Final day for Calgary's Eau Claire Market

The doors are locked on the massive Eau Claire Market so that vendors can empty out their belongings before the June 1 deadline. The market will soon be torn down to make way for the city's $5.5 billion Green Line and its underground downtown LRT station.

Karen Hope is the former marketing director of Eau Claire Market and was here when it opened 30 years ago. She says in the 90s there was a push to revitalize the downtown core and attract more people to live in it and the market helped with that.

"People were coming here for this whole vibe of being by the (Prince's Island) park, having a coffee, looking at the stores," she said. "I mean, that's the lifestyle and Calgary didn't have that and now (with Eau Claire Market), it had it and that was the success of it."

Hope remembers preparing for opening day and hiring buskers from the Eight Avenue Mall to perform in a competition outside the market. She said in those early days a lot was done to bring in tenants and shoppers to experience a different sort of indoor shopping experience.

Now she's sad to see it go.

"I feel kind of like it's a waste to tear it down," she said. "I feel sad, not just because it's part of my history, but I love Calgary and I think Calgary could have really benefited by this centre reimagined."

Redevelopment plan

There are a number of phases to the massive project at Eau Claire and Dennis Hoffart is the project manager of the Eau Claire Plaza redevelopment.

"It's really going to be a premier event space for the downtown, for Calgary," he said. "Supporting those kind of mid-to-large size events, 3,000 to 4,000 people, but also be flexible enough so that they can have the day-to-day programming, the impromptu gatherings, a place where people can come, relax, reflect, (and maybe) connect for somebody that they haven't seen for a few years -- have a great coffee."

Hoffart says construction is well underway and didn't have to wait for the demolition of the market to start.

"We definitely worked quite hard in ensuring that several of the infrastructure projects in the area have all come together," he said. "Providing that seamless design and user experience, Jaipur Bridge was recently completed and the downtown flood barrier, it was all part of that program along with the Eau Claire Plaza."

Hoffart says the plaza should be complete by late 2025.

Displaced residents

Across from the market, residents of the River Run Condominiums are also facing a June first deadline to vacate their homes.

Joel Gaucher has owned his unit for 19 years and says he renovated it to be his 'forever home'. Now he and friends are taking everything they can out of it.

"I''ve got some friends that are demoing my place, ripping out all of the finishings that I put in myself over the last number of years," he said. "Taking cabinets, countertops, light fixtures, appliances, flooring, whatever they can salvage because we want to put it to use."

Gaucher says the last five years have been an emotional roller coaster for him and 19 other owners and he says they're not finished negotiating with the city about compensation for their property.

"Generally under the law, it's the highest of three values," he said. "Its fair market value, replacement value or redevelopment value; fair market value, call it $1,000,000, replacement value, all you have to do is look at the MLS, it's two to 2.5 (million dollars) to try to find something similar in this area and then redevelopment value we don't know -- but we know that could be even more."

Garage Bar moving

The Garage Sports Bar was a fixture in the market for decades and will soon open in a new location in Bow Valley Square. Charlie Mendelman, owner, is on location to make sure everything's been removed.

"It's been a long stay," he said, "a very well-enjoyed and profitable time for us and it was a great location and we did have a very strong corporate and public business here."

Mendelman said he wasn't too broken up over closing day finally arriving.

"My emotions aren't overwhelming because time marches on," he said. "We've known about this for a fair bit of time.

"I'm definitely not in favour of it, I think that the Green Line for it's (estimated $5.5 billion) cost is, is way out of line."

Demolition is scheduled to begin at Eau Clair Market in July.

With files from Bill Macfarlane and Jacqueline Wilson