GREAT OR NOT SO-THE END OF AN ERA-Lost Buildings, Lost Hotels. Lost Heritage, Lost or Revamped History-EDMONTON IN CONTEXT

The City of Edmonton is situated on relatively flat farmland that is among the most fertile on the Prairies. The North Saskatchewan River separates the north and south parts of the city. Some neighbourhoods of the city have undergone revitalisation, including the city centre and the Old Strathcona district. The City of Edmonton also has a number of commercial areas, including the West Edmonton Mall, still reported as one of the largest shopping malls in the world, although in reality, it is not even the largest in Edmonton (that would be City Centre Mall, which depending on whether of not you consider the LRT as necessary mall transportation{in the Oxford dictionary, a mall is defined as “a large enclosed PEDESTRIAN shopping area-WITH A SHELTERED WALK WAY OR PASSAGE AREA} extends, at least, from 96street to 109street and from just south of Jasper Avenue north to 103avenue. Of course, if you take into account the LRT connection it is considerably larger than that

CRIMES IN EDMONTON TEND TO BE CONCENTRATED IN SOME NORTH EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOODS AND THESE ARE OVERWHELMINGLY DRUG RELATED. Some areas with a reputation for higher crime levels in the north east are Abbotsfield, Beverly, Cromdale, Hermitage and Norwood; (The downtown area also has problems after dark – particularly in the east – Chinatown and McCauley.) THE OLDER AND THEREFORE, USUALLY, MORE AFFORDABLE, FOR PEOPLE LIVING ON PENSIONS, PENSION INCOME SUPPLEMENTS, GUARANTEED INCOMES,(SOCIAL ASSISTANCE-ALL WELL BELOW THE POVERTY LINE), PARTS OF THE CITY.

In 2001, the Edmonton census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 938,845.

It was the sixth most populous CMA in Canada, HOME TO APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD OF ALBERTA'S POPULATION. From 2001 to 2006, as from 1996 to 2001, Edmonton registered the fourth largest population growth of all Canadian CMAs.

IN 2006, EDMONTON WAS THE MOST NORTHERLY URBAN AREA WITH A POPULATION OF MORE THAN 1 MILLION (1,034,945) IN NORTH AMERICA. This robust growth is associated with the favourable economic situation in Alberta, which is mainly due to the strength of the oil industry.

The City of Edmonton, lies at the centre of the CMA and covers 684 square kilometres. In 2001, the city had a population of 666,104. The geographic area of the City of Edmonton is entirely served by the Edmonton Police Service, which in 2001 was made up of 1,194 officers distributed among 4 divisions and 12 community police stations.

CRIME RATES IN EDMONTON ARE ABOVE AVERAGE FOR CANADIAN CITIES – ALTHOUGH SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN VANCOUVER, IT IS APPROXIMATELY 50% HIGHER THAN THE MORE AFFLUENT(since most of the U.S. controlled OIL INDUSTRY OFFICES are now located there), CALGARY AND MONTREAL AND HAS OVER DOUBLE THE CRIME RATE OF TORONTO.

In the 2004 General Social Survey, residents of the Edmonton CMA reported a rate of violent victimisation in Canada of 191 violent victimisation incidents per 1,000 inhabitants aged 15 and over, and a household victimisation rate of 361 household victimisation incidents per 1,000 households. (HOWEVER, RESIDENTS OF THE EDMONTON CMA ARE NO EXCEPTION TO THE GENERAL TREND OBSERVED IN CANADA: RESIDENTS OF THE PRAIRIE CMAS (WINNIPEG, REGINA, SASKATOON AND CALGARY) REPORTED RATES OF VIOLENT VICTIMISATION AND HOUSEHOLD VICTIMISATION ABOVE THE CANADIAN AVERAGE (111 VIOLENT VICTIMISATION INCIDENTS PER 1,000 INHABITANTS AGED 15 AND OVER AND 248 HOUSEHOLD VICTIMISATION INCIDENTS PER 1,000 HOUSEHOLDS).

