Edmonton's lengthy record of destroying old, historic buildings meant Raymond Biesinger had some decisions to make.

Biesinger, an illustrator from Edmonton now based in Montreal, was creating an illustration with 20 historic buildings that were either demolished by the city or destroyed by fire. He ended up choosing 21 buildings — but with a wealth of choices, had to narrow his choices down from many more.

"There's just this cleansing that Edmonton tends to like to do," Biesinger told CBC Radio's Edmonton AM Tuesday.

His print includes renderings of the old Edmonton Public Library and the Tegler Building, as well as the Arlington Apartment building and the downtown post office.

The Tegler building was demolished in 1982. (CBC)

He also included buildings that had more cultural significance, such as the Gem Theatre, which in its many life forms also hosted the Chinese Cultural Society and was re-purposed into a theatre that showed Chinese-language films. It was demolished in 2010.

The choices were difficult for Biesinger. He left off buildings that were close to him, like the Mitchell and Reed Auction House, which most recently housed the Artery before it was slated for demolition.

"I could easily make [the print] places I hung out at in my 20s in Edmonton," he said.

'A form of amnesia'

​Biesinger is making a print for each of nine major Canadian cities. He finished Edmonton's print in January and said it and Calgary's prints have sold the best so far. He said it could be because of the networks he has in Alberta but he also noticed a trend.

"The worse a city's record for preserving old buildings, the more enthusiastic people are about these prints," he said.

Through his research, he's noticed every other Canadian city has one or two older banks of neoclassical architecture, where the buildings are supported with large columns.

Edmonton had two as well, but they've since both been knocked down. The old CIBC building on 101st Street and Jasper Avenue has columns but they are smaller than the columns from the Imperial Bank demolished in 1950.

"Edmonton has never been picky about destroying the last of a kind of building it has," Biesinger said.

The Imperial Bank building, demolished in 1950, was fronted with large pillars, similar to other banks in cities across Canada. (City of Edmonton Archives ) The downtown CIBC building has pillars, but they aren't as large as the old Dominion Bank building. (Google Street View)

"You look at the Artery or the Graphic Arts Building [on Jasper Avenue and 95th Street], which is due to be destroyed any minute now, it seems like not too much has changed," he said.

The Graphic Arts building is set to be demolished to make way for a laydown yard for the Valley Line LRT. (Google Street View)

He's hoping his prints can show Edmontonians buildings they didn't know existed — and to make it easier to care more about historic buildings in the city.

"I think it would be nice to have a stronger movement among people in power and your average human being to realize that the buildings in your city are a big chunk of your identity," Biesinger said.

"To get rid of the old ones before they're considered beautiful is a form of amnesia that you bring upon yourself."

Biesinger's prints of lost historic buildings in Edmonton are available from his online Etsy store here.