Group fights for King Eddy
David Bly
Calgary Herald
Saturday, January 14, 2006
A non-profit group formed a few weeks ago will try to convince the city to preserve and restore the King Edward Hotel.
Completed around 1905, the downtown hotel was one of about a dozen on 9th Avenue, which came to be known as "Whisky Row" because liquor laws at the time dictated that most public drinking be confined to hotel bars.
The King Edward's other claim to fame is the reputation it developed through the '80s and '90s as one of the top blues bars in North America.
"People have come from all over the world to hear the blues there," said Mike LeBlanc of the Friends of the Eddy. "People have come from all over the world to play the blues there.
He said such blues greats as B.B. King and Muddy Waters have played there.
"The bottom line is you don't get 200-year-old buildings if you tear them down when they're 100," he said.
The King Edward is one of four buildings more than 85 years old that could form the historical anchors for the East Village redevelopment, he said. The other three are the St. Louis Hotel, the Cecil Hotel and the Simmons mattress factory.
The city bought the Edward in 2001, intending to demolish it, but that plan was shelved. The building was leased out, and continued to host blues acts, while the rooms provided low-cost housing for single men.
In August 2004, toxic mould and asbestos forced closure of the building.
The King Edward is listed by the Calgary Heritage Authority as a Category A potential heritage site, the highest category in the inventory.
The city has asked its corporate properties and buildings department for a report on the building's future. Shirley Popadiu of that department said the report hasn't been completed.
"At some point a report will go to the council, but we don't know where it's at," she said.
Meanwhile, the Friends of the Eddy are preparing a report of their own.
The group is preparing a website --
www.savethekingeddy.ca -- that will be operating in a few days, LeBlanc said.
dbly@theherald.canwest.com