Claremount was a summer home built in 1923 by A.O.Wheeler on six acres located a short distance from the road that leads to the Upper Hot Springs on Sulphur Mountain in Banff, Alberta. Wheeler named the house after his wife Clara and ran a horse-packing and guiding business from the house and, as the co-founder and first President of the Alpine Club of Canada, welcomed many important visitors to his home. The Alpine Club of Canada was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a national, non-profit mountaineering organization to encourage mountaineering, the exploration of alpine and glacial regions and the preservation of mountain fauna and flora in Canada. Today, its head office today is located in Canmore, Alberta.
In recognition of Wheeler’s contributions to Canadian mountaineering, the home was designatged as a federal heritage resource in 1994. the Middle Springs Wildlife Cooridor was created in 1995, and as the home sat inside the wildlife corridor, it was demolished in 2010 by Parks Canada. Shortly before it was torn down, a group of Canmore and Banff artists gathered to spend an afternoon at the house to create a body of artwork as a tribute to Claremount and Wheeler’s legacy This short video showcases some of that work.
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