CALGARY – Demolition of the city’s historic Cecil Hotel began on Tuesday.
Situated on the corner of 4 Avenue S.E. and 3 Street S.E., the Cecil Hotel was one of only six pre-First World War hotels still standing in Calgary, but contained a storied past filled with drugs, prostitution and murder.
The hotel was built in 1912 but eventually had its business licence revoked in 2008, just months after a 23-year-old man was found stabbed to death inside.
The City of Calgary purchased the Cecil in 2008, and later sold it to Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC).
Although some Calgarians had hoped the landmark might be saved, CMLC said in August that the building would be torn down due to years of neglect, a fire in 1982 and flooding in 2013.
“The flood damaged the integrity of the building,” Susan Veres with CMLC said. “There was no way it could stand.”
Others, such as Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, said they were happy to see the building go.
“There were too many bad memories associated with that place. I am actually not sad to see it come down. It’s time to honour all of the people who went through some really tough times in that place.”
READ MORE: Notorious Cecil Hotel slated for demolition but sign to be saved
WATCH: Demolition of Calgary’s historic Cecil Hotel began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Doug Vaessen gets an inside look at how quickly the site is being torn down.
At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, a contractor began deconstructing the site.
“We’re actually starting on the northeast corner, and we start with removing some of the roof and the walls, ” Veres explained. “The high-reach excavator will come in on Wednesday and that will fully remove the roof.”
The building’s iconic sign was removed during the summer so it could be saved.
It’s anticipated the entire demolition will take between five to seven days. It will include the removal of the abandoned Beer Store located on the same land.
WATCH: The Cecil Hotel will be torn down Tuesday after years of being a Calgary icon which has had a very notorious past in the later years. Tracy Nagai reports.
– With files from Tracy Nagai and Doug Vaessen
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