Today’s Throwback Thursday photograph comes courtesy of the Collection of the Glenbow Museum Archives, and it’s of Alberta Block located at 804 – 1 Street SW taken in 1924.

The long time home of Cordon’s Palace of Eats, this building was built in 1903 by a group of eastern investors including Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona), R.B. Angus, E. Osler and Wm. Scarth.

Smith is well known in Western Canadian history as being the person who helped negotiate a settlement with Louis Riel to the Red River Uprising, and was a major stock holder in both Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson’s Bay Company.

The building retains its original metal cornice and frieze, and the building comprises offices on the upper floor and retail stores on the main floor.

Today, Alberta Block makes up one portion of Fashion Central, along with Hull Block and Macnaghten Block.

Fashion Central is a premier fashion destination that focuses on boutiques offering unique, innovative contemporary, cutting-edge and quality-driven fashion.  Featuring seven street-front shops and eighteen interior units, you can find both designer brand fashions not typically found in regular shopping centres as well as fashion designer boutiques.  If you’re in the market for style that you simply can’t find anywhere else, make sure to drop by Fashion Central!

And speaking of fashion, if you know of someone who exhibits style, you should nominate them as a 2012 Downtown Style Icon.  The deadline is June 18, 2012 and winners will become the face of Downtown Calgary’s Back To Style event in the Fall, along with winning a bunch of other cool prizes.  Be sure to include a picture and let us know their favourite things about downtown Calgary.

That’s it for this week’s Throwback Thursday. Tune in next week and every week in 2012 for more glimpses into the past of Downtown Calgary.

Do you have any photos of Downtown Calgary from the past that you’d like to share with us?  If so, send us an e-mail at info@downtowncalgary.com and it may appear in our weekly segment!

Calgary’s fashionistas and sartorialists were out in full force Tuesday night for the May edition of Runway Monthly at the Bank Nightclub in downtown Calgary.

As the cameras furiously clicked away, models showed off new collections from local designers Analog Heart, Bano eeMee, MaNoKin Design and Dionne Dionne. I really enjoyed looks from all the designers, each one bringing something completely different to the table, and impressing me with various pieces that ranged from high-couture evening wear to ready-to-wear office garb.

Runway Monthly is just a small part of the Calgary fashion scene, and downtown Calgary is full of unique stores and boutiques to have you looking your best. From elegant dresses and jewelery from the boutiques in Fashion Central, to the sharp men’s business attire of Harry Rosen downtown Calgary is a great shopping destination. The next Runway Monthly is Saturday, June 23rd!

If you know someone who exhibits style, you should nominate them (or yourself) as a 2012 Downtown Style Icon. The deadline is June 18th, and winners will become the face of Downtown Calgary’s Back To Style event (in addition to winning a ton of swag). Be sure to include a picture of yourself or your stylish friend, and let us know their favourite things about downtown Calgary.

For more information on all things Downtown Calgary, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and sign up for our Newsletter.

When Great Lake Swimmers bring their swooningly gorgeous brand of indie folk to town, as they did on May 7, nobody waits for two hours after eating before diving into the water.  The number of people who are willing to give up a gloriously mild May evening to squash into a wooden pew for a few hours is impressive.  Even more so when you consider that those who actually scored a pew were the lucky ones who got there early.

Opening the evening was Cold Specks, a 23-year-old from Etobicoke, who brought a spare, somewhat raw, rendition of her signature doom soul to the house.  Her set was a little devoid of banter, but it should prove interesting to see how her powerful voice and a gospel sensibility translate to a completely different setting, when she makes an appearance at the Calgary Folk Music Festival this summer.  One suspects she would give a powerful Sunday morning workshop.

Great Lake Swimmers, once a vehicle for Tony Dekker’s songwriting chops and achingly beautiful voice, have morphed over the years from a collective of musicians into a bona fide band.  With the recent addition of violinist Miranda Mulholland and upright bassist Bret Higgins, Great Lake Swimmers have a  newfound depth of sound in their live shows.  Lugging a stand-up bass around from city to city has got to be a gigantic pain, but it definitely adds a richness to the music, not to mention some pretty impressive visuals.

There’s a tendency for audiences in a church venue to maintain a respectful silence during a performance, and when that is combined with the natural acoustics of those soaring ceilings, you don’t miss a note.  Drawing heavily from their new release New Wild Everywhere, Great Lake Swimmers filled that sacred space with 90 minutes of rich, warm melodies.  They didn’t indulge in a great deal of chatter, but when you’ve got music from five critically acclaimed albums to share, it doesn’t leave you with a lot of time for banter.

