Last Remaining Downtown Single-Family Home To Be Demolished

A two-bedroom, 1,200 sq. ft. house has seen the downtown section of Calgary evolve over many years since 1941.

The lone house at 933 5th Avenue S.W. is currently owned by the city hall's corporate properties division, and is on its way to being demolished. However, there is no date for when the house will be torn down. The city doesn't have a plan on what will be done with the land once the house is removed.

This little house saw tree-lined lawn and two-way streets turn into a one-way street with no trees to line the houses from the road. The next transformation the house on 5 Ave. saw was an LRT to northwest Calgary being built next to it.

The house is no longer safe for anyone to live in; the city did maintain the house when tenants were still living there.

In 2000 the city had consolidated the lot along with other lots next door, which are currently vacant lots of land. This begs the question of why hasn't the house been demolished already to make room for something bigger.

A heritage house in Calgary is also set to be demolished, but city council has asked officials to try to purchase the home.

Known as the McHugh House, it is recognized as the sixth-oldest house in the city, coming from 1896.

An application to demolish the house was put in last March by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, and is now talking to a developer about selling the lot.

The city currently is unable to delay granting the demolition permit, and has assessed the property's total value at about $2 million.

Tagged: Calgary Heritage | Calgary Real Estate | Calgary Real Estate News