Old Strathcona
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Old Strathcona is a district located on the southside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, near the University of Alberta. The district centres on Whyte Avenue (82nd Avenue), which is home to numerous shops, restaurants, popular nightlife spots and buskers.
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[edit] History
Old Strathcona was once a separate city, achieving town status in 1899 and city status in 1907. The City of Strathcona amalgamated with Edmonton in 1912. A large part of the popularity of Whyte Avenue is due to its character buildings. The oldest commercial building is the Strathcona Hotel, built in 1891 with the coming of the railway. Wooden buildings in the area were built before 1902 when the Town of Strathcona passed a bylaw requiring the building of brick buildings to prevent the fires that were devastating so many prairie towns. Much of the current brick stock was erected during the 1910-1912 boom that brought thousands of settlers west. Old Strathcona is one of very few areas left in Canada with a "first generation" building stock. In 2005, Edmonton City Council sent a letter to the Province of Alberta requesting heritage status for the area.
[edit] Present day
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In the 1990s, Old Strathcona was home to many independent coffee shops, most notably, "Cafe LaGare", "Misty Mountain", "Planet Cyber Cafe" (then renamed Naked), "Hemp Cafe", "Netwerks New Media Cafe", "Buy the Cup", and the "New York Bagel Cafe" (recently re-opened in an 'off-Whyte' location after a devastating fire in 2003 that levelled the landmark "Albert's Restaurant" building on 104 St and Whyte). These have since closed down over the period of 1995-2005, and now Starbucks, Timothy's, and The Second Cup are on the main intersection of 104 Street and Whyte Avenue, but some smaller cafes, including "Friend's Nest", "Block 1912", and "Two Rooms" all serve coffee. Motorcyclists, including members from a local sport bike club (Edmonton Sport Riderz), typically hang out at the Tim Hortons on Whyte Avenue during the spring and summer months. The late night weekend club scene is blanketed with many regular patrons and even unique people such as "Dougie" (Doug Pruden) the push up man, and possible future rock'n'roll legend Daniel Benjamin Buxton who can be found playing in front of the Army and Navy department store after 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The area is a definitely hotbed of activity and has attracted media attention over the years for its cheap drinks and boorish behavior by drunks. Nevertheless, the area continues to be a magnet for trend setting partiers and Edmonton International Fringe Festival goers.
Over time, the area has become the premier entertainment strip in Edmonton, although it has lacked alternative music venues since the 90's heyday of the People's Pub and Rebar. The Commercial Hotel's "blues on Whyte" club still has live music every night. The primary location for pubs, nightclubs and lounges on Whyte Avenue is between 99 and 109 Street (the area commonly referred to as Old Strathcona) with the majority of clubs directly on Whyte Ave. or just off Whyte Ave. and on side streets.
Whyte Avenue arguably remains the centre of Edmonton's alternative lifestyles, containing various independent clothing and other types of shops catering to a variety of alternative subcultures (ranging from hippie to raver to goth etc). Clothing is the fastest growing business trend in the area, with well-known retailers such as Avenue Clothing Co., Foosh, Colourblind, Divine, Queue, Lemonwink Clothing, Sophia's and American Apparel highlighting the avenue. Old Strathcona was a bastion of small, local and independent business.
Additionally, there are a number of restaurants in this area including "Da-De-O's," "Julio's Barrio," "Café Mosaics," "Tasty Tom's" and the ever-famous Greek restaurant, "Yiannis". A popular Garneau area hang out is "Remedy Cafè" which licensed serves Indian cuisine through out the day. Several of the bars also have kitchens including "O'Byrne's"[1], "The One"[2], "The Urban Lounge[3]", "Savoy" and "Sapphire". In total, there are almost 100 places to eat in Old Strathcona. Again, a majority of eateries are locally owned. Other pubs/ bars include "The Black Dog[4]", "Wunderbar Hofbrauhaus", "Filthy McNasty's[5]", and "The Elephant & Castle[6]". In March 2007 the roof of The Urban Lounge collapsed due to snow and ice build up. The venue is closed until further notice.
[edit] Theatre
Old Strathcona is home to a vibrant independent theatre scene, with eight theatre companies operating out of several buildings in the neighborhood, including the Varscona Theatre, Transalta Arts Barns, Walterdale Playhouse and Catalyst Theatre. The Varscona Theatre alone is home to five award-winning companies: Shadow Theatre, Teatro la Quindicina, the variety show Oh Susanna! and improvisation troupes Die-Nasty and Rapid Fire Theatre. Every August, Old Strathcona plays host to the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, the largest Fringe Theatre event in North America. Edmonton historian Lawrence Herzog has called the diversity of material being produced in the Old Strathcona Theatre District "wide and astonishing."[1]
[edit] Cinema
Old Strathcona is also known for its art house theatres, "The Princess Theatre" and "The Garneau Theatre". They are both owned by Magic Lantern Cinemas[7]. The Garneau is Edmonton's home for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Garneau Theatre also hosts the Edmonton International Film Festival[8]. Old Strathcona is also home to Alternative Video Spot[9]. Located in the heart of Old Strathcona, Alternative Video Spot is a small business that caters to people who care about film. Locally owned and operated, the store’s objective is to bring Edmontonians the best movie selection at the most reasonable prices. They carry a wide range of videos and DVD titles for rent, including the most recent new releases, hard to find independent and alternative films, documentary features, cult classics, Canadian films, as well as an excellent selection of foreign titles featuring directors such as Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Wong Kar Wei. Movie Studio is a popular independently owned movie rental store located in the Garneau neighbourhood.
[edit] Events
Old Strathcona celebrates all year long. January brings Ice on Whyte, a sculpting competition and outdoor playground. June features Improvaganza, an invitational international improv festival, hosted by Rapid Fire Theatre. July is the busiest of all, starting with the Silly Summer Parade on July 1. Whyte Avenue closes down on July 9 for the Whyte Avenue Street Sale. In mid July, the Whyte Avenue ArtWalk puts more than 140 artists on the sidewalks of Old Strathcona. In August, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival welcomes hundreds of thousands of theatregoers and festival patrons. The fall brings the Edmonton International Film Festival and InterFEAR, a multi-medium Halloween-themed arts festival.
Old Strathcona has a year round farmers' market that requires all vendors to be primary producers. Edmonton's thriving market garden industry finds an average of 10,000 customers every Saturday.[citation needed] Customers are able to find fresh, locally grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers as early as March.
On June 17th 2006 the Edmonton Oilers won game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, while playing at home. As a result of problems during previous game celebrations the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) were present during game 7.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Plays The Thing in Old Strathcona. Real Estate Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
[edit] External links
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