Angel’s Cafe is set to close its doors in Edworthy Park to make way for a project to replace the Bearspaw feeder main after its second rupture in less than two years.
Last week, the City of Calgary terminated its lease with the cafe, which has sat on the north side of the river at Edworthy Park for 28 years.
It comes as city officials fast-track the replacement of the ailing feeder main with a goal to have it completed by the end of the year.
Cathy Jacobs, who owns the cafe, told Global News she supports the accelerated timeline for the project, but the situation has put her in an “impossible situation.”
“A year to do something that would take four, I think that’s amazing,” she said. “But destruction on the path of doing something amazing isn’t amazing.”
Jacobs said she has been in contact with city officials and hopes to have a meeting this week to discuss the future of the site and the possibility of the business returning post-construction.
“If you need me to go away, I’ll take my team, we’ll take our perishables, leave the building,” she said. “I’m just looking for a lifeline here.”
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he stands by the city’s decision to terminate the lease with the cafe, calling the move “unfortunate” but necessary to allow for microtunnelling work.
Farkas told reporters Tuesday that the alternative of digging a trench through multiple neighbourhoods and closing 16 Avenue would be “catastrophic” for area businesses and residents.
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“If we do not use this location near Edworthy Park, it would cause disastrous consequences by doing a cut-and-cover operation through Bowness and Montgomery,” he said. “In this case, there is one impacted business, but the trade-off if we weren’t to go this way would cause untold harm to dozens, if not hundreds, of other businesses for a much more prolonged period of time.”
Although Jacobs exercised her option to renew the lease for another five years just six months ago, Farkas said the lease included terms that were mutually agreed upon that it could be terminated within 30 days due to essential infrastructure.
A portion of the Edworthy Park parking lot is serving as one of three staging locations for construction crews as part of the first phase of pipe replacement work from the Shaganappi Pump Station at Edworthy Park to 73 Street Northwest on the west side of the Bow River.
According to city officials, the microtunnelling machine will be launched from the site, and heavy equipment is already working on digging two vertical shafts up to six metres wide.
“It is going to be a large construction site, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be noisy, it’s going to be dirty. There’s going to be limited access into that area as we go forward,” City of Calgary infrastructure services general manager Michael Thompson said. “I need to make sure Calgarians know there will be impacts around these localized construction sites.”
Thompson said the steel pipe that will replace the feeder main will be delivered to the construction sites in a matter of days.
Just west of the cafe, city crews are also working with tenants of two homes and a home converted into a business.
A spokesperson confirmed the city owns two of the properties and is working with tenants on next steps, including the possibility of hotel accommodations when construction fully ramps up.
“All options are on the table as we talk with those folks,” Thompson said.
The second stage of the project, set to run from 73 Street Northwest to 89 Street Northwest, is undergoing design, and city officials said more information is expected to be released in an update to city council next month.
However, there is a sense of unease for businesses in Bowness, where the bulk of the project’s second phase will take place.
“It’s easy to go to a different business to shop,” said Kellie Freeman with the Mainstreet Bowness BIA. “So when there’s any kind of traffic disruption or inconvenience to Calgarians, they will avoid the area at all costs.”
Ward 1 Coun. Kim Tyers said she has heard concerns from residents about the incoming construction, with requests for town halls to get more information.
“I am in discussions with administration to see if there’s a way we can set up a local help centre where their questions may be answered,” she told reporters.
Jacobs plans to remain open throughout the weekend with live music and to help clear out her remaining inventory at the cafe.
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