As Trail prepares to tear down the old Trail Mercantile building this summer, Dr. Bryan Kinney has one clear piece of advice: don’t replace it with another solid wall.
(For more on Kinney, see: Trail council hears downtown crime prevention strategies)
Built in 1916, the Mercantile stretches from the corner of Spokane Street and Cedar Avenue to the Colander Restaurant, an unbroken wall with no windows.
Kinney advises that repeating this kind of fortress-style architecture would be a missed opportunity at a time when Trail needs connection, not separation.
His words echo a conversation the Trail Times had 12 years ago, almost to the day, with UBC architecture student Austin Hawkins.
During a visit with Trail council, then led by Mayor Dieter Bogs, Hawkins shared insights from his year-long study of the city’s downtown design.
A key focus?
The need to tear down, not literally, but conceptually, the thick, defensive walls born of an era when the air was something to keep out, not let in.
Trail’s architecture was designed to keep out emissions from the smelter back then, primarily sulphur dioxide.
Those thick concrete barriers weren’t just design choices; they were shields.
But Hawkins pointed to a dramatic shift: emissions from Teck Trail Operations had dropped by more than 90 percent.
That level of improvement wasn’t just better, it was transformational.
In his view, the city no longer needed to wall itself in.
It was time to open up: more glass, more transparency, more interaction between the public and the built environment.
Now, as the Mercantile comes down, the message still stands, louder than ever.
The air has cleared.
The walls can too.
