Ogden's old legion building to be demolished amid safety concerns

Amir Said · CBC News

· Posted: May 10, 2025 3:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A erstwhile legion building's demise continues a record twelvemonth for demolitions successful Calgary, but this tear-down has been called for by radical surviving successful Ogden for years.

Many radical successful the southeast Calgary neighbourhood have called for the erstwhile Royal Canadian Legion 154 gathering to beryllium torn down for a agelong time, and the metropolis is present moving guardant with this effort.

A judicial reappraisal by the building's proprietor to halt its demolition was dismissed by the Court of King's Bench, allowing the metropolis to measurement successful and proceed with tearing the operation down. The metropolis said successful a connection that the legion building's proprietor has employed a demolition institution to statesman this process.

WATCH | Former Calgary legion gathering to yet beryllium demolished

"Our section volition enactment with the proprietor and the demolition institution until the enactment has been completed," wrote metropolis spokesperson Kaila Lagran.

The metropolis added it volition besides measurement successful and implicit the demolition, if the building's proprietor and the demolition institution bash not.

'An unthinkable eyesore'

The aged legion gathering was erstwhile a vibrant societal hub, but it has present go "an unthinkable eyesore," said Lorraine Robinson, president of the Millican Ogden Community Association.

"It was a large location, a large facility," said Robinson, who utilized to bask the building's curling rink and auditorium.

The gathering fell into disrepair aft it was sold in 2012. It's stood bare since then, speech from vandals and squatters, said Robinson.

Safety concerns expressed by community's residents led to predominant responses by constabulary officers and the occurrence department, which successful crook led the metropolis to deem it an unsafe building.

With those concerns successful mind, the metropolis ordered the gathering proprietor to demolish it successful 2023, which has present begun.

"That is great, large quality for the community," said Robinson, who added the building's existent authorities often leavs galore with a mediocre content of Ogden.

"You travel into our assemblage and that's the archetypal happening you see. It's precise disheartening to spot this gathering the mode it is."

The aboriginal of the onshore is uncertain erstwhile the aged legion gathering has been demolished, but Robinson believes anything, adjacent an bare crippled of land, would beryllium an betterment from the existent building.

No timeline has been established connected erstwhile the demolition volition beryllium completed.