You don’t see as many obligatory standing ovations at concerts anymore these days.  Thankfully that trend seems to have burned itself out.  So when the audience at Central United Church rose to applaud Great Lake Swimmers, it was a heartfelt tribute.  When Great Lake Swimmers then eased into a poignant cover of Gram Parson’s A Song for You to begin the ensuing encore, the entire congregation swayed collectively in their pews.  It was a fitting testament to the enduring power of music and the perfect way to end a great night of song.

Formerly known as The Microphones, and more personally known as Phil Elverum; Mount Eerie is a musical project that expertly combines lo-fi folk with the sprawling, atmospheric expansion of ambient music.

Mount Eerie will be supported by Chris Tenz and Nicolas Field this Wednesday, May 16th at the Central United Church for one of only two western tour dates.

Presented by Pint Sized Records, this all ages event occupies the beautiful Central United Church in downtown Calgary. The venue should leave ample space for the Washington native’s cinematic sounds to rise up and fill the venue with his hushed brand of folk.

Tickets are $15 in advance and are available at Sloth Records or from the Pint Sized Records website. Tickets will also be available at the door for $20, or if you’d like to WIN 2 FREE tickets to the show, then please leave a comment or tweet to @DowntownCalgary to be entered to win!

If you’re on Stephen Avenue be sure to check out some of the vendors that have popped up. One of our first artisan vendors is Anne B. Accessories, selling a unique collection of jewellery that is designed by Anne and handmade in the Philippines.

From chunky and chic, to sharp and conservative Anne B. Accessories appeal to many tastes and fashions. The jewellery is made from a number of natural materials including shell, wood and coral. Check her out over the lunch hour, or stop by after work and see all that this local designer has to offer.

Her booth is setup outside Scotia Centre she accepts Visa, Mastercard and Interac. Be sure to visit her website for more information.

This week’s Throwback Thursday photograph comes courtesy of the Collection of the Glenbow Museum Archives, and it’s of the art sculptures located at 515 Macleod Trail SE right outside the old Calgary Education Centre taken in 1971.

Called The Family of Man (also known as the Brotherhood of Mankind), these sculptures were created by Spanish artist Mario Armengol,  who was commissioned to create them for Britain’s Pavilion at Expo 67.  The sculptures were designed to inspire two moods:  An immediate reaction to man dominating, followed by a contradictory feeling of insignificance and dependence.

At the end of Expo 67, Robert Cummings purchased the sculptures on behalf of Maxwell Cummings and Sons, who then donated them to the City of Calgary in 1968.  A special citizen committee reviewed various offers of sites for the statues before ultimately settling upon the area in front of the old Calgary Education Centre, and they were a part of the Calgary Board of Education’s logo for many years.

The statues are 21 feet high and are placed in groups with hands extended in gestures of goodwill and fellowship.  A staple of the downtown Calgary art scene, these statues have greeted Calgarians for years as they’ve commuted through the core and have become a beloved presence.  They’ve even been the subject of a yarn bomb by a local artist.

That’s it for this week’s Throwback Thursday. Tune in next week and every week in 2012 for more glimpses into the past of Downtown Calgary.

Do you have any photos of Downtown Calgary from the past that you’d like to share with us?  If so, send us an e-mail at info@downtowncalgary.com and it may appear in our weekly segment!

Mark Bellamy, the artistic director of Vertigo Theatre, first fell in love with Sweeny Todd over 25 years ago. “I think I first discovered the show when I was in university,” he says, “so probably like, 1983?”
Bellamy is finally directing his beloved musical. And he wants to go out with a bang.

“It’s a very human story at its core,” he explains when asked what he connects with personally, “I’ve always been a fan of Stephen Sondheim, and I think that this is his masterpiece.” It seems rather fitting, that in his last show as artistic director at Vertigo Theatre, he be able to put on a masterpiece. “It’s pretty exhilarating,” he exclaims.

Sweeny Todd has been described as the Shakespeare of musical theatre. The story of the murderous barber has been depicted on stages and on film. There are a lot of challenges to putting it on. Some Bellamy struggled with more than others. “Figuring out how to make the blood work,” he says, “we went a different route than a lot of productions. We decided to do something much more theatrical, that involves blood being thrown. So trying to figure out how to lessen the splatter and not drench people back stage [was a challenge]”
Casting for the roles in the musical was the biggest challenge for Bellamy. “You have to get the right people, in the right roles, not only just who can sing it, but who are going to be able to do it 8 times a week,” he says, “[people] who are going to connect with the characters, who are going to work together as an ensemble, and I think we have a remarkable cast.”

Once he’s done, Bellamy will be done in his role at Vertigo Theatre. What’s in store for him? “Relaxing,” he says with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to connecting with other forms of theatre,” he adds. “It’ll be nice to have a different mind for a while.” Not to worry though, as Bellamy will be back in the theatre community freelancing as a director and an actor.

In the Getting Down series, both Simon Mallett and Jamie Konchak have said that they were looking forward to seeing  Sweeny Todd. “I was really looking forward to Mary’s Wedding at ATP,” Bellamy says when asked what he had been looking forward to, “I thought it was just a spectacular production.”

“I’m looking forward to next to normal at Theatre Calgary,” he states when asked about next season. “It’s really challenging, interesting, edgy, contemporary work.”

The play about the murderous barber opens at Vertigo Theatre tonight. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

Last Friday’s back alley opera event ‘Alley-Oop’ went off without a hitch, and judging by the audience’s reaction to this once in a lifetime event, it was a hit.

Ticketed audience members and bystanders alike were a buzz with ‘oohs’ ‘aahs’ and everything in between. Young and old, opera fans and passers by could not help but comment on how interesting and unique the event was.

Cameras and smartphones were high in the air as everyone hope to capture the experience, and share it with their friends in family. Since this was a one night only affair, we wanted to ensure we share the memories the best we can. The following are tweets, pictures and videos all shot at the event in hopes you can relive some of the magic.

Video via @immrfabulous

Video via @LonnieTaylor

You can also check out our Storify for the event. We’ve compiled some of the tweets, pics and videos that people posted during the event on this new social media website.

Food truck alert! There is some absolute foodie goodness rollin’ into a downtown neighbourhood near you. Its pretty obvious that both myself and the city of Calgary have a love of crepes and gelato. They keep popping up around, taunting us with their deliciousness.

First up, Calgary’s fave gelato-makers Fiasco Gelato have just debuted some fresh new flavours from summer. I had to run out right away to try them to make sure they were okay for public consumption (they totally are – though I do admit I thought about keeping it a secret!).

The flavours we tried:

Salted Caramel: Definitely our favorite of the trio. The sweet and salty goodness melted our hearts.

Blueberry Basil: A little bit of savoury spice makes this potentially too-sweet gelato perfectly balanced.

Burnt Sugar Chocolate Banana: All I can say is WOW! A ton of flavour packed into this deliciously melty chocolate gelato.

Also, have you heard about Holy Crepe? Its one of Calgary’s newest food trucks hitting the streets and its stacked to the brim with delicious crepes for you to indulge in. With breakfast to lunch to dessert – this truck has your three square meals packed away for you.

I think the real winner on this truck is the Sweet Jesus, their signature sweet crepe. Essentially “picked straight from the forbidden tree” this crepe is chock-full of yummy fruit and maple syrup drizzle. Whipped cream is mandatory!

When I hit the streets to Street Style Huntress for Downtown Calgary, it’s usually very easy for me to spot stunning and fashionable ladies. But it’s been the gentlemen of Calgary that have been turning my head this past month. With the sunny weather, and sometimes not so sunny, some lovely menswear has appeared on our streets and I’m happy to report that I’m impressed with what I’m seeing.

Menswear to me means so many things, and the great news is that it’s really on the up-rise. I feel that in the past few years especially, more emphasis has been placed on what a male might choose to put on, and if you really pay attention, there are a lot of great options out there. From cool eyewear, to funky shoes, there’s much to play with…A lot of the men that I’ve had the opportunity to chat with about their style are really big into online shopping, which really opens up the doors to more stylish options, smaller designers, local designers and finds that might not be so easily accessible otherwise.

I’m personally really drawn to classic and tailored menswear looks (there’s nothing sexier than a suit), but this month I explored a little bit of casual, from baseball hats to leather jackets…and of course, amazing glasses!

Aaron L. – Love the glasses and scarf! Aaron keeps it casual and cool.

I love plaid, and Jason D. knows how to rock it with a great pair of glasses and baseball hat to finish off his style.

Aleem A. is the man behind Bano eeMee, and the leather jacket is one of his own designs. I went crazy over it, and when he mentioned doing a menswear line in the future, I almost lost it completely. Yes, please do!

Jaron W. keeps is sleek and classy with a dark navy wool coat and brown boots. He adds splashes of fun with the striped gloves and buttons on the jacket, and of course, yet another pair of stand out glasses!

Naleez H. gives his look a great nautical feel with the boat shoes and stripes!

Since I’m dedicating this month’s post to the men of YYC, I would also like to take this opportunity to take it a step further and give a shout out to those I’ve already photographed in the past. Throughout the time that I’ve been Street Style Hunting, I’ve had the pleasure of capturing a lot of great style, so here are a few of my favourites from the past year, some of which you may have already seen…

If you know anyone, man or woman who should be a Downtown Calgary Style Icon then check out the nomination form on our website: Style Icon Nomination Form