MacDONALD, Frederick Holmes (1904-1968) lived and worked in Edmonton, Alberta where he was a designer and staff architect within the provincial Department of Public Works, and later worked as a professional architect under his own name. Born in Port Morien, Nova Scotia on 12 November 1904, he studied at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and then joined the office of the Provincial Dept. of Public Works, working under the direct supervision of Cecil S. Burgess from 1928 until 1936. Burgess held the title of “Consulting Architect” to the Province of Alberta from 1928 to 1939, but in reality he was the de facto Chief Architect for the province, overseeing a team of architects and designers including F.H. MacDonald who prepared designs for numerous provincial buildings including court houses, hospitals, schools, jail buildings and administrative structures. MacDonald’s best-known work from this period was the striking Beaux-Arts design for the Alberta Natural Resources Building (1930-31), prepared in collaboration with Burgess, and still standing in Edmonton as of 2019.
In 1936 Holmes joined the private sector as a professional architect in Edmonton, and continued to work there well after 1950 under his own name, or in partnership with his brother Lloyd G. MacDonald, as MacDonald & MacDonald, Architects. He obtained his certificate of membership in the Alberta Assoc. of Architects in 1939, and later became a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. MacDonald died in Edmonton on 2 November 1968 at the age of 64 years (death notice, Edmonton Journal, 4 Nov. 1968, 28; inf. from the Architectural Inst. of British Columbia, application form submitted by MacDonald in 1947, with list of works).
(works with The Alberta Dept. of Public Works)
(with G. Heath MacDonald) EDMONTON, ALTA., Normal School, for the Province of Alberta, 1928 (R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Feb. 1931, 74; list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
(with Cecil Burgess) EDMONTON, ALTA., Alberta Natural Resources Building, 109 Street at 98 Avenue, 1930-31 (City of Edmonton, Evaluation of the Heritage Building List in the Downtown Area, 1982, illus. & descrip.)
PONOKA, ALTA., addition of several new buildings for the Provincial Mental Hospital, 1931-32 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
RED DEER, ALTA., Provincial Court House, 1931 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
FORT SASKATCHEWAN, ALTA., Provincial Jail, 1931 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
VEGREVILLE, ALTA., Provincial Court House, 1933 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
F.H. MacDONALD (works in Edmonton unless noted)
EDMONTON MOTORS LTD., 100 Street at 102 Avenue, 1936 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
ST. JOSAPHAT'S UKRANIAN CATHEDRAL, for the Basilian Fathers of the Ukranian Mission, 97 Street N.W. at 108 Avenue N.W., 1939; still standing in 2023 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SOLDIER’S PAVILION, 1941 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
KAISER-FRAZER AUTO DEALERSHIP, for E.I. Clarke, 107 Street, warehouse, 1946 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
THE TOWER BUILDING., 103 Street, north of Jasper Avenue, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, July 1947, 102; Edmonton Journal, 12 Oct. 1948, 6, illus. & descrip.)
SEVEN SEAS RESTAURANT & OFFICE BLOCK, Jasper Avenue, 1947 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
(with Lloyd G. MacDonald) RED DEER, ALTA., Scott Block, Gaetz Avenue South, 1947 (Red Deer Advocate, 30 April 1947, 1, descrip; 8-9, illus. & descrip.)
PACKARD MOTORS LTD., auto dealership, 1947 (list of works in A.I.B.C. application form, 1947)
WAINWRIGHT, ALTA., public school and auditorium, 1949 (Edmonton Journal, 8 Aug. 1949, 23, t.c.)
NORTHERN ELECTRIC CO., 106 Street, office and warehouse, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, July 1950, 124)
SISTERS OF OUR LADY OF CHARITY, dormitory building, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Aug. 1950, 239)
ALBERTA CO-OP WHOLESALE ASSOC. office and warehouse, 120 Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Nov. 1950, 123)
MERCHANDISE MART SYNDICATE, Jasper Avenue at 109th Street, a 10 storey office building and stores, 1950-51 (Financial Post [Toronto], 4 Nov. 1950, 13; C.R., lxiii, Dec. 1950, 109)