Klein holds court at goodbye party

As Alberta's Conservatives close in on picking Ralph Klein's successor, the outgoing premier went out in fine style at a downtown Calgary hotel bar Friday.

Klein spent nearly two hours at The St. Louis Hotel bar, the place, he said,where he made his decision to enter politics 26 years ago.

"What I found about the St. Louis is that they were just regular folks doing regular things and trying to make their way in life," he told the crowd.

"And those are the kinds of people I had in mind when I decided to enter politics."

A favourite watering hole when he was a journalist, Klein went from covering Calgary city hall as a reporter to running it as mayor in 1980. He succeeded Don Getty as premier in 1992.

Klein, 64, announced his intention to step down in April as a lukewarm leadership review scuttled his plan to leave in 2007.

Eight candidates are vying to become just the fourth Alberta premier in the last 35 years — all of them Conservative — following Klein, Getty and Peter Lougheed.

Just as Klein's time as premier is nearing an end, the St. Louis will shut down in a few weeks after more than 40 years serving Calgarians.