Old Strathcona Community Information

Old Strathcona is a district located on the southside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, near the University of Alberta. The district centres on Whyte Avenue (82nd Avenue), which is home to numerous shops, restaurants, popular nightlife spots and buskers.

Old Strathcona was once a separate city, achieving town status in 1899 and city status in 1907. The City of Strathcona amalgamated with Edmonton in 1912. A large part of the popularity of Whyte Avenue is due to its character buildings. The oldest commercial building is the Strathcona Hotel, built in 1891 with the coming of the railway. Wooden buildings in the area were built before 1902 when the Town of Strathcona passed a bylaw requiring the building of brick buildings to prevent the fires that were devastating so many prairie towns. Much of the current brick stock was erected during the 1910-1912 boom that brought thousands of settlers west. Old Strathcona is one of very few areas left in Canada with a "first generation" building stock. In 2005, Edmonton City Council sent a letter to the Province of Alberta requesting heritage status for the area.

Over time, the area has become the premier entertainment strip in Edmonton, although it has lacked alternative music venues since the 90's heyday of the People's Pub and Rebar there is a strong revival of music venues on Whyte Ave with Pawn Shop, Urban Lounge On Whyte and Filthy McNasty's all offering live entertainment for all genres. The Commercial Hotel's "blues on Whyte" club still has live music every night. The primary location for pubs, nightclubs and lounges on Whyte Avenue is between 99 and 109 Street (the area commonly referred to as Old Strathcona) with the majority of clubs directly on Whyte Ave. or just off Whyte Ave. and on side streets.

Whyte Avenue arguably remains the centre of Edmonton's alternative lifestyles, containing various independent clothing and other types of shops catering to a variety of alternative subcultures (ranging from hippie to raver to goth etc). Clothing is the fastest growing business trend in the area, with well-known retailers such as Avenue Clothing Co., Foosh, Colourblind, Divine, Top Gear Scooters, Queue, Lemonwink Clothing, Plush, Sophia's and American Apparel highlighting the avenue. Old Strathcona was a bastion of small, local and independent business.

Old Strathcona is home to a vibrant independent theatre scene, with eight theatre companies operating out of several buildings in the neighborhood, including the Varscona Theatre, Transalta Arts Barns, Walterdale Playhouse and Catalyst Theatre. The Varscona Theatre alone is home to five award-winning companies: Shadow Theatre, Teatro la Quindicina, the variety show Oh Susanna! and improvisation troupes Die-Nasty and Rapid Fire Theatre. Every August, Old Strathcona plays host to the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, the largest Fringe Theatre event in North America. Edmonton historian Lawrence Herzog has called the diversity of material being produced in the Old Strathcona Theatre District "wide and astonishing."

Old Strathcona is also known for its art house theatres, "The Princess Theatre" and "The Garneau Theatre". They are both owned by Magic Lantern Cinemas. The Garneau is Edmonton's home for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Garneau Theatre also hosts the Edmonton International Film Festival. Old Strathcona is also home to Alternative Video Spot. Located in the heart of Old Strathcona, Alternative Video Spot is a small business that caters to people who care about film. Locally owned and operated, the store's objective is to bring Edmontonians the best movie selection at the most reasonable prices. They carry a wide range of videos and DVD titles for rent, including the most recent new releases, hard to find independent and alternative films, documentary features, cult classics, Canadian films, as well as an excellent selection of foreign titles featuring directors such as Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Wong Kar Wei. Movie Studio is a popular independently owned movie rental store located in the Garneau neighbourhood.

Old Strathcona celebrates all year long. January brings Ice on Whyte, a sculpting competition and outdoor playground. June features Improvaganza, an invitational international improv festival, hosted by Rapid Fire Theatre. July is the busiest of all, starting with the Silly Summer Parade on July 1. Whyte Avenue closes down on July 9 for the Whyte Avenue Street Sale. In mid July, the Whyte Avenue ArtWalk puts more than 140 artists on the sidewalks of Old Strathcona. In August, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival welcomes hundreds of thousands of theatregoers and festival patrons. The fall brings the Edmonton International Film Festival and InterFEAR, a multi-medium Halloween-themed arts festival.

Old Strathcona has a year round farmers' market that requires all vendors to be primary producers. Edmonton's thriving market garden industry finds an average of 10,000 customers every Saturday. Customers are able to find fresh, locally grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers as early as March.