City committee looks at designating Plaza Theatre as municipal heritage resource

The City of Calgary's infrastructure and planning committee is considering designating the Plaza Theatre in the northwest neighbourhood of Kensington as a municipal heritage resource.

A document attached to today's committee meeting agenda says municipal historic resource designations ensure buildings are "conserved for all Calgarians, protecting against demolition or unapproved alterations to heritage elements."

The historic independent theatre in Calgary's Kensington district was originally built as a car garage in 1928. It was converted into the theatre Calgarians know today in the mid-1930s, according to a letter of support sent to the committee by Heritage Calgary.

The Plaza reopened in early 2022 — with a major revamp — after its doors shuttered when pandemic restrictions kept the public away from arts spaces.

Fatima Dobrowolski, long-term leaseholder and operator of the Plaza Theatre, said she worked with the building owners to apply for the designation after the city reached out to gauge their interest.

Fatima Dobrowolski is the long-term leaseholder and operator of the Plaza Theatre. (Ose Irete/CBC)

She said preserving the historic theatre was a big part of why she and her husband took over the lease. An added benefit of the designation, she said, is grant opportunities through the city.

"There was all this stuff we wanted to do to expand the experience ... but when you're dealing with a building that age, a lot of what you have to do are code upgrades," said Dobrowolski.

"You can apply for financial support of up to 50 per cent of a project cost, and that can be toward restoring historical features or upgrading to meet code requirements. It basically allows us to have a helping hand to do the things that we want to do as a business, but that ... wouldn't really be feasible for us."

Dobrowolski said she's optimistic that the designation will be approved, so that they can improve accessibility, increase capacity and participate further in community events.

"It felt like everybody was aligned and wanting it to continue to improve … but still be a community resource and a hub. We're really excited for that to happen."

131 Calgary sites formally designated

Josh Traptow, CEO of Heritage Calgary, submitted a letter of support for the proposal to the committee after the organization evaluated the sites for the city.

"Anytime buildings go forward for designation, we are quite happy to see that. Especially commercial non-residential buildings like the Plaza Theatre," said Traptow.

The redesigned interior of the Plaza Theatre in Calgary, Alta., on Dec. 13, 2022. The space features portraits and reimagined movie posters created by local artists. (Ose Irete/CBC)

Traptow said it's less common for non-residential buildings to go forward for designation.

"So to see the current owners see the value in maintaining the building as a heritage asset — that's always a really positive thing to see," he said.

Traptow said Heritage Calgary has an extensive evaluation process for historic buildings. They've evaluated over 900 sites in Calgary.

Currently, 131 sites have been formally designated, such as Fire Hall No. 1 in the city's downtown.

There are also three other buildings listed for consideration this winter: Cross Residence and Lawless Residence in Inglewood, and Nimmons Residence in Bankview.

Traptow says, if approved by the committee, the sites then go to council to formally pass the designation bylaws.