The Drake, Beverly Crest Motor Hotel, and the Rosslyn Hotels

For more than half a century, they've been a part of the east Edmonton landscape.

The Drake Hotel and the Beverly Crest Motor Hotel are more than just places to stay - they're places of gathering and celebration that have become integral parts of the Beverly story.

When the Drake Hotel officially opened May 26, 1950, it was touted by Aunt Hilda’s father (then, mayor of the town of Beverly) as proof that as far as Beverly is concerned, the boom is on. Although the hotel was not really much to look at; the two-storey frame and stucco building featured 20 rooms built on an L shaped floor plan to give all rooms outward facing windows, a lobby, coffee shop and separate beverage rooms for men and women. Rough cedar planks covered the bottom of the north and west exterior walls, with canopies over all entrances and the famous vertical H-O-T-E-L sign prominent on the second level near the front corner.

Named for the male Mallard ducks that frequented a large slough nearby, the site of the hotel at the southeast corner of 40th Street (3945 118 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB) was one of the most popular in the town right from the beginning. Recollections of early settlers(including my father)who worked in several of the mines) say a livery stable was on the property at the time of the early mines. Later, the post office and then a half-finished retail development stood on this spot.

The drake hotel was developed by a group of Edmonton businessmen and, as a May 25, 1950 Edmonton Journal article proclaimed, it was the quality of accommodation and appealing decor that made it so attractive. Real feature of the Drake rooms is the high quality mattresses and springs. Sleeping comfort is assured every guest. All rooms are fitted with running water and all afford clothes closet space.

The hotel again made the news two years later when $10,000 was allegedly taken by two masked and armed robbers in a heist at 2 am the morning of September 21, 1953. Night clerk Metro Westrouk was bound and gagged and the two blew the safe with explosives. The bandits fled into the night with $3,000 to $4,000 cash and cheques for $6,800. Beverly Police Chief A. McIhargey described the safe cracking as the work of experts and said it was obviously a well-planned job as the thieves knew where to find the key to the office after binding the clerk.

THE BEVERLY CREST: The hotel is located at 3414 118 AVENUE, EDMONTON, EDMONTON, AB. The 1960 announcement of the planned construction of a new hotel between 34 and 36 Streets along the north side of 118 Avenue generated much excitement in the community. The new hotel was to supply a minimum of 20 new jobs.

Owned by brothers William and Joe Lutsky and Wolfy Margolis, the Beverly Crest Motor Hotel was completed in 1961 The hotel did NOT open in 1961as is commonly posted; the official opening came the following spring (1962). It wasn't an easy time, the hours were long and the work was hard, Joe recalls. But I guess we did alright.

Designed by the Edmonton architectural firm Hemingway and Laubental, the 42-room hotel was acclaimed for its extensive use of plate glass, which lent the lobby an air of spaciousness, according to one newspaper account. The hotel is designed as far as possible on one level, the article continued, the exception being the downstairs banqueting rooms and one floor of bedrooms on the second floor reached by a wide, gently rising staircase. The design has thus eliminated the necessity of elevators a necessary convenience in most hotels.

THE ROSSLYN HOTEL: was originally conceived and built in 1962 at what was then the edge of the city, the hotel has grown up serving Rosslyn, Greisbach-on record as being a source of organised violence- and the surrounding communities. The hotel underwent a major redevelopment in 2002 when the tower was added,

The Cromdale Hotel

The alcove, behind cab and power pole, Led down to the cocktail bar

The parking lot, length of the entire block, was, as you can see  VERY valuable HOTEL property. Poorly managed; or not, the property owners were ROBBED, BIG TIME.

Workers demolish the old Cromdale Hotel on 118 Avenue and 82 Street in Edmonton, Alberta on Wednesday, August 8, 2012

As crews began demolition on the infamous Cromdale Hotel Wednesday night, one Edmonton man came down to watch what he says is the "end of an era."

George Ross stood and stared at the building that has been part of his life for so long. The 52-year-old says he grew up just four blocks from the hotel, and would later work and frequent the bar.

"It's been here for so many years. I drank in here, I worked in here as a bouncer, it is just a part of me," he said. ”The Cromdale has been here forever."

