Residents of Ogden are fighting to save the historic Ogden Block building from being demolished by the Green Line development.
These latest efforts come after the Alberta government said in early September it was pulling its portion of the funding, $1.53 billion from the $6.2-billion transit project.
The Ogden Block, also known as the Hong Lee Laundry Building was built in 1913 and has served as a commercial laundry facility, a hospital space for wounded soldiers from the First World War.
According to the University of Calgary’s Digital Heritage Research Group, the building had many owners from 1922 until 2021 and saw use as a family home and a rental property.
The Ogden Block is currently unoccupied and boarded up, but residents say this is the last large commercial building in the community.
“So when the city decided to buy all these properties for the Green Line, this family did not want to let go of their building, but they basically had no choice,” said Bonny Warbeck, a Millican Ogden Heritage Group member.
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She, alongside the Millican Ogden Heritage Group, has been fighting for years to keep the historic building from being demolished in place of the Green Line project.
The group is working on increasing public awareness of the history of Ogden and has helped create an inventory of homes in the area before 1945.
“When we found out that this building was slated for demolition, we were shocked and upset, and we felt that something had to be done urgently,” Warbeck said.
“When we asked the city what their plans were for this site, they said they don’t have any plans, even to this day they don’t have any plans.”
Another Millican Ogden Heritage Group member feels it is important to keep our heritage alive and well.
“Well, this building is sentimental to me in many respects. I come from Liverpool, England, and a couple of years ago a member of the historical society here in Calgary said, ‘Did you know that Liverpool, England, has over 2,000 historical buildings? Calgary has under 200, therefore we need to preserve our heritage,’” he said.
With the Green Line project up in the air, Warbeck is hopeful that will give her and her team time to get the message out and save the Ogden Block.