The 1911-built Gresham Block, until recently, represented the enduring Edwardian character of Calgary’s oldest community, albeit one that has seen a loss of historic resources in the past number of years.

Demolition crews began taking down the 114-year-old building on May 5.

Inglewood resident Rebecca O’Brien said the loss of the historic building was just the latest in a number of demolitions that have begun to change the community’s character.

“What differentiates Inglewood, if you ask anybody who’s living there or visiting there purposefully, is that village feel and form. When that disappears and is replaced by banality, what differentiates Inglewood from any other place, anywhere?” O’Brien said.

“So, it’s an erosion of vibrancy that is really upsetting, an unnecessary erosion. And then it’s also an erosion of affordable housing.”

Before the demolition of the Gresham Block, the building served as both a tenancy space for residents and commercial businesses. After the death of the building’s previous owner, O’Brien said that conditions had begun to erode.

Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said that in the 1990s a program was offered by the Government of Canada to put money into the renovation of main streets across the nation.

“Inglewood was the only big city Main Street to be part of that program, and the Gresham Block did not participate. It’s an opportunity 25–30 years ago, to sort of get its feet underneath, it was not taken. It is in a state of total disrepair, and really can’t be salvaged. So I’m disappointed to see it go,” Carra said.

“I’m hoping that the silver lining of it getting knocked down, there’s going to be an incredible building built there that’s going to contribute to the life of the city and address the housing crisis. But what I’m really hoping is that the needed conversation about how do we protect Inglewood’s heritage is kick-started by the loss of this building.”

One former resident, Everett Berry, was quoted by the Calgary Herald in January that drug use, violence, and bedbugs had become rampant in the building.

O’Brien said that efforts had been made by tenants over the years to create a livable and welcoming space in the Gresham Block.

“Susie Q, the [Silk Road] Spice Merchant, [Pazyrk Arts] Persian rugs, and so many other good commercial uses of that space. They were beautiful: beautiful ceilings, hardwood floors, high windows, and very attractive to come into,” she said.

“In fact, the spice merchants really did a good job when they moved down the block, of imitating that same feel.”

She said that despite the issues that some residents faced, it nevertheless served as an important solution for affordable housing.

“One of the tenants in that building, a guy called Rob, he would keep that outdoor meticulously clean. So they had a built-in caretaker of the building,” O’Brien said.

The possibility of the Gresham Block being replaced with something of the same character was unlikely, opined O’Brien, who said she disliked the character of some of the newer buildings in the neighbourhood.

“You have the building right across where Rosso is in, which is a really, truly banal piece of architecture and poorly integrated into the street. Then the Irvine across the road, another piece of commercial poverty, quite frankly, in terms of attracting people.”

Balance in historic character and development

Coun. Carra said that there was a mistaken belief that the heritage character had been handed down to Inglewood as something intrinsic to the neighbourhood.

“The fact is that in the 1960s, all of the heritage buildings in Inglewood, most of the buildings in Inglewood, were slated for destruction. It was going to be the site of a giant clover leaf, where the Memorial Drive, Deerfoot Trail, Blackfoot Trail, and a freeway we never built called the Eastern Penetrator were going to meet,” he said.

“I think what has to be understood, if you get back to my original mission statement, which is that 100 years from now, we have 100-year-old heritage buildings built today next to 200-year-old heritage buildings which continue to stand and contribute to the vibrancy of it.”

He said that the discussion about the height restriction of buildings in Inglewood, there would continue to be pressure on developers to pick out heritage buildings for destruction.

“We’re going to have to see much more of a sawtooth experience, and some places will be low and some places will be high,” Carra said.

“Inglewood stepped up as the beta test for local area planning, and I would suggest that it was met with a community association that had changed its mind. I was sent to City Hall to broker that conversation. The community association and the business association that followed decided that they didn’t want to have that conversation, and things like the streetscape were not funded because that conversation didn’t take place.”

He said he knew the BIA was taking the demolition of the block as a call to have the conservation about the historic character of he community.

For O’Brien, there have been several battles against the City of Calgary, including the use of 9 Avenue SE as a transit corridor for commuters.

The loss of other buildings and businesses like Ol’ Beautiful to fire and Crown Surplus to economic conditions, she said, was also a way that Inglewood’s character was being eroded.

“You can see across the road, because the building that the Dirty Duck is in, that’s the next to go. The corner store, the historic dance hall, that building has been bought and sold now. That’s the next big question mark. What’s happening with the CIBC Bank? Big question mark. That’s all shuttered, too,” she said.