Actually: The hotel – was built in 1954 and next to the Beverly Crest and the Rosslyn hotels it was the newest hotel in the area (east of 97street, north of Jasper Avenue.

Never intended to be fancy, or upscale, it had been built to cater to the horse racing crowd. Unfortunately, in the later years, it also became a hangout for those of mixed, mongrelized, “aboriginal/first nation/white” blood plus a few other people who were, notoriously, takers; seldom ever givers.

"I got a case of whisky,

got it from a friend.

Went to a funeral in Brocket,

that was the end.

Went to the Cromdale in Edmonton

Got into a knife fight

and stabbed him in the gut"

--Song from “Indian Idol", on their third album "Not Too Pretty Bad"--

“I can't even begin to tell you how many conflicted emotions I have about the Cromdale Hotel. Most of my childhood memories involve that rat trap in one way or another.

We lived in a house directly behind the Cromdale when I was about four years old. My mom worked there as a waitress and it was at the Cromdale where she met the man who would be instrumental in making the rest of my childhood something I'd rather forget and have had to bury in order to survive. He is the reason my adult life has been filled with nightmares, anger and hate.

Good ol' Cromdale.

I remember sleeping in the car outside the Cromdale, waiting for him & my mom to finish drinking.

When we were old enough to be left at home, 7-8 years old, I remember phoning the Cromdale and paging my mom only to be told by the person on the other end that they didn't page anyone. Even at that age, I remember being cocky and pulling attitude with whoever answered the phone, saying, ‘Listen, let me talk to Mike or Stan (the owners at the time) because he knows my mom!’

Sometimes, she would call me back. Most times, she didn't.

There is not one year of the 15 years I lived at home that didn't involve that place in one way or another.

Walking to Klondike Days, we would have to walk right by the Cromdale to get to the grounds. I remember thinking that if we could just get past that block, we'd be OK. Even taking the bus to school was frustrating because anytime the bus stopped in front of the Cromdale, I always wondered which scumbag would get on.

The number of times my mom came home from that bar, bruised, bloody and battered are too many to count.

My mom left her soul in that place, I'm sure of it.

The Cromdale was always there, attracting the lowest of the low: hookers, strippers, drug dealers, low life criminals. If you wanted to get into that life, the Cromdale was the place to network.

I've been in the lobby; I actually had a drink for my 18th birthday with my mom, sort of a "bonding moment" for us.”

Who or what was to blame; was it the community, the mother, or the hotel? Or could it have been GOVERNMENT LEGISLATED poverty(Canadian politicians could save the TAXPAYERS a lot of money, simply by allowing all citizens a "decent", livable income; but, as usual, they fail to see any connection)? What do you think? 

If you believe it was the hotel: Why, If they lived directly behind  the hotel, would this girl have to sleep in  a car; “waiting for him and my mother to finish drinking? How is it; a child is old enough to be left sleeping in a car (during winter months, in Edmonton it could well be 40 below) before age7-8 but is hot old enough to be left at home? 

The parking lot, almost constantly under police surveillance, was directly behind the hotel: many of these people might have been alcoholics, drug dealers and/or fourth generation “hood “ hookers; but most at least, were not completely, stupid; why anyone living so close, take a car and risk an impaired or drunk driving charge? 

What excuses can you give for the mother being so well known there and why did she live so close for so long? 

If conditions were as bad as described, how is it that this girl and her sister, or brother, were allowed to remain in the home and they were not under social service/child protection custody?

Personally, I believe there is bullshit to be found in the comments both above and below, more than just a little. Perhaps that is why, there are groups who feel the Cromdale Hotel should have been re-opened; as “it would have provided a “variety” of employment opportunities in the Cromdale area.”

“yikes, I’m a 'hood'kid too, and remember that place being terrifying. I was only a kid, but I remember frequently using the word 'rapist' to describe certain places in the neighbourhood, and that was one of them, (rapist park, rapist forest in the river valley, rapist hotel, you get the picture) sadly enough it was usually because someone I knew had been raped in our around them. It’s a rough patch of earth, and as long as I remember it always has been.

