Calgary SSP Development Listing

[Ozy_Flame]

And any new office tower that goes in the Cecil's place should have a "catapult tunnel" built directly from the kitchen of Bookers, so that delicious po'boy can be shot right to my desk.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by octothorp

To me, the Cecil absolutely sucks in terms of street presence: the total lack of ground floor windows, apart from those glass block windows, makes it imposing and oppressive. But historical photos show that it used to have fantastic large windows all along the street face.

Compare:




If they're talking about just stripping off the paint, then I'm pretty 'meh' about saving it. But if they think they can restore it in-line to the original design, then good lord yes please!

This is one of those situations where I think it would make more sense to just keep the facade or maybe the Cecil hotel sign and completely redevelop. They could either gut all the floors and make studio business spaces or simply build a high-rise and keep the sign around for nostalgia like the big "W" from Woodwards in Vancouver.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Ducay

If there's one way to attract expensive tenents or residential buyers, its to name the building 'The Cecil'.

Coincidentally, Bentall will soon be developing a new 42-story, mixed use tower "the Crack Macs".

Presale deposits for both are taken exclusively in bottles & cans.

You're probably right, people aren't going to go to the King Eddy, the St. Louis Hotel or the Simmons Building when they're all complete.

[octothorp]

Hey speaking of historic hotel facades, what's the status of the York? Is that ever going to get rebuilt?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Muta

You're probably right, people aren't going to go to the King Eddy, the St. Louis Hotel or the Simmons Building when they're all complete.

They could call a new tower there "Cecil Place", but if you add an A after the P it terms into something even more horribly arrogant, something the social media warriors would jump all over haha (especially if it goes overbudget and is juxtaposed to the Drop-In Center haha).

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Muta

I'm a huge fan of architecture, design and restorations, but some people get way too nostalgic over old buildings. Just because it's old doesn't mean it should stay.

I'd like to see the Cecil torn down, and those three square blocks in that area completely re-developed from head to toe (including an updating of that ####ty 4th Avenue flyover). Maybe name the new development 'the Cecil' in honor of what was once there, but that's it.

If the block had other older buildings that could remain, I'd be willing to sacrifice the Cecil. However, I think even the best comprehensive master planned developments struggle from the 'sterility of newness'. Similar to how crayon marks on a wall help turn a new house into a home, the Cecil can add the bit of grit that helps turns a regenerated neighbourhood into a living community.

[stampsx2]

Nope, i'm with octothorp on the cecil, restore it to what it once was or burn it down.

[Drummer]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Hey speaking of historic hotel facades, what's the status of the York? Is that ever going to get rebuilt?

Nope. There was a big discussion about this on SSP a while back. Something about the developer selling the project half way through and now the city can't enforce anyone to rebuild it. The city got burned on that one.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Addick

If the block had other older buildings that could remain, I'd be willing to sacrifice the Cecil. However, I think even the best comprehensive master planned developments struggle from the 'sterility of newness'. Similar to how crayon marks on a wall help turn a new house into a home, the Cecil can add the bit of grit that helps turns a regenerated neighbourhood into a living community.

Fair enough, I'm just a big fan of moving forward, not always staying in the past. We don't go back to old technologies, why do we need to go back to old buildings? Something pretty awesome could be rebuilt on that site, IMO.

[Tyler]

Burn The Cecil to the ground. End of story.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Muta

Fair enough, I'm just a big fan of moving forward, not always staying in the past.

I strongly agree. I believe that fauxhistoricism and stampitechture should be banned.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Addick

I strongly agree. I believe that fauxhistoricism and stampitechture should be banned.

If there's something old that should stay, it's the Lancaster Building staircase but sadly it looks like it may be demolished to make room for Simons.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

If there's something old that should stay, it's the Lancaster Building staircase but sadly it looks like it may be demolished to make room for Simons.

I don't think it's getting demolished, I think it's just getting renovated with a new occupant . . . ?

I also think the Cecil should go. Not the best reputation in town and people know it. The land should be redeveloped and, because it welcomes people in on the flyover, should be something modern and catching that stands out.

[SebC]

Here's a design that wasn't selected for the new public library and the Herald's write-up.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by SebC

Here's a design that wasn't selected for the new public library and the Herald's write-up.

The building itself reminds me of a high end downtown prison.
The outdoor area reminds me of the concert field by the bean in Chicago.

To sum it up, I like the outdoor space area but much prefer the current structure.

[Muta]

Kind of a cool possibility - Goodlife is looking at the soon-to-be-vacated Target locations as potential new locations... I'm totally all for this. The more access to gyms in this city, the better.

http://calgaryherald.com/business/co...-for-expansion

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Muta

Kind of a cool possibility - Goodlife is looking at the soon-to-be-vacated Target locations as potential new locations... I'm totally all for this. The more access to gyms in this city, the better.

http://calgaryherald.com/business/co...-for-expansion

I would love it if Good Life (or anyone else) would be willing to turn the Market Mall Target into a racquet club. We need more racquet club facilities in Calgary (indoor tennis, squash, racquetball, etc.) Weight rooms, yoga, spin, etc facilities are pretty well saturated in the city.

[Hack&Lube]

Man, empty spaces everywhere are turning into gyms.

What are all us lazy unhealthy people totally uninspired or depressed by gyms supposed to do for fun?

[SebC]

The GoodLife in the old Bank of Montreal annoys me, it's such an underutilization of a gorgeous building and the signage on the outside is pretty obnoxious to the aesthetic as well.

[stampsx2]

I'd rather targets not turn into goodlifes cause rates will go up.