pics, stereoscope, words – fish
Designed and fully restored by Dub Architects, the yet to be named Alberta Hotel bar and dining space opened its doors on the weekend for a private sneak peek.
As Gene Dub showed his latest finish to architectural peers, he explained the situation with the bar over a swig. ”Our real interest here was to save all the artefacts that are 110 years old and were used in the original bar. We’ve created something that is half old – the original – and half new. We’d like to get CKUA involved and have a music venue, so we’re really looking forward to seeing if that will work.”
Dub is hoping for offers in an increasingly energized downtown. ”We’re looking for someone to either lease it, purchase it, or if that fails, then someone just to operate it and manage it under our ownership.
“But we’re not restaurant owners and the secret to a successful restaurant is much more than the interior design. But it’s great all the old tiles, the old light fixtures and some of the ceiling was saved so we could incorporate them in.”
Canada Place now dominates the spot where Alberta Hotel stood, as if to stress some historical point. Built in 1903, the hotel was demolished in 1984 to make way. Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier of the five-dollar bill stayed at the hotel when he declared Alberta a province in 1905. It featured our town’s first shower baths and an early elevator.
In an enviable example of planning ahead so many of our great, scrapped buildings didn’t benefit from, the city saved a good amount of Alberta Hotel’s sturdy raw materials, including bar mirrors, fixtures and the stone exoskeleton of the turreted landmark.
Monolithic urinals – they’re bizarrely compelling – and white marble was moved over from the McLeod Building.
“The bar itself is an exact copy of the original bar,” Dub notes. “We had all the original drawings, so we were able to duplicate it. The new portion is contemporary, just so you can see it’s a totally different part of the restaurant. We didn’t want to do a simulation of something old that would take away from the authenticity.”
The restoration clicks nicely with a cultural fetishizing of a idealized, pre-computer age past, from waxed moustaches to Boardwalk Empire and Great Gatsby. It is (so far) a place without men in suits yelling about pro sports statistics on numerous TVs.
The ceiling of the newer space, meanwhile, is stepped for buffering sound. “CKUA has such a history and backlog of musical influences that we’re hoping people can play in here and they will record it,” says the architect. “We’ve sculpted the ceiling and walls specifically for sound.”
Here are a few more shots of the revamped venue, including its original cash register, which rings out like a knockout punch.
If you happen to have red-cyan 3D glasses, pull them out as well for a shot looking from the new space into the restored.
When will the bar open? That really depends on who steps up.
But the door, as they say, is ajar.
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