Penny Lane - Emotions Mixed as landmark closes

[IntotheWest]

^A little tough to compare Calgary circa 73 vs 34 years later. Maybe things have changed, but when I was living/working downtown 4-7 years ago, Ceili's/Cowboys, and the other restaurants in PL were doing quite well....downtown (incl Stephen Ave) has always had a lack of street life after hours and weekends.

And based on what you're saying, you think it's alright that since PL never did "come close to the rest of Stephen Ave to the east", that replacing it with potentially dull office towers that won't try to IMPROVE Stephen Ave is alright??

[agent_imperial]

Thanks for the pics guys! I worked at Ceili's for 5 years in my University days and am really gonna miss the place. I am friends to this day with alot of the people I worked with. I didn't have a chance to get any pics inside before it closed down so I'm really glad someone took a few. I spent a hell of a lot of time in that building.

I'm too am gonna miss those crazy nights on the patio... but as silly as it seems I'm also gonna miss alot of the little things, like getting stuck in the crappy elevator for three hours on a crazy busy friday and screwing over my fellow bartenders, or exploring some of the unused office space via the old freight elevator on the slow nights... even finding some random crackheads passed out in the public washrooms downstairs provided a few funny stories.

Cheers and thanks again!

[93JC]

Doesn't really matter to me. I'm sad there won't be any more summer evenings spent on the rooftop patio at Ceili's, but other than that... meh.

[Innersoul1]

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

Centrium is a gem. I personally would have like to have seen a taller Centrium built on Penny Lane, like this:

And no twin!

THAT is pretty damn cool!

[Doug]

Originally Posted by 93JC

I was born in Calgary, lived here my entire life, and go downtown every weekday for work.

Since the mall opened in '73 its popularity has never come close to the rest of Stephen Ave to the east. In fact, it has teetered on the brink of complete financial collapse many times. Keeping the old amalgam of warehouses would not change that in the slightest.

So true. Penny Lane was most successful during the late 70's/early 80's boom when it was home to Holt Renfrew. In recent years, office space took over most of the reatil. The restaurants are moderately busy at lunch and the bars are active 2-3 nights per week, put it is far from vibrant.

[Daver]

Bye Bye Pennylane mall...finally

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by 93JC

Doesn't really matter to me. I'm sad there won't be any more summer evenings spent on the rooftop patio at Ceili's, but other than that... meh.

Pretty much. Beyond that all that block seemed to bring was a bunch of drunk asshats looking for a brawl after getting kicked out of Cowboys.

But they sure were vibrant drunk asshats.

I know it's a popular thing to go all NIMBY and try to dictate what others do on their own private property when it's a big soulless corporation doing the work - but some evenings downtown, I've though a parking lot would still be better than PL as it stands today. It makes taking people out to a place like Belgo really .. well, less than classy to watch a fight break out and a couple of teenage girls puking next door. All well before 10pm, too. Some nights have been better, though - one time I managed to only get asked for change.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I know it's a popular thing to go all NIMBY and try to dictate what others do on their own private property when it's a big soulless corporation doing the work -

First of all, you don't have rights to private property in Canada. You can't do whatever you want with your property, especially if it's to the detriment of the rest of the community. The city has the rights to affect any sort of change with land that is mandated to them by the provincial government, and the Crown owns all the land. Now, while there are some people being NIMBY, most of the concern at this point is not whether or not the building should be there but how the towers meet the street. IT MATTERS. The current Penny Lane has a fantastic street presence, and the problems you noted have nothing to do with the mall's structure. While we haven't yet seen new renderings of the PLT streetscape, it should be expected that the new streetscape at the very least match and exceed that of what it is replacing.

[unibrain]

I wonder if the Belgo building will be re-cladded due to the new Penny Lane project... depending on what the streetfront on 8th avenue will look like, the Belgo building will look somewhat odd and out of place once the new PLT is up.

[craner]

The pictures really give a nice impression of Penny Lane in its current form with the trees and brick streetfronts. But as others have said it always seemed to be the poor sister to Stephen Ave mall. I'm excited about a 50 storey tower going up and am hopful for some great things on the 8th Ave street level. I am sure we will see some rendrings before construction gets underway.