City loses pioneering home builder

By Mabell, Dave on October 29, 2014.

Dave Mabell

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

dmabell@lethbridgeherald.com

The legacy of a pioneering Lethbridge home builder and developer will be celebrated this afternoon. Walter Stewart is remembered as an innovator who fostered the home construction industry while building scores of homes as the city grew.

The longtime Lethbridge businessman also developed the northside St. Edwards and St. James neighbourhoods, and went on to launch the West Highlands subdivision along with its now-booming commercial district.

A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. today at the Martin Brothers chapel.

Tosh Kanashiro, a Lethbridge development officer during many of Stewarts busiest years, remembers him as creative but trustworthy.

His word was as good as a contract.

Stewarts initiatives to build affordable housing, Kanashiro says, included starter homes without basements and zero lot line blocks, allowing a wider home on a small lot. Walter Stewart Contracting Ltd. and then his Nu-Mode Homes also built many northside duplexes a home style that other local builders followed, Kanashiro notes.

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City loses pioneering home builder