According to my memory and a 1995 article from the Edmonton Journal on the occasion of IKEA's grand opening at the Whitemud Drive location:
- Opened in Edmonton in 1978 -- 50th Street & Sherwood Park Freeway location
- Moved to West Edmonton Mall -- likely in 1985 when Phase 3 opened
- Moved to Calgary Trail & Whitemud Drive (old Eagle Hardware location, more recently Finesse Furniture) in 1995
- Moved to present South Edm Common location in 2003
I didn't listen to CHQT much in the early 80s, but my parents did. I remember on the morning show, every Friday they would have a guy singing this country-westernish song about "the last seven days", recapping the events of the previous week.
Wow. AADAC has at least one archived copy of Zoot Capri magazine from the early 80s. Click on the magnifying-glass to browse inside.
http://tinyurl.com/j56awr4
Like most Alberta youth my age, I got unsolicited deliveries of that magazine for a few years.
Looking back, I wonder how effective it really was at keeping kids away from substance abuse. It seems to me it might have been simultaneously too square and too cool. Too square, because most of my peers seemed to view it as just some goofy educational thing that adults want you to read for your own good. And too hip, because it had articles on things like "Best Places To See A Rock Concert In Edmonton", whereas, if we're being totally honest, a kid's chances of smoking a joint likely increase if he goes to a rock concert.
So, the cool kids would have thought it was too square, and the square kids would have been encouraged to do the kind of things that increase their exposure to recerational substances. That said, I will admit that I was a (pretty square) fan of Zoot, and I wasn't inspired to go to rock concerts and take drugs.
Last edited by overoceans; 13-01-2017 at 04:43 AM.
I stumbled across this thread when I was searching for other information. I thought it deserved to be BTT. This “I Remember When” really got me going. I basically grew up in Old Strathcona. Reading this thread had brought forth so many memories - I remember them too!
I was born in 1964 at the General Hospital on 111 St & Jasper Ave. Mom said we lived in an apartment above Strathcona Furniture. I remember living in suites in houses on 99 St-83 Ave. Then an apartment on 102 St-83 Ave by the train tracks. I remember my parents’ friends staying overnight and saying the next day “the train woke me up” and we would say “what train” cause we were so use to it we never heard them. Then we moved to an apartment that was built on the site of the houses we had lived in on 99 St. I know/knew the area very well.
Changes to Whyte Avenue between Bonnie Doon Mall and 112 Street since about 1970, I remember many of them. Changes to BD Mall - I remember. Same with the downtown core - I remember. Mill Creek area around 82 Avenue, I remember. So many places - I remember. Many of the major news events, local celebrities, tv shows - I remember. Many of the old posts - I could bump so many of them - I remember.
Oh, how I remember!
Another Garlic City classic.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...tion-1.4361352
' Emmonites ' !
Top_Dawg loves it.
^ This was probably brought up from the archives because Mike Tyson's Undisputed Truth is at the River Cree on Nov 25. I think this is a speaking engagement with him lisping away about his life.
“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012
An inglorious event.
Don King, in all his flamboyant reverence, referred to locals as Edmonites. Mike Tyson stated, "Most cities I've fought in were, like, cities." In reality it was cancelled due to Tyson's condition of poor ticket sales.
I remember a shop on Whyte Avenue in the 80s/90s that sold all variety of cigarettes, and there was a counter where people would sit around and smoke and chat, like a bar. It was one of the places where you were able to buy single cigarettes.
Can't recall the name, but it was in Old Strathcona somewhere, probably towards 109th on the north side of the street.
Does anyone remember a instrumental from the late 50's or early 60's (I think) and it had a title that was something to do with space (space race etc).
I remember a family member playing it from a C D. I can remember the tune but that's about it and it's driving me a bit crazy as I knew the name of it but just cant think of it right now.
Gone............................and very quickly forgotten may I add.
^ Telstar by The Tornados, maybe?
Nisi Dominus Frustra
Yeah, that might be it. I can't believe it's still there. I was sure that they would have somehow been in violation of the new tobacco-sale laws.
You used to be able to go into a back room, and they had all the packages on display, sort of like a museum. But now I'm assuming they'd all have to be behind the counter and covered up.
^ At the very least, I doubt it's a smoking-bar anymore, since you can't smoke inside businesses.
Plus all the modern technology.
To Top_Dawg's recollection, all the cigars and tobacco at Burlington's are now stored in humidors.
^ Cool. Glad to be of assistance.
Nisi Dominus Frustra
Any old timers know more about this? Where was this?
https://twitter.com/si_vault/status/937725086399975425
SI Vault @si_vault
Fun Fact: Warren Moon operated a chocolate chip cookie store in Edmonton while playing in the CFL
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“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012
Not sure where, but that apparent baker is Warren Moon - and a pretty young one too.So I'm guessing early eighties - latter half of the Eskies five-Grey-Cups in-a-row dynasty.
... gobsmacked
According to comments on https://twitter.com/wmoon1/status/83...816064?lang=en it was in WEM.
I am in no way entitled to your opinion...
Yes WEM. Seems to me it was on the south side of the ice palace
There used to be a movie theatre just south of Jasper Avenue, a Cineplex Odeon I believe, a bit east of the High Level Bridge.
Was this called Park Plaza? And if so, did it stand where that big read building called Park Plaza is now?
^ Was this theatre near the Chateau Lacombe?
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
Quite possibly. I was originally thinking that's where it was, but that would put it somewhat east of the building called Park Plaza.
Crossing the street east from the downtown Mason's Hall, is that a vacant lot? Maybe that's where the theatre was.
I also vaguely remember that it was near a building called the Weinlos building.
