The sun shines one final time on a still-standing Black Knight Inn. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

will be done in a few weeks

Demolition of Black Knight Inn begins

Mar 25, 2022 | 2:24 PM

The Black Knight Inn is coming down.

As rdnewsNOW reported last October, the building was up for sale with the intention of demolishing it sometime in 2022. It opened in 1977, 45 years ago.

Brett Salomons, partner at Salomons Commercial, