Michael Blaustein MacEwan Hall-AB Calgary

MacEwan Hall-AB is an event center that is located on the grounds of the University of Calgary. Construction broke ground in April 1966 and ended in September 1967, with a total cost of $1.9 million. The architecture of the building is done by Stevenson Raines Barrett et al. The venue is occupied by The Gauntlet CJSW Radio. It was formerly under the ownership of the MacEwan Conference and Event Centre and NUTV. The hall is best known for offering exceptional value and inspired service.

The MacEwan Hall-AB was built for the sake of the Students’ Union of the University of Alberta, Calgary Branch. They had no location to call their own for years after moving to the new campus by 1964. The same year, a proposal was made to provide a community center that will serve as the social, cultural, and governmental center. The construction on the “SUB” (Students’ Union Building) started, and finally, MacEwan Hall-AB was completed.

The name was given to honor Lieutenant Governor Grant MacEwan, who was a former Calgary mayor. A food services area that seated 500, a bowling alley, a 1,000 person dining room and ballroom, a pool and ping-pong tables, a library, offices and meeting rooms, a fire pit lounge, a music lounge, and a few more facilities were added to the hall in the early 1970s. It won a City of Calgary urban design award in 1979 in the recreational building category.