Inglewood brewery listed as 'endangered'
An old Calgary brewery has been named to a national list of endangered historical sites but the attention is not swaying a developer's plans to bulldoze part of it.
The Heritage Canada Foundation included the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company — known to most Calgarians as the old Molson brewery — in Inglewood in its top 10 list for 2010, released this week.
"Getting the site onto the top 10 Canada list really raises the awareness, not only in Calgary but across the country as well," said Cynthia Klaassen, president of the Calgary Heritage Initiative Society, which made the nomination.
The brewery, which opened in 1893 under Calgary entrepreneur and politician A.E. Cross, has sat idle since 1994.
The old Molson site deserved a spot in the top 10 because several buildings have fallen into "extreme disrepair" and there's been no move to rehabilitate or redevelop them, explained the Heritage Canada Foundation.
Last year, ACO Holdings, which owns the site, applied to the city to raze some buildings deemed unsafe. The move raised a public outcry, leading the province to order a heritage assessment to determine if some or all of the buildings should be saved because they may be historically significant.
'Ultimately this designation doesn't change anything that may or may not happen with the site in the future.' —Shawn Howard, ACO Holdings
Until the assessment is complete, the developer cannot do anything to the site.
Shawn Howard, a spokesman for ACO, said the designation won't likely affect the developer's plans.
"This is an Ottawa-based group that hasn't even been on the site, hasn't even contacted us to get any kind of information about it," he told CBC News. "Ultimately this designation doesn't change anything that may or may not happen with the site in the future."
Lindsay Blackett, Alberta's minister of culture and community spirit, was skeptical about saving the run-down brewery after a private tour of the site last summer.
The province's heritage assessment began this spring but it's unknown when it will be completed.