And one from the Calgary Sun:
Council saves iconic gas station threatened by LRT expansion
First posted: Monday, May 07, 2012 11:35 AM MDT | Updated: Monday, May 07, 2012 05:59 PM MDT
The wrecking ball won’t come down on a mid-century Calgary landmark, as council voted Monday to save a historic former gas station.
But taxpayers will be on hook for a half million dollars to pay for its move and storage.
A council majority voted to save the historic Eamon’s Bungalow Camp in northwest Calgary, a 1950s service station designed with a signature art deco sign.
The city will spend $500,000 to move the building, put it in storage and eventually include it in an LRT station site redesign.
Built in 1949 and featuring a restaurant and cabins, the landmark was a fixture for many years at what is now Crowchild Tr. just past Stoney Tr.
The city-owned land is being converted to a park-and-ride lot for the northwest LRT extension.
Ald. Shane Keating said he doesn’t mind saving the landmark, but taxpayers shouldn’t pay for its restoration which could potentially cost up to $2 million.
“I just don’t think we can do that,” he said.
“I didn’t mind saving it even though we could have saved money by demolishing it.”
Keating said he’s OK spending “a little bit of money” to save Eamon Camp, but the city shouldn’t shoulder its pricey restoration.
He said groups interested in refurbishing the building should pay for it.
Ald. Richard Pootmans said he thinks there’s significant public support in restoring the building.
“I think that’s an investment the city should make,” he said.
“I think it’s an interesting addition to a transportation development because it’s history of course is one of the first auto-related service centres on the road to Banff.”
Pootmans said the structure is important because it’s one of the few unique landmarks of the city.
“Our city is very young, the number of really interesting, unique and appealing structure and artifacts we have is not getting larger and it’s diminishing all the time.”
“This is one that’s very public, at very high profile location at the end of an important LRT line.”
While the building won’t be demolished, bureaucrats have to investigate the cost of its restoration to help council decide whether the city should pay for it or not, said Pootmans.
“I think once we have some appreciation of what the costs are, we’ll be in a better position to look at what are the various financing options might be,” he said.
Link here:
http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/05/07/co ... -expansion