Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 07/00) - Let's face it, some of the building names here are far too grandiose for the structures they represent.

Lahm Ridge Tower? It's three stories tall!

Though not a building, the McMeekan Causeway is another case in point. With all due respect to Jock McMeekan, it's a small bridge not a causeway.

The grandiose building names extend way back into history -- back to the Roman Empire and Precambrian times.

The Precambrian Building was named after the Precambrian Shield, the geological zone on which the city sits.

Two small mining and exploration service companies gave rise to Bellanca Developments, which now owns most of the large buildings in town.

"We formed a company and built the first office tower in Yellowknife," said Bellanca's Shorty Brown. "We built the first five floors one year (in 1974), then finished off the second five floors the following year."

Okay, the Bellanca Building was named after the company that built it. But why is the Roman Empire Building called the Roman Empire Building?

"Don't ask me!" said owner Tony Vane.

"That's what it was named when we bought it. It was built by some Italians, so they named after the Italians. If the Dogribs had built it they would have named it after the Dogribs, but the Italians built it so they named it after the Italians."

The building, said Vane, was built by Alfredo Azzolini, who also put up the building next door, Urbania, named after the area of Italy the Azzolini family called home.

Vane said he has no intention of changing the names of his buildings. "Everybody's gotten to know the names, so why should I change them?"

Other developers take a different approach. Eric Sputek, part-owner of Hovat Construction, noted the newest addition to the city's collection of named buildings. It's right across from Yellowknifer and half of it is home to the Raven Pub.

"We call it the Hovat Building because we had to buy it because the guy we built it for didn't pay us," explained Sputek.

Hovat could very well be convinced to change the name, for the right leasing agreement.

"The next major tenant, we would name the building after them," Sputek said. "If it was, say, Elite Flooring, we could call it the Elite building."

Sputek said it's a common practise. "If you have major occupants, say like NorthwesTel, they would want the building named after them.

"Then 20 years from now some guy like you might phone and ask 'How did you get the name Elite Building?'"