Community leaders in southeast Calgary hope a recent fire at the former Ogden Legion spurs further remedial action on the problematic site.

Around 2:45 a.m. on Oct. 1, Calgary firefighters responded to the former Legion site, located at the corner of 78 Avenue and Ogden Road SE, after smoke had settled over a green space across the road.

With the fire station adjacent to the Ogden location, fire crews saw the flames coming from the southeast doors of a commercial building on the site. The crews deployed handlines to battle the fire while two water towers were set up as the fire burned through the roof on the south side of the building.

According to fire officials, due to a special order on the building indicating that it was unsafe and contained unknown and known health hazards, they did not enter the building. Fire investigators weren’t able to immediately access the building until a demolition company was brought in to deal with potential collapse hazards were dealt with.

The fire is under investigation, with Calgary Peace Officers, Calgary Police Arson investigators, the fire marshal, and fire investigators all attending the scene.

Zev Klymochko, vice-president with the Millican-Ogden Community Association, said that there’s long been concern about safety on the site. He said there’s been fires in the building before.

“There’s people going in and out of it, whether it’s people looking for shelter, kids looking for adventure. I have video of kids on the roof last week,” Klymochko told LWC.

“There’s lots of YouTube videos of urban explorers going in there and checking things out. So, always worried about people getting hurt or something like a fire spreading to neighbourhood homes.”

Klymochko said that he’d anticipated that the building, which has been closed for more than 10 years, would have been demolished by now.

City wants to resolve the matter quickly: Email

The City of Calgary confirmed that a demolition order for the building was initially issued in 2023 due to safety issues and social disorder concerns. The Legion was officially closed in 2012 and has been vacant since.

“Following the Ogden Legion fire on October 1, 2025, with demolition complete of the fire-impacted portion of the building, the City will now prioritize securing the site to prevent further unauthorized access,” they said in an emailed statement to LWC.

“The City has started the standard processes to enforce an outstanding demolition order and demolish the remaining portions of the structure.”

Previously, as part of a story on lagging redevelopment plans in the area, the site’s current owner, Dean McKenzie told LWC that a contractor had been hired to complete the demolition. This came after an unsuccessful appeal of the demolition order.

The story notes that a timeline for the demolition wasn’t known.

The City of Calgary said it’s “working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

“The cost of the demolition is still to be determined, and the property owner will ultimately be responsible for this cost,” read the City of Calgary statement.

Klymochko said that he was told on Wednesday that the City would move ahead with demolition before winter.

“I was worried that this fire would maybe delay that, if there had to be an investigation or something like that,” he said.

Residents in the area just want something done with the property, and soon.

“It’s been a going concern for years,” Klymochko said.

“It’s at the entrance to our community, and people see broken windows, smashed glass, and boarded up windows. That’s not a good thing for any neighbourhood to have, especially not the one I live in.”