{"id":72630,"date":"2023-11-10T16:44:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T23:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=72630"},"modified":"2023-11-24T13:32:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T20:32:49","slug":"eau-claire-market-closure-announcement-triggers-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/11\/10\/eau-claire-market-closure-announcement-triggers-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Eau Claire Market closure announcement triggers memories"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jacob Adly, shows off some merchandise inside The Son of the Pharaoh on 17th Ave. in Calgary, Alta on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. He is the owner and manager. (Photo by Fernando Moreno-Prado\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

E<\/span>au Claire Market\u2019s days are numbered, and people in Calgary are reminiscing about the role this shopping centre has played in their lives.<\/p>\n

Harvard Developments and the City of Calgary announced last year that Eau Claire will close in May 2024 to make way for a new Green Line LRT station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market closing is like an end of era for many people,\u201d said Jacob Adly, owner of The Son of The Pharoah, a shop that specializes in Egyptian decor. \u201cThere\u2019s a sentimentality to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement has given Calgarians mixed feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll definitely lose a lot of the downtown crowd,\u201d said Karen Kimmel, owner of Sanctuary Books. \u201cDowntown for the next 10 years is going to be very messy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mall is located on the north side of the downtown core, near the banks of the Bow River. It is often frequented by people living in the neighborhood, guests of the nearby Sheraton Hotel and patrons drawn to its distinguished stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of really fun eclectic places in here where I like buying gifts,\u201d said Patricia Howse, a resident of one of the adjacent condominiums. She believes the mall is not ideal in its current state and could use more foot traffic.<\/p>\n

The sentiments about what is to come and the benefits it will bring to Calgary are bittersweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to have transit, but the fact that it\u2019s being demolished is a little sad,\u201d said Ana Morales, a volunteer for Canadian Blood Services who, along with Howse, considers it be a convenient location for the blood bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo sad to see it go but I am always hopeful for the future,\u201d said Adly. \u201cThe future\u2019s looking bright.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what comes for this are but I was definitely shocked,\u201d says Kimmel.<\/p>\n

Cyclist Peter Erwin says he likes how quiet and relaxing the place can be, but he also figures that quietness is also the reason the mall is being removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city\u2019s getting bigger and more people need to get around,” he said.<\/p>\n

The demolition announcement caused confusion, with some people believing the mall was already closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have people come in and [they] are surprised the mall is still open,\u201d said Adly.<\/p>\n

Kimmel believes the mall still has life left in its remaining months because, \u201cthere are still a lot of wonderful businesses open,\u201d and says the Pat Gault Christmas Poetry Reading event will be held on Dec. 9 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Eau Claire Market.<\/p>\n

Tenants knew the land redevelopment was going to happen as early as 2006. It has gone through changes and economic setbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not, if this was going to happen, it was really just when,\u201d said Adly. \u201cIt was less of a shock than it was like an acknowledgement that it was an inevitability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first came to this location, we understood the land was up for redevelopment at some point,\u201d said Kimmel. \u201cThe Green Line is something I do believe is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Businesses have all been impacted and are dealing with the situation in their own ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did kind of throw a monkey wrench for some of the businesses here that I think are still recovering from the pandemic,\u201d said Kimmel, who is in the process of finding another location.<\/p>\n

Adly is not phased at all and hopes people will know that his 17th<\/sup> Avenue location will remain open for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to have the second location,” he said.<\/p>\n

The former market site will leave behind memories by tenants and patrons of how the mall once felt so alive and with promise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the days when we had the IMAX downstairs and the cineplex with a big arcade upstairs, and big events being thrown every week in the summer,\u201d said Adly. \u201cThere was always something going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mall served as a sanctuary from the cold weather for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good place to come in and warm up,\u201d says Howse. \u201cI love this mall but I know that it\u2019s a shell of what it once was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jacob Adly, manager of the Egyptian specialty shop, The Son of the Pharaoh, presents a replica of Imhotep from the classic Universal monster film The Mummy<\/em>, at the shop’s 17th Ave. location in Calgary, Alta on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. (Photo by Fernando Moreno-Prado\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eau Claire Market\u2019s days are numbered, and people in Calgary are reminiscing about the role this shopping centre has played in their lives. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":874,"featured_media":72633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Eau Claire Memories FM","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,212,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-72630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-city","8":"category-downtown","9":"category-life","10":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/874"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72630"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73095,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72630\/revisions\/73095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}