The East Village redevelopment has been a hot topic for the past few years in Calgary. The development – now part of a larger project termed “The Rivers” - aims to rejuvenate prime real estate east of City Hall to Fort Calgary and from 9th Avenue north to the banks of the Bow River. This may have an impact on an established and well known bar in our community: The Calgary Eagle.

The Calgary Eagle is located in the Franklin Building. This structure dates back to 1908, originally a pool hall on the main floor with a barbershop upstairs (echoing that theme, the Eagle has both pool tables and barber chairs). Yet the Franklin Building is not a registered historical building, nor is it even on the city’s “Inventory of Potential Heritage Sites”. Ron Scheetz, an owner and founder of the Calgary Eagle, mentioned the city may be working on a bylaw to ensure no building which is brick in the East Village can be torn down. The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) who has jurisdiction over the redevelopment in the East Village said there is no current bylaw, and nothing that will exist (that they know of) – unfortunately.

Even if there are no current plans for such a bylaw, any heritage building in the East Village will most likely be preserved in order to prevent judgment in the court of public opinion. When the King Eddy Hotel was threatened with demolition, the uproar was great enough to save it. While there may not be the same level of support as the Eddy received, it’s reasonable to guess any attempt to destroy buildings older than 30 years in the East Village would be met with stiff resistance. As well, plans outlining area revitalization indicate the Franklin building would be part of any future development.

Furthermore, the Eagle has strong support for their presence from their alderman and the Calgary Police. As Scheetz said, “the cops call us the last beacon of light in the East Village because we’re the only business after 6 o’clock that’s still in the area.” Even to the seniors and the homeless, the fact this is the one area business that still has their lights on into the evening is a good thing.

Additionally, according to the Eagle, the Franklin Building “is very adaptable…we had an architect in, it’s structurally sound, it’s very commercially viable, you can put a third floor on this building”. Considering the original area redevelopment plans for the Rivers favored buildings of the Franklin building’s size, it’s realistic to say that this is just another reason for the building’s preservation.

Admittedly, gentrification may have an impact over the long term. However, that’s not just in Calgary – it’s happening in San Francisco, Vancouver and other major cities. As Scheetz puts it, “the gay boys move into the area, fix it up, the strollers move in…” and you have rent increases, turnovers in businesses (Mom & Pop stores out, large chain stores in). However, this is something the Eagle doesn’t anticipate for ten or more years.

The business of the Calgary Eagle itself is solid – they just signed another three year lease in February of this year, and while they had a minor change in ownership (Christine was bought out by current owners Ron, Barry, Neil, Johnny, Rob and David because she was retiring out to the country), things are going well. This is contrary to certain elements of our community who have spread rumors that the Calgary Eagle would soon be no more. To be fair, this baseless gossip may have been spurred on by the sign on the side of the build saying “space available for lease” (on the other side of the building from the Eagle) and the aforementioned retirement of Christine.

“I think we’re going to be here for a long, long time” said Ron. “I think it’s a great location, and the changes will only help us. We have the LRT, we have great parking, there will always be great parking.” With the changes to come, it will only make the area and the Calgary Eagle the place to go.

Major projects upcoming in the East Village:

• Upgrades to the infrastructure (underground utilities) are being done.

• Renovation work being done on the Simmons mattress factory building,

• A new storm water wetland being built on the edge of Fort Calgary

Future Projects: The University of Calgary is proposing a downtown campus in the parking lot behind the Eagle, and the Calgary Police service will be building a new District One headquarters immediately north of the 3rd Street East C-Train station. Both do not have a firm completion date at the moment.