'It’s a sad day': Last call for the Cambridge Hotel on Pembina as it's set to close
It’s the last call at the Cambridge Hotel.
“It’s terrible. I mean, it’s like we’re losing part of the community,” said Don Benson, a regular of the ‘Camby’ for more than 50 years. “Everybody knows everybody here. It’s a sad day; that’s all I can say.”
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Winnipeg newsletters
The 86-year-old hotel on Pembina Highway is set to close its doors Tuesday. Owner Bryan Klein, whose family has owned the hotel since 1977, told CTV News this decision has been years in the making.
“It's time. You know the hotel is quite old. It was built in 1938 and it's had different additions and renovations, but it needs some new treatment,” he said. “Tomorrow night is the last hurrah.”
While Klein has sold the building, he is also a part of the new ownership group planning to build a six-storey mixed-use residential apartment block in its place.
READ MORE: Redevelopment proposed at site of Cambridge Hotel on Pembina Highway
Klein said demolition of the Cambridge Hotel and beer vendor will happen this winter.
It is the latest fixture along Pembina Highway to close its doors, making way for new developments revamping the entrance to Fort Garry.
Across the street from the Cambridge Hotel, construction is currently underway on a 12-storey mixed-use residential development where the old Pembina Hotel once stood.
“We're renewing Pembina in a really nice way,” Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort-Rouge East Fort Garry) said.
“I'm excited about it. I always could envision a better opening to Fort Garry... and these two bookends will be, I think, the legacy of these two institutions.”
Rollins said these developments bring needed density to an important transit corridor and add commercial stock to rejuvenate the space.
But it is the end of an era for long-time regulars – folks like Terry Dann, who said the 'Camby' has been the favourite watering hole of his rugby club for more than 50 years.
“I first started coming here in 1965 and it's been the place where the Wasps and other rugby clubs have gone for their post game beers ever since,” he said.
He and the club had one last round at the hotel on Saturday, recounting the decades’ worth of memories spent together at the ‘Camby’.
“All things come to an end, and I think it was a pretty good run, nearly 60 years.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa has sold its stake in Air Canada: sources
Two senior federal government sources have confirmed to CTV News that the federal government has sold its stake in Air Canada. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the government purchased a six per cent stake in the airline for $500 million as part of a bailout package.
Premiers disagree on whether Canada should cut off energy supply to U.S. if Trump moves ahead with tariffs
Some of Canada's premiers appeared to disagree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on his approach to retaliatory measures, less than a day after he threatened to cut off the province's energy supply to the U.S. if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat of punishing tariffs.
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
According to court documents, detectives reopened the cold case in 2017 and then worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet's partial femur, before sending the results to Identifinders International.
Travis Vader, killer of Lyle and Marie McCann, denied day parole
The man who killed an Alberta couple in 2010 has been denied day parole.
McDonald's employee who called 911 in CEO's shooting is eligible for reward, but it will take time
More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
Man who set fires inside Calgary's municipal building lost testicle during arrest: ASIRT
Two Calgary police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a suspect lose a testicle after being shot with an anti-riot weapon.
Country star Morgan Wallen sentenced in chair-throwing case
Country music star Morgan Wallen on Thursday pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts of reckless endangerment for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-storey bar in Nashville and nearly hitting two police officers with it.
Weather warnings for hazardous conditions in parts of Canada
Canadians experienced contrasting weather on Thursday, from warmer temperatures in the Maritimes to extreme cold in parts of Ontario, the Prairies and the North.
Police say suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing wasn't a client of the insurer
The man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was not a client of the medical insurer and may have targeted it because of its size and influence, a senior police official said Thursday.