“I was a little further north down 118th, but I remember when there was literally ONE police officer with a vehicle at the Abbotsfield station, and watching my playground burn to the ground because the police came down on bikes when we called 911 saying there were kids telling us they were going to light it on fire. It’s going to take a massive effort to turn that place around!”

118^th Ave runs east and west. You can’t possibly be a little further north down it. “The Cromdale Hotel, rapist forest, rapist park, in the river valley”???

Abbottsfield (not Cromdale) is a neighbourhood in east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ,overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley.

The neighbourhood is named for Abraham Abbott, a resident of the Town of Beverly and long-time school custodian in the Beverly School District. While development of Abbottsfield didn't begin until nearly a decade after the amalgamation of Beverly with Edmonton in 1961, the neighbourhood is located in an area closely associated with Beverly. Beverly was a coal mining town, and one of the major Beverly coal mines was located in the Abbottsfield area.The Abbottsfield area was also associated with the local GARBAGE DUMP/LAND FILL.

Abbottsfield is bounded by the North Saskatchewan River valley on the east, 118 Avenue on the south, 34 Street on the west, and the Yellowhead Trail corridor on the north. Victoria Drive forms the boundary between the neighbourhood and river valley proper. Rundle Park is located in the river valley below Abbottsfield and the neighbourhood of Rundle Heights located immediately to the south. It is not , really, close to the Cromdale district and had the town of Beverly not amalgamated with Edmonton would not even have been in the same city.

True, the Cromdale Hotel like many of the older hotels in the Edmonton area, including the Hotel MacDonald, had long been, very badly, managed and true, on any given night, about half of the female patrons would be under age, many would be 4^th generation drug dealers, hookers or both. Many would also “self-identify as being aboriginal;MÉTIS OR “FIRST NATIONS” but, this is a problem with our government and their policies of GOVERNMENT LEGISLATED POVERTY. It is not a social problem, and, it is not a problem that is CREATED in any community or social environment (outside of a reservation or possibly, now days, by a ridiculous land grant, such as Nunavut.
In this country,Canada,Canadians are supposed to all be equal . Supposedly there is NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES allotted to any one minority, or; majority; group. 

More  importantly; to most all really concerned or involved, it sat on a very, very, among the most valuable pieces of property in all of Edmonton. The property included the parking lot behind; that like the old Dominion store- actual site and parking lot- (north of 118th Ave and east of the old Safeway store) encompassed almost an entire block. It “has been vacant since it was-officially, by the city of Edmonton declared unfit for occupancy and closed in 2004”.

Why then, has not the CITY closed the Dover Hotel (Note below, Dover Hotel),? That hotel is just as decrepit and notorious for crime as was the Cromdale. The reasons can only be, because:

1. It is at least in part, a “heritage” building.

2. The land is not nearly as valuable, TO THE CITY BUREAUCRATS and POLITICIANS, as The Cromdale property was.

3. By allowing the Dover to operate as a CASINO, while still, very thinly, disguised as strictly a hotel/bar operation, these same bureaucrats and politicians are able to receive more funding for their six month long  paid holidays-every six months.

When the hotel was first built, the rooms would be every bit comparable with those of the Kingsway Inn; (about the same age)which catered to NAIT students, and also had a strip bar which had been closed for allowing grossly lewd and/or sexually explicit acts on stage and for running a bawdy house and those of the Edmonton Inn(strangely, although this hotel was long reputed to have the largest and second busiest beer parlour in the city, there is, now, nowhere, (including archived, city, records and files) that you can find the RAMADA EDMONTON HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE referred to, or pictured with its original name.

The city issued the demolition order for the Cromdale Hotel back in 2009 -- and despite brief opposition from the owners -- the property was sold to United States of the Americas based Shoppers Drug Mart.

