Edmonton’s old army & navy building will soon be a Whyte Ave. social space

After its closure in 2020, the old building of the army & navy has a new owner and they plan to make it a social and retail hub.

The department store has been part of Edmonton’s history since the 1920s, but in 2020, the store shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“They’ve been closed for so long, but I used to go as a kid all the time, it’s sad that it has been closed for so long,” said Madeleine, Edmontonian.

The new owners are planning to bring the old building back to life.

“It is an important piece in the city because the people that grew up here, especially like everybody knows it, everybody has a story about it,” said Kevin Patterson, real estate vice president at Leder Investment. “It’s like a fixture on Whyte Avenue.”

Instead of making it a huge department store, they plan to transform it into a place for social gatherings and small businesses.

“We want to try to create something in the community that helps bring people together, and the basement is like a really strong element for that, but the more synergy and great tenant that we can bring together here, the more we can bring that momentum and draw people back to it,” said Petterson.

Petterson told CityNews, they are still working out what to do with the basement and have considered turning it into a roller rink. He added the roof may be a perfect spot for a rooftop patio.

“People on the street can look up and they can see activity and life and party up there,” said Petterson.

“We’re happy to see a huge 28,000 square foot space, like the army and navy building, be renovated and divided into smaller units,” said Cherie Klassen, executive director, Old Strathcona Business Association. “This effort can help reduce barriers, creating a cost-effective opportunity for new and independent businesses to establish themselves on a sought after main street like Whyte ave. Along with creating more opportunity to attract new business, the renovation of the army & navy site has the potential to have a very positive impact on the district by helping to attract further investment, and enhancing the streetscape of Whyte ave.”

Despite the new face, Petterson wants to preserve some remnants of the century-old store, from naming the building ‘a and n exchange’ and preserving  a brick wall.

“We found a bunch of old pieces of signage and whatnot that came with the building, and so our intention is to try to utilize some of these whether they show up in like common washroom or hallways or different common spaces,” said Petterson. “But to me, they’re like a neat part of the charm and the history of the building and we want to incorporate that with the project going forward.”