New face for historical Kelly-Ramsey building

The Kelly-Ramsey block-formerly the location of Edmonton’s first Eatons department store, has avoided a terrible fate. The Kelly building built in 1914-15 and the Ramsey Block built in 1927, were both ravaged by fire last March and have since been facing possible deterioration or demolition.

The Rice Howard Way buildings have now been sold to a new owner who wants to preserve them as a historical site.

A numbered company run by Edmonton lawyer John Day purchased the Kelly-Ramsey Block for $4 million in January. Creditors were previously asking $10 million for the lot but dropped the price after no one would bid on the property.

Day, who has also restored the historical Garneau Theatre, as well as the Sobey’s store on Jasper Ave., wants to ensure that the buildings are preserved with particular focus on the buildings’ exteriors. Day had previously received $547,00 in grants to help redevelop the $3.2 million dollar Garneau project, and although negotiations have not yet started, would like to see the restoration of the Kelly-Ramsey block follow suit.

The block could then be declared a historical site, preventing demolition or any exterior alterations.

An engineer has determined the site to be structurally sound, opening up possibilities for maintaining and improving the site, and even adding extra floors.

The buildings may be used for new shops, offices or housing but until cleanup crews finish removing interior debris, it is difficult to decide how the buildings will be used.

"There are good-sized spaces inside the building and there are good-sized ceilings, large windows, but until we have it cleaned up we aren’t going to know what it looks like," Day said.

Cleanup crews will also be stripping the buildings’ interior of any tenant improvements since the buildings were first established.

Council member Ben Henderson is also on board fro the project as he had previously feared that the property would suffer the same fate as the Arlington Apartments-the historic apartments were severely damaged by fire and left in disrepair so long that they eventually had to be demolished.

Henderson also stated that the city has a large investment in Rice Howard Way and preserving the buildings would be a good location for development, especially since there are aren’t many locations to develop left.