Historic Nimmons Residence set to move as part of new southwest Calgary development

One of Calgary’s oldest homes is set to move from its original foundation to make way for a new development in the southwest community of Bankview.

The Nimmons Residence, which received historic designation from the city in 2018, has sat on a property on the corner of 14 Street S.W. for 120 years.

Now, a new development from Brava Developments means the house is moving to the opposite corner of the property, to make way for an L-shaped multi-residential condo building.

“There’s nerves for sure,” Brava Developments managing partner Jason Ortt said Wednesday. “We’re doing a lot of risk mitigation, so we’re pretty excited to see it go, but we’ll be walking on egg shells until it sits on the west side of the property.”

According to Ortt, the home will be moved three times over several months to accommodate the construction of the new building. Crews will have to build an underground parking garage for the condo and new foundation for the age-old house.

The upheaval will see bracing fitted throughout the home before it’s lifted five feet above the ground using jacks and a roller system, Ortt said.

“We’re going to be bracing things like the chimney, and we’re going to be strapping the brick,” Ortt said.

“We think its about 400,000 pounds in total, with about 140,000 pounds of brick.”

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The new build, a five-storey, 84-unit rental apartment building wrapped around the Queen Anne revival styled home is expected to take between 18 and 22 months to complete.

The historic home was built in 1898 by William Nimmons, who purchased the property from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1882.

According to the City of Calgary, the home is historically significant as it was the first home in the area and represents the city’s golden age of ranching.

Nimmons was a real estate developer in Calgary, and also owned and operated the 3 D Bar Ranch, which sat where present 17 Avenue S.W. and 14 Street S.W now funnel vehicles in and out of the city’s beltline.

On top of ranching, Nimmons also operated a quarry and brickworks in the area, which produced sandstone that was used in the construction of Lougheed Mansion, the Carnegie Library and several sandstone schools in the city.

Some of the quarried sandstone was also used to build the foundation of the historic home.

“Once we move the heritage home, we’re going to take a good look at (the foundation, and see if we can salvage it,” Ortt said.