Calgarians flock to Ramsay to say goodbye and good riddance to Lilydale poultry plant

Ramsay residents are saying "smell you later"to the former Lilydale poultry plant, as demolition is underway to clear room for the new LRT line slated for southeast Calgary.

On Wednesday, an excavator began the tear down of the inner-city abattoir, which was met with cheers from a crowd of Calgarians who came out to watch.

Ramsay has had a long, complicated relationship with the plant, which has been the source of unpleasant smells, loud noises, ammonia leaks and blood spills.

"On the days when the wind was just right and the temperature was just right it is a smell you just can't describe. It was not nice," said Ramsay resident Erin Joslin.

"Smell you later. I think that about sums it up."

But as the building came down, she said she had mixed emotions.

"It's an institution that has existed in Ramsay, and there's a lot of negativity with it, but there's also so many funny stories that go along with it, too. So it's kind of the loss of this weird thing. What other neighbourhood has a chicken factory in it, right?" Joslin said on the Calgary Eyeopener.

WATCH| An excavator starts ripping down the formerLilydale poultry plant:

Raw video from the start of the demolition of the former Lilydale poultry plant in Calgary

10 months ago

Duration 0:33

The Ramsay-area building is being taken down to make way for the Green Line LRT.

And the plant was the area's last connection to the gritty industrial zone it used to be, she said.

"It used to be the stockyards down there. But this was kind of that last piece and it seems so out of place," she said.

The plant now exists in a more modern form in the Dufferin North industrial area.

The demolition prepares the site for Green Line construction, which will begin in 2024.

Robin Tufts has lived in the neighbourhood since 1992. At that time, he thought the plant would be moved within years. Instead, he and others spent years pushing for a move.

"My family grew up in this neighbourhood with the plant. My kids have moved on and become adults and live in other cities now. But this plant has been a part of our life. And the hope of it being closed down shaped our family life," he said.

He said seeing the plant come down represents a transition that a lot of people worked a long time to create.

Demolition of the entire site will likely take around four to five months to complete, said Ryan Priestly, CEO of Priestly Demolition,who operated the excavator Wednesday.

"I've done a couple of crowd-pleasing events before, but this is definitely it's always fun to have people watch," he said.

In 2017, the City of Calgary began working with Sofina Foods to acquire the land occupied by the Lilydale building. In January 2022, the city took possession and began plans for the plant's demolition.

Darshpreet Bhatti, Green Line CEO, said getting the site ready for demolition was a time-consuming process.

"The biggest advantage of this acquisition wasn't just for LRT, it was really the opportunity for redevelopment. This is a pretty big site," he said.

"The city has been working on what possibly can come here, especially with the two stations that are north and south of this location. They'll be looking at what else needs to happen in this whole area and aligning with that."

In a media release, the city said it is anticipated that once main construction begins for the Green Line LRT, the location will be used partially for the future LRT alignmentand for construction staging.

Following construction, the land will be made available for development.