Calgary brewery on Heritage Canada's 10 most endangered list, but owner dismisses designation
The Calgary Brewing and Malting Co. has been named one of Canada's 10 most endangered historical sites, although a representative of the property owner dismissed the title as having no real merit.
The old brewery in Inglewood hasn't produced suds since 1994 but still got citizens in a lather last June when the owner sought permits from the city to demolish five buildings his engineers said were unsafe.
Instead, the provincial government stepped in and ordered a Historic Resource Impact Assessment. Experts will evaluate the significance and structural integrity of all the buildings on the site, and the province will have a say in any redevelopment plans.
But a one-year delay in starting that assessment amounts to "demolition by neglect," and that's why four of the oldest buildings on the site made it onto the endangered list, said Carolyn Quinn, a spokeswoman for the Heritage Canada Foundation, which produced the document.