Twenty-five years ago this week, St. Albert Place officially opened to the public in one of the largest parties the city has ever thrown. From day one the civic/cultural centre has been a gathering place and that’s not going to change any time soon.
Designed by internationally renowned architect Douglas Cardinal, St. Albert Place has become a visual icon in the heart of the downtown core. City council is poised to protect that legacy later this month when members vote on whether to declare the structure a municipal historic resource.
The historic designation would protect the architecture of the building from substantial changes that would hurt the “character-defining” elements of the original design, most notably the sweeping curves and lines of the exterior facades and corridors.
St. Albert Place is a beautiful building — of that there’s no doubt. But, at just 25 years old, is it worthy of historic protection? It turns out the designation isn’t just a symbolic move to celebrate the building in time for its silver anniversary. Ann Ramsden, director of heritage at the MusĂ©e Heritage Museum, advised council that cities often fail to properly recognize historic buildings. “In Alberta we have lost a lot of buildings that have not actually made it to 50 years,” she said.
Since the city has generally taken pains to protect the architecture, the historic designation is not expected to cost taxpayers extra for future repairs, nor will it limit staff from making minor alterations like shuffling office space.
Despite the relatively minor cost implications, some question the motives behind the historic moniker. Members of the St. Albert Taxpayers’ Association have suggested the move is less about preserving history and more to do with forcing construction of a new downtown office space for city administration. The tax watchdog argues the designation would hamstring council from adding office space in St Albert Place, making a new building a necessity.
A new office building was first proposed in 2006 when the previous council attempted to address a space crunch at city hall. The solution was to build an annex building at the corner of St. Anne and St. Thomas Streets. The only hitch was the project’s $25-million price tag. The city instead opted to spend $187,000 per year to lease extra office space downtown, putting the civic building firmly on the backburner.
It’s hard to imagine any council with the intestinal fortitude to revive the project just a few years removed from Ray Gibbon Drive ($40.6 million for stages one and two) and Servus Place ($43 million). Unless the civic building is reinvented, spending $30 million on office space would likely create political casualties.
As for the oft-repeated suggestion that the city make room for offices in St. Albert Place by turfing the library, Arden, museum or arts studios, that too is a non-starter since it would go against the building’s mandate as a civic/cultural centre. The debate about new offices will happen in time, perhaps in the coming year as council rolls out its downtown vision.
The historic designation is about more than offices. It’s about preserving a 25-year-old “people place” that’s become St. Albert’s political, cultural and artistic hub. That is St. Albert Place’s true historical legacy. That’s a history worth protecting.
Bryan Alary spent the last three years covering civic affairs. He’s now an editor at the Gazette.
