Calgary’s iconic King Eddy, one of the city’s oldest buildings, will be reopening to the public on a permanent basis later this summer and officials say it will bring all the live music it was known for with it.

The King Edward Hotel, built in the 1900s, was dismantled completely, brick by brick, as part of the construction of Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre.

Andrew Mosker, president and CEO of the National Music Centre, says the work was necessary given that the King Eddy was unsafe and suffering from foundation and structural issues.

“It was an expensive endeavour to save this building because we had to dismantle the building and then rebuild it from scratch and then build Studio Bell around it. Not an easy architectural project to create and to build, but we succeeded in doing it.”

He says that it was important to save the building.

“The entire National Music Centre was built on this site because of the King Eddy. We’re an organization that tells stories about music in Canada; that’s what the NMC does through exhibitions, through live music, through artist incubation, through education programs,” he says.

“The King Eddy is a story about music in Calgary and it’s an important story. It’s an important story for Canada and for Canadians to learn about.”

Now, the King Eddy has a new steel structure and basement, but the exterior is still the same brick that was laid by the original work crews. Some of those bricks have even been brought inside to decorate the interior and bring a bit of the history indoors.

Mosker says the new building will be home to live music on Canada Day and also host a number of concerts during Stampede. Later that same month, the building will become much more.

“After Stampede, we are going to open the King Eddy permanently on July 20. It will be a permanently operated live music venue, restaurant and bar. The programming here will be really reflective of the National Music Centre programming mandate which is to offer a wide range of musical styles.”

There will also be food at the King Eddy, taking advantage of locally-sourced ingredients and a combination of craft and mainstream beer.

Mosker says that there are a lot of things in the King Eddy that are new, but the spirit of the building remains the same.

“The spirit of what made the King Eddy special for people in the 80s and 90s is still here. We’re looking forward to capturing it, bringing some great programming back, the community back and music back to the King Eddy.”

For more information about the King Eddy, as well as the opportunity to buy tickets, go to kingeddy.ca.