterations, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 5 Jan. 1921, 55)
REINHART & DOERR CO., auto service station, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 2 March 1921, 58)
CITY ORPHANAGE, Natchez Road, 1921 (Daily Record [Kitchener], 8 March 1921, 1; and 3 May 1922, 1, descrip.)
ST. PETER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Queen Street North, addition of a large Parish Hall, 1922; demol. 1966 (Daily Record [Kitchener], 13 May 1922, 1, descrip.)
KLEINSCHMIDT & NEUBER CO., Auto Showroom & Sales, Eby Street at King Street, 1922 (Daily Record [Kitchener], 25 Feb. 1922, 1)
(with Bernal A. Jones) KITCHENER CITY HALL, King Street East at Frederick Street, 1922-23; demol. 1973 (C.R., xxxvi, 11 Jan. 1922, 50; and 1 Nov. 1922, 46, t.c.; Const., xv, March 1922, 79, illus.; Daily Record [Kitchener], 11 April 1922, 1 and 2, detailed architectural descrip.; and 14 July 1923, 1, descrip.; and 14 Nov. 1924, Section Two, City Hall Supplement, pages 1, 4, 6 and 7, illus and detailed architectural descrip.; original watercolour perspective dwg. at Univ. of Waterloo Archives). A lengthy historical article on the City Hall, with description, was published in The Nugget [North Bay], 12 Oct. 1938, 16.
QUEEN STREET NORTH, residence for Charles K. Bruder, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 10 May 1922, 53)
VICTORIA PARK, outdoor entry gates to the Park at the Courtland Avenue entrance, and at the Roland Street entrance, 1923 (Daily Record [Kitchener], 24 March 1923, 1, descrip.)
(with Bernal A. Jones) GOUDIES STORES LTD., King Street West, a department store, 1925 (C.R., xxxix, 1 July 1925, 51)
PENTECOSTAL BAPTIST CHURCH, Benton Street at St. George Street, 1927; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 18 March 1927, 1, descrip.)
QUEEN STREET EAST, residence for Dr. Henry M. Lackner, 1927 (C.R., xli, 25 May 1927, 177; and 20 July 1927, 55)
QUEEN STREET SOUTH, stores and apartments for David Kniffel, including premises for Pearl Laundry, 1928 (C.R. Xlii, 28 March 1928, 49)
NEWS RECORD PRINTING CO;., Queen Street North at Duke Street, newspaper printing plant, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 25 April 1928, 57)
STATION HOTEL, Weber Street West, major addition, 1928 (Canadian Hotel Review, vi, June 1928, 51)
PINE STREET, at King Street, a 3 storey apartment block with 18 suites, for Lincoln Stroh, 1929 (Kitchener Daily Record, 15 March 1929, 1, descrip; C.R., xliii, 20 March 1929, 71)
VICTORIA PARK, an outdoor boat house in the Park, 1929 (Kitchener Daily Record, 16 March 1929, 7)
WAR MEMORIAL CENOTAPH, 1929, and later relocated to Frederick Street at Duke Street East in 1973; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 12 Jan. 1929, 1 and 19, descrip.)
WINDERMERE COURT APARTMENTS, East Weber Street, at North Cedar Street, for W.C. Kramp and G.E. Kramp, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 18 Dec. 1929, 47; Kitchener Daily Record, 15 March 1930, 1, descrip.)
KISS BEVERAGE CO., Doon Road at King Street, a 3 storey factory, 1930 (Kitchener Daily Record, 21 July 1930, 1; and 6 Nov. 1930, 1, descrip.; C.R., xliv, 10 Oct. 1930, 69)
WATERLOO COUNTY GAOL, Queen Street North at Duke Street, alterations to the Gaol, and conversion of the turnkey's residence into Gaol cells, 1930-31 (Kitchener Daily Record, 29 Nov. 1930, 1, descrip.; Waterloo Historical Society Annual Reports, 1977, 70)
SAMUEL STREET, at Pandora Avenue, a two storey block of stores and apartments, for George K. Treusch, 1932 (, 28 April 1932, 16, descrip.)
