Mountain Man
Senior Member
Crazy that saving it could cost hundreds of millions! Really hope they save it, probably the nicest old building left in the city!
|
|
|
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
darwink
Senior Member
Closest comparison is the federal building in Edmonton imo. Cost hundreds of millions a decade ago to renovate.
Albertasaurus
Senior Member
Losing the Hudson's Bay building would be absolutely catastrophic for downtown. The area east of there is already struggling thanks to the ongoing construction at Glenbow, Stephen Ave and the Arts Commons/Olympic Plaza, and losing the most significant heritage asset on the street would be yet another blow. The office market is still shit, and the residential market is oversaturated, so it would likely end up being a parking lot for many years, which is simply not acceptable if we are to maintain a healthy, thriving downtown.
O-tac
Senior Member
With this new council I have little faith in it being saved. Hope I'm wrong.
Urban_Views
New Member
The minimum standard should be to preserve the external facing elements including the facade and the archways. If its new building behind that i think most people would agree to that balance of preservation and development. That also resolves having to retrofit the interior to modern standards.
O-tac
Senior Member
From what I recall the interior was a bit of hodgepodge. Not sure how much 'original' architecture is left inside. The exterior and colonnade are absolutely essential though. It shocks me the property isn't heritage protected.
BigWoofer
New Member
Creating a courtyard in the centre of the building, or incorporating it as the facade/podium for a tower with minimal exterior alterations, would both be good compromise solutions in my opinion.
MichaelS
Senior Member
Even if they want a parking lot in the interim (policy says there is supposed to be no new parking lots downtown, but as I have ranted before, policy seems pretty fluid), hopefully they do something like that that I saw in Providence, Rhode Island with the facade:
1875
Senior Member
Divert funds from the blue ring program
BigWoofer
New Member
Ah yes, the "Poland 1946" treatment...Even if they want a parking lot in the interim (policy says there is supposed to be no new parking lots downtown, but as I have ranted before, policy seems pretty fluid), hopefully they do something like that that I saw in Providence, Rhode Island with the facade:
Just kidding, it's better than knocking it down completely, I agree.
Mull
Active Member
Who owns the Hudson's bay building now?
I'm sure renovating the Bay building would cost a lot of money, but I'm sure there are options that would allow it to be cheaply done. It's an old building, but until the Bay's bankrupcty, it was still a functioning department store.
Maybe there's an option to keep it as is and turn it into an 'Art Central' type building? Maybe another option is gutting the interior and turning it into warehouse type loft space?
I'm not an architectural expert, but I'm confident there are solutions that won't cost 100's of millions, they might be simple ones, but they'd be better than a tear down.
Maybe there's an option to keep it as is and turn it into an 'Art Central' type building? Maybe another option is gutting the interior and turning it into warehouse type loft space?
I'm not an architectural expert, but I'm confident there are solutions that won't cost 100's of millions, they might be simple ones, but they'd be better than a tear down.
Roaring Flames
Senior Member
I think if the city doesn't buy the property it's most likely getting demolished. I would hope that if it does get demolished though, that the city would require the facade including the arcade and pillars to be retained. Perhaps then a more ambitious proposal for the site can be built including the old facade into it's design.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
Keeping the building up can be done for far less than hundreds of millions. The cost scale is determined by how developed the new build needs to be. A new Alberta university of the arts campus would be a probably in hundreds of millions. Converting to simple loft space would be far less.
Even a Ruby Liu retail type plan would probably be a lot less. When they’re talking hundreds of millions they are talking about a complete redevelopment.
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
The most logical solution has to be carving out a courtyard and converting it to condos.