'A really awesome place': El Mirador demolition underway, making room for highrise towers
Crews were demolishing the historic El Mirador apartments in downtown Edmonton Wednesday.
“It was a really awesome place, the community here was really great,” former resident Daniel Snow said as he watched heavy equipment tear the buildings down.
Built in 1935, the building became known for its distinctive, Spanish style, reminiscent of southern California, with its red roof and spiral staircases.
The lots, just north of Jasper Avenue on 108 Street, will be part of a new residential complex by Pangman Developments.
“The Parks” will see new 35 and 45-storey towers for a total of at least 1,000 new condo and apartment units.
The main floor will also have retail bays, the company’s website said.
Snow said he and his fellow residents were given 90 days to leave the building, and many were sad to go.
“I understand the march of progress, they’re going to build a big new condo tower, but we are losing something that was really special,” he said.
The best part of El Mirador was the large courtyard, Snow said. A resident was married there, and all of the residents were invited to the party.
“There’s not a lot of buildings that have shared space where you can connect with your neighbours. I met more people here than I ever did living in your standard walk-up apartments,” he recalled.
The new development will also have greenspace on a rooftop.
It’s expected to be built in the fall of 2022, Pangman’s website said.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.