^ Actually that lot across the street from Chateau Lacombe has been vacant (if memory serves) since ~ 1985 and maybe even earlier. I remember being in the Chateau Lacombe's Blackbeard restaurant 1978 but I don't have a recollection of the area.
Last edited by envaneo; 09-12-2017 at 12:53 PM.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
The Strand was also around in 1978, the Rialto was just off Jasper Ave. I saw Battlestar Galactica the movie before BG became a TV series.
About the vacant lot though across the street from the CL i don't think it was ever developed.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
^ And I saw The Titanic that same year.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
^ That's the one. I recall the Rialto had stadium seating.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
^ What years?
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
^ I know, I was asking overoceans
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
^^ I don't know of any stand alone movie theater around the CL area
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
How about the Principal Plaza Theatre on 10032 103rd Street? It was operating between 1982-1989.
Never been much of a moviegoer, but remember going to a couple of drive-ins, one on 50 St. just north of the Whitemud and another in St. Albert.
Nisi Dominus Frustra
Yeah, I was always into movies. My favourite hang outs were the Paramount, Odeon, Rialto, Capitol Square, Londonderry, Westmount and the Plaza. Went to a few drive-ins at the beginning, like the Twin Drive In.
Yes, Cinema Center and Eaton Center Cinemas were the same. I believe it's now run by the Landmark chain. And still in the same location.
It's quite possible the equipment from the Principal Plaza was relocated to Cinema Center after they closed. The timeline fits alright.
Thanks for all the help everyone, especially skichuk.
So, going by what I found on google, I guess the Principal Plaza was right across the street from All Saints Cathederal?
Yup. And the theatres there were tiny. But it was the first multiplex. There were a couple of twin theatres but this is the first one with 8, if I recall correctly.
Imagine having a movie theatre beside a morgue, uggh.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
I guess that funeral home is now closed? Not sure if I was aware of that.
https://tinyurl.com/y8uxkhj9
Depressing post-Xmas memory...
I remember when the Christmas lights on Whyte Avenue consisted of a bunch of single-wires, each strung from one side of the street to the other, with lights on them. This would have been the late 70s or so. It really drove home just how much of a pathetic, has-been of a street Whyte was in those days.
Late 70s. Hmm. I can’t recall much from then but I do know that within a couple years Whyte was full of great little shops and restaurants that lasted for a number of years and I spent a lot of time there with various people. That was before all the bars took over where I’d say it entered its depressing phase.
I don't mean to be overly negative, but let's put it this way. There was a time when Whyte Avenue hosted two porn theatres, the Princess and Studio 82, within a few minutes walk of one another. Nothing against porn, but two theatres of that nature is usually not considered a sign of cultural or economic vitality.
And yes, it was the early 80s when things took off for the better. By the time I became aware of the Princess around '82 or so, it was showing art films and classics, and I think Studio 82 closed down shortly afterwards.
The bar-strip era has indeed been a downer, though for somewhat different reasons than the 70s dead-zone was. And personally, if I had to choose, I'd take the 70s over now for Whyte Avenue culture. I still prefer the area east of the tracks, where some of that old culture still remains, than the area between the Strath and 109th.
I lived there then. 103, 9725-82 ave. it was called Marplex Manor in those days. A different name now. Frequented the Strath, Commercial, the Park, the Inn on Whyte was new then. Shopped at Safeway across the bridge, now a thrift or goodwill store. Went to Fullers restaurant everyday for years, now Humptys. Went to Studio 82 now and then. The Gainers plant was still there then on Mill Creek ravine and the tracks still made their way there, now a trail. Amazing how the meat packing plants, which employed thousands, all left town. The Gendalls trailer factory was on 99st and I worked there. There was the Bruin Inn across from 99st News, later Owl drugs. Used to hang out in the Bruin Inn and play the Juke Box a lot. Walked the ravine a lot. Hung out with Richie people. Had a lot of fun in those days. Lots more stuff but that's 40 and more years ago now. Time flies.
Princess Theatre played porn? News to me. I seem to recall restoration work and then lots of interesting old movies. Moreover I think that I was going there before I had two long term girlfriends (at two diffferent times) living just off Whyte, so that’s why I spent more time on Whyte in the ‘80s.
1978
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prin...tre_(Edmonton)
Last edited by KC; 07-01-2018 at 10:11 AM.
Yep. I swear to God, I didn't make that edit on wikipedia!
Though I didn't realize they had ended their involvement with the genre as long ago as 1976. I'm now wondering if they were showing it at the same time as Studio 82, or if Studio picked up the slack after the Princess switched to Rep.
Thanks for the memories, Drumbone. Was the Marplex located in the same row of buildings as the Red Lantern etc? I had numerous friends who lived in various buildings in that stretch over the years, most notably the Tessier.
I used to live on 81st Ave behind the car dealership with my first wife 1981, and I don't recall the Christmas lights on Whyte at the time.
Mom said I should not talk to cretins!
Thanks Spill and Drumbones for confiring that I didn't just hallucinate those drab Xmas lights.
A google on "Whyte Avenue Christmas lights" turned up this image. Tastefully modest, without a sign of the single-stringers anywhere.
Back to the cinematic culture, someone from Ritchie once told me that Studio 82 used to show kids films on Saturday afternoon, during the same era when they were mostly showing nudies. I'm guesing that would cause a bit more of an outcry if someone tried it today; probably a few lawsuits after some parents found out where their kids had gone to see Pete's Dragon.
Last edited by overoceans; 08-01-2018 at 04:44 AM.
Do you mean under the auspices of the Edmonton Film Society? The Society was still using that venue as of December 2015.
https://tinyurl.com/y8t6ko6q
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