Old Citadel Still Singing

Historic building has been home to the holy and hot

Publication title: Edmonton Journal

Pages: B2
Section: City
Publication date: Jan 25, 2001
ProQuest document ID: 252841598
Copyright: Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Jan 25, 2001
Author: Sadava, Mike

If the walls of the Old Citadel building could sing, we would be hearing everything from Salvation Army hymns to the throbbing techno beat that fuels the rave culture.

And in between there would be a lot of drama, as the building housed Edmonton’s first professional live theatre. 

There has been a lot of change in and around the Old Citadel since its official opening 75 years ago today. 

The brick building at 10030 – 102 St. has been in the news lately because of the battle over the rave scene and the noise coming from the three clubs, Therapy, Lush and the Rev. 

The controversy is also a sign that some things never change.  Young folks always come up with new music and fashions.  Adults always complain. 

The Salvation Army Citadel was built in 1926 to house its church services, meetings and philanthropic works that have been its trademark for more than a century.  Built at a cost of $39,000, it was opened by Commissions Charles Rich, the Salvation Army’s western Canada superintendent, who said the work of the organization would be carried on with still greater devotion, now that they were in the new building. 

Designed by the local architectural firm of Magood and MacDonald, who also designed the St. Stephen’s College and the Tegler building, it was one of downtown Edmonton’s finest buildings.

It has a fortress-like appearance with a central tower and twin side towers, parapets as well as an arched entrance. 

And then there is the ornate brick, which is impossible to replicate today because it was baked in a type of kiln that went out of use in the ‘50s that left various hues of yellow, green and red in the purple bricks. 

These features put the Citadel on the city’s A list of historical buildings, which means the city would look askance at any development proposal that would involve levelling it.  But it does not have historical designation, which provides protection by bylaw.

The Salvation Army occupied the Citadel for 40 years, moving east to the 96th Street area to be closer to the people the organization serves, after the original location was surrounded by high-rises, says Adam Holm, public relations co-ordinator for the Sally Anne. 

In 1965, the building went through a major transformation, playing a very important role in Edmonton’s cultural life when a group of citizens led by lawyer Joe Shoctor started the city’s first professional theatre company – the Citadel.

The Salvation Army Citadel was transformed into a comfortable 277-seat theatre, complete with gold seats and chandeliers.

Starting with Edward Albee’s Who’s Afaid of Virginia Woolf, the building hosted 11 seasons of live theatre, everything from Henrik Ibsen to Neil Simon.  The great baritone Leon Bibb, whose bluesman son Eric sparkled at last summer’s folk festival, was the last performer at the Old Citadel.

Shoctor had spent almost as much time acting and producing plays, including five on Broadway, as he had practising law.  He was also a master fund-raiser, and by the mid-‘70s enough money had been raised to put up the current glass and brick version of the Citadel.

After the theatre moved out, it had a restaurant and was the set for Disco Days, hosted by Chuck Chandler. 

The building was soon purchased by hairstyle school magnate Frank Cairo, and the main floor transformed again into a huge classroom for budding beauticians.  It was also a place to get a cheap haircut. 

Since the mid-‘80s it has been the downtown home of rock ‘n roll, first as the Bronx and then the Rev.

Hundreds of local, national and international groups that later made the big time, including Nirvana and Green Day, passed through.  And since the mid-‘90s the building has also been the home of the two bass-thumping rave clubs.

Oliver Friedmann says the building gives it part of the cachet of his clubs.

“Part of the thrill for me in running the place is the building itself,” Friedmann says.

Even though the building was launched with hymns, the current loud styles are still music, after all, he says. 

For the first few years of running the club, they were picking up lots of hair clippings, and still find vestiges of the theatre when they do renovations, Friedmann says.

Holm has a live-and-let-live attitude towards the current use of the building, which is up for licence renewal.

“Once the building is sold, it’s sold, and we can’t get terribly concerned about it,” Holm says.

He has nothing against the building being used for nightclubs, but his main concern is that everybody frequenting the clubs gets home safely. 

Amen.