A. P. Burns House and Gas City Planing Mill

A. P. Burns House and Gas City Planing Mill. . The A. P. Burns house and the Gas City Planing Mill originally stood where the courthouse extension and part of City Hall are now located. , Arthur P. Burns arrived in Medicine Hat in 1901. He is best remembered as a local entrepreneur, real estate developer and promoter of area irrigation projects. He served two terms on City Council, was the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and was vice-president of the Medicine Hat News when it was locally owned. He was also founder and owner of the Gas City Planing Mill. , In 1906, Mr. Burns built the Gas City Planing Mill east of the eventual site of his home. Several cement-floored, wood-frame buildings were erected. The business served as a major planing mill and retail lumber outlet for Medicine Hat until its demolition in 1980. , The Burns house was built in 1908. This two-storey residence was built of sandstone blocks. It contained a front verandah with an enclosed balcony above. Both were decorated with narrow cedar siding, wood railing and round columns. Dormers were situated on the front and eastern roofs. This house was typical of the many elegant homes built in Medicine Hat between the turn of the century and World War I. It was demolished to make room for the courthouse extension.