The move is said to be part of a larger effort to revitalise the Alberta Avenue area. The city (actually the taxpayers of the city; cities have no money of their own.) has already spent millions of dollars putting in new sidewalks, lights and pavement along 118 Avenue. News of its demise was welcomed by SOME residents in the area, as the hotel continued to be a magnet for crime in the TRADITIONALLY, CRIME RIDDEN, CROMDALE COMMUNITY. Most of this area was originally encompassed by RAT (an omen?) Creek, which ran eastward from 97th street and the Calder area; and the vast Kirkness Lakes-a system of lakes that ran as far east as the present Drake Hotel.

During a period starting in the 1980s, using the same or a very much related excuse, (some claim several years before) Edmonton did a rather efficient job of getting rid of most all of the less expensive, “working man’s-“railroad” type hotels and bars..

REMEMBER THE NIGHT-N-DAY CAFE.

THE NITE-N-DAY CAFE SAW ITS LAST DAWN IN 1975, TURNING OFF THE LIGHTS ON A BUSINESS THAT BEGAN IN 1932.

THE EATERY, AT THE CORNER OF 118TH AVENUE AND 81ST STREET, WAS STARTED BY GUS GREEKAS AS THE WHITE DOVE COFFEE SHOP. “IT WAS A BIT OF A ROUGH NEIGHBOURHOOD. PEOPLE ON 118TH AVENUE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY SO IT WASN’T FANCY AND WE JUST MADE ENDS MEET,” GUS’S WIFE ANNIE WAS QUOTED AS SAYING IN AN EDMONTON JOURNAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED JULY 19TH, 1975.

Actually, people living near, or conducting business on, 118th Ave. had a considerable amount of money. Examples are: the owners of Brody’ jewellery, The Campbell family of Campbell’s furniture. The Cleavly family, builders of the heritage - last house odd side, 118 Ave 96 st. The Cotter family, of Cotters Hardware. The Easton family, builders (with my grandfather’s help) of the heritage home, (last building even side, 19th Ave 96 St.) and owners of Easton’s Furniture, Edmonton politics. The Fox family, Fox Airlines. The Glauser family, of Glauser’s Jewellery, The Lundy family, John- NHL Mrs Lundy-real estate, including at least two apartment buildings. Henry’s Donuts and Shade’s Sweet Shop.

IT WAS THE BEVERLY/CROMDALE DISTRICTS THAT GENERALLY DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY; AND THAT TIME,(1951)  AND IT WAS PRIMARILY THE NITE AND DAY CAFÉ THAT WAS A “ROUGH DISTRICT. JOHN GREEKAS TOOK OVER HIS FATHER’S RESTAURANT IN 1951 AND SAW AN OPPORTUNITY AS AN ALL-NIGHT OPERATION, BECOMING ONE OF ONLY FOUR OR FIVE OFFICIALL RECOGNISED AS SUCH IN THE ENTIRE CITY(IN TRUTH, FROM THE FLAMINGO, AND GOLDEN GATE ON 101 ST NEAR THE CNR STATION, THE BUS DEPOT, AND TWO ON 111 AVE, THEY WERE NUMEROUS.

JOHN GREEKAS CHANGED THE NAME TO THE NITE-N-DAY. IT IS TRUE; THERE WERE ONLY THREE NOTORIOUS “CRIME MAGNET” ALL NITE RESTAURANTS IN EDMONTON AT THE TIME. THE PPCLI MOVED IN TWICE TO CLEAN UP THE OTHER TWO, THE PHOENIX/RED ROSE GARDENS AND THE COFFEE CUP INN. I’M SURE THEY WOULD HAVE “CLEANED UP” THE NITR-N-DAY AS WELL, HAD NOT JOHN AND HIS MOTHER MOVED THEIR BASES OF OPERATION TO THE PARK HOTEL AND BEACHCOMBER RESTAURANTS (DR ALLARD). BEFORE THEY DID SO, JOHN GREEKAS WAS QUOTED, “I USED TO GET BEAT UP FOUR OR FIVE TIMES A MONTH, BEFORE I HIRED A BOUNCER.” COULD IT POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN BECAUSE OF SMALL PORTIONS, POOR QUALITY FOOD, AND EXORBITANT PRICES?© Al (Alex,Alexander) D Girvan. All rights reserved