Just Like I Remembered It

Visited my old stomping grounds this week - Calgary. And some things don't change.

Although this did - this iconic location - The Cecil Hotel - has been shuttered for good. Because in the Calgary version of Webster's dictionary, iconic means "rubby dub".

This is the most derelict part of the city, the part they are trying....hoping....to clean up.

People used to shoot and sell crack right at the front doors. All day long.

And to make things better for city officials, the stoplight at this corner is where the expressway from the airport dumps people downtown and gives tourists their first feel of the city.

Here, some of the Cecil regulars approach me as I am snapping away.

Now I hear you say, you're stereotyping, no good, no good. So how do I know they're regulars?

"Hey, we were Cecil regulars. Wanna take our pictures?"

I politely declined......to take any more.

Although they shut down the Cecil about a year ago, these folks, and many others, are like extras in a George Romero film, night of the living drunks. They have no where to go.

Except this guy.

My cabbie said closing the Cecil has had some unintended side effects, though. Many bums, rather than hanging out here, now all head farther downtown to panhandle.

Not that there weren't enough of them there already. So city officials are back to scratching their heads. Those bums have outfoxed us again!

Thus ends another installment of "Slagging Downtown Calgary"......