Stephen Avenue

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Stephen Avenue is a major pedestrian mall in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The mall is actually the portion of 8th Avenue SW between 4th Street SW and 1st Street SE. It is only open to vehicles after 6:00 p.m. and before 6:00 a.m.. The street terminates at Olympic Plaza and Calgary city hall. It also intersects with Barclay Mall (3rd Street SW), another pedestrian mall that connects Stephen Avenue to Eau Claire Plaza.

The street is known for its restaurants, high end retail, art house movie theatres and its pubs. Stephen Avenue also sits adjacent to downtown Calgary's primary indoor shopping complex comprised of Calgary Eaton Centre, TD Square, Bankers Hall and Scotia Centre. The complex is anchored by Sears and The Bay. Some of the major luxury retail tenants on Stephen Avenue include Holt Renfrew (containing Chanel, Louis Vuitton & Tiffany & Co. boutiques), McNally Robinson Booksellers, Aveda Lifestyle Salon and Bang & Olufsen.

The street is also home to downtown Calgary's major convention and exhibition facility, the TELUS Convention Centre, and two of the City's most luxurious hotels, the Hyatt Regency Calgary, which incorporates several historic buildings into its facade, and the Calgary Marriott.

Unlike 17th Avenue, Stephen Avenue has never really been a major night spot in the city, although there are a few night clubs in the area. As of 2005, a campaign under the banner "It happens at the Core" is trying to improve its dynamics.

[edit] History

The street was named after Lord George Mount Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway^[1]. As one of the Calgary's oldest streets, it probably contains the highest concentration of registered historic buildings in the city and was thus declared a Canadian historic site in 1992^[2]. Most of these building are sandstone; a result of the construction of fire resistant buildings that followed a fire in 1886 that damaged much of the city.

[edit] References

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