CBC Calgary building to go up for sale as preparations made to move west

CBC employees in Calgary will be moving to a new location after the corporation'sboard of directors approved the sale of their longtime homeat 1724 Westmount Blvd. N.W.

The corporation announced Monday that the CBC would be moving to anew leased location at the Cambrian Wellness Centre at 1000 Veteran's Place N.W., which isabout four kilometres from the current location and just below the Foothills hospital.

CBC/Radio-Canada has been looking at all of its properties with the goal of selling its older buildings, said Johnny Michel, senior managing director ofCBC English Services inB.C. and Alberta.

CBC/Radio-Canada currently has too much space and many of the buildings we own are old, in need of repair, cost too much to maintain and, in many cases, don't suit our needs.- Johnny Michel,senior managing director ofCBC English Services inAlberta

"CBC/Radio-Canada currently has too much space and many of the buildings we own are old, in need of repair, cost too much to maintain and, in many cases, don't suit our needs," Michel said.

"As a result, we've been looking at our facilities on a location-by-location basis to evaluate the costs and benefits of selling our buildings to move into new, modern, leased facilities. Calgary is no exception."

The current Calgary building will be put up for sale, saidMichel.

The CBC saysthe design and construction process of the new, smallerbuildingis expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete, with the hope of moving in by July2017.

"The reduced space will not affect the services we deliver to our audiences,"Michel said."All programs and activities that are currently operated out of our existing location will move to the new facility."

The CBC first built a relay station at the present site on Westmount Boulevard in 1960, later building a transmitter and studio.

• How the CBC came to Calgary

Construction on the studio began in March 1964 and it was completed in September.CBR Calgary, as the station was named, assumed CBX's 1010 AM frequency.

CBR's 24-hour-a-day broadcasting began Sept. 30, 1964, at 11:59:40 p.m. Twenty seconds later, on Oct. 1, it began its first full day of regular broadcasting.