HUETHER BREWING CO., King Street South, a four storey brew house, 1932 (Kitchener Daily Record, 11 June 1932, 8, illus. & detailed descrip.; C.R., xlvi, 22 June 1932, 722)
PATRICIA STREET PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1936 (Kitchener Daily News, 25 July 1936, 3)
ST. PETER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Queen Street North, addition of a large 3 storey Parsonage, located beside the church, 1938-39 (Kitchener Daily Record, 14 Jan. 1939, 5, illus. and detailed architectural descrip.)
BLUE TAP BREWING CO., King Street West, major addition to brewery, 1940 (C.R., liii, 14 Aug. 1940, 23)
GRACE LUTHERAN CHAPEL, Louisa Street at Margaret Avenue, 1947 (Kitchener Daily Record, 21 Jan, 1947, 12)
HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN CHURCH, East Avenue, 1949 (C.R., lxii, July 1949, 134)
(works elsewhere)
ELMIRA, ONT., conversion of the old Silliax Hotel into a new branch of the Royal Bank, 1920 (News Record [Kitchener], 6 April 1920, 2)
WATERLOO, ONT., college for Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Albert Street, now called Wilfrid Laurier University, 1922-23 (C.R., xxxvi, 22 Nov. 1922, 46; Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report, 1981, 151-52)
WELLESLEY, ONT., St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Natziger Road near Doering Street, 1927; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 18 March 1927, 1, descrip.)
HAMILTON, ONT., Redeemer Lutheran Church, Wexford Avenue South, near Main Street East, 1928; still standing in 2022 (C.R., xlii, 28 March 1928, 48, t.c.)
MONKTON, ONT., Redeemer Lutheran Church, Selby Street, near Maddison Street West, 1929; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 17 Jan. 1929, 15)
MILVERTON, ONT., St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Main Street North near Fulton Street, 1929; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 17 Jan. 1929, 15, and 30 March 1929, 11, detailed architectural descrip.)
OSHAWA, ONT., Grace Lutheran Church, Albert Street, 1931 (Kitchener Daily Record, 24 Feb. 1931, 15)
BRIDGEPORT, ONT., (now part of Waterloo), Emmanuel Evangelical United Brethren Church, Bridgeport Road at Dorset Street, 1933-34; still standing in 2022 (C.R., xlviii, 28 March 1934, 253; Kitchener Daily Record, 7 May 1940, 3, United Church Archives, Toronto: Historical Summation of Emmanuel United Brethren Church, Bridgeport, 5, illus.)
WATERLOO, ONT., Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, John Street at Earl Street, 1937 (Kitchener Daily Record, 17 June 1937, 3)
DELHI, ONT., St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Rhineland Road at 1st Concession Road, 1937-38; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 2 May 1938, 3)
SHANTZ MILLS, ONT., Wanner Mennonite Church, Beaverdale Road at Old Maple Grove Road, 1938; still standing in 2024 (Kitchener Daily Record, 24 March 1938, 3)
WATERLOO, ONT., North Waterloo Farmer's Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Erb Street West, office building, 1942 (C.R., lv, 29 July 1942, 28, t.c.)
CLIFFORD, ONT., St. John's Lutheran Church, Clarke Street North at Geddes Street West, 1949; still standing in 2022 (C.R., lxii, Jan. 1949, 184)
COMPETITIONS
KITCHENER, ONT., a new rectory for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Duke Street West near Young Street, 1921. The Special Collections Div. at the University of Waterloo Library holds a set of original watercolour drawings signed by W.H.E. Schmalz for a proposed Rectory for St. Mary's Church, and these differ from the designs prepared by Charles Knechtel for the same building in 1921. It appears that the design by Knechtel was selected by the Diocese (inf. Karl Kessler, Kitchener)