Sad news from Calgary

Hi all,

I just received an e-mail from someone who told me that demolition of the north hangars at #3 S.F.T.S. Calgary is underway. I am going to go see the site for myself tomorrow but if this news bears out, then this is indeed very sad news.

I attended Mount Royal College (now Mount Royal University) in the early 90's and was slow to clue in that the area the campus was located on had been a very active military air base until the mid 1960's. I did notice that the hangars that surrounded the college were the same ones that I had grown up seeing at my hometown of Lethbridge, home to # 8 Bombing and Gunnery school.  I later learned that I used to park my car in an open field that had once been the middle of the triangle of runways at # 3 S.F.T.S.

The hangars that are being demolished are the ones that you see on the top (North) part of the photo. The ones at the south end of the field are located where ATCO builds mobile buildings and for the most part are all still intact.

Mount Royal College moved to their Lincoln Park location after the RCAF station closed in 1966.

This is a look from the east to the west down the hangar line at #3 S.F.T.S. taken in the fall of 2009. I don't know exactly which hangar is in the midst of being demolished but I have heard that the whole collection will be falling to the wrecking ball in short order. These buildings were built in record time at the beginning of the war when no one was sure of the war's outcome. They were built with the idea of lasting about 10 years in service and it is obvious that they were very well built. They are 70 years old now and still in great condition...that is, until they are rendered into kindling....I have few words to express how sad this is.

This is what I consider an excellent use of these old hangars...a vibrant community minded farmer's market that served the citizens of Calgary while allowing a proud historic building a new lease on life while at the same time preserving a tangible memory of our World War Two local history. I managed to grab as many photos of this building as I could during a visit to the area in the fall of 2009.

The Farmer's Market was an excellent idea for the use of this massive space while still preserving some of the proud history of this aerodrome. I think we are losing a big part of our heritage and I am not sure that we are trading it for something more meaningful. I will very much miss this place when all the reminders of its proud history have been erased.

I know that in recent years these hangars had played home to such diverse uses as an indoor soccer center, the farmer's market and as television and movie production spaces...I find it hard to believe that these buildings have finished their days of usefulness and should be wiped off the map of consciousness. I am very glad that I managed to get the photos I did of this once proud military installation.

I really hope that they are going to save some of these buildings...this one holds a wine merchant on one end and the Wild Rose Brewery and pub on the other end. Time will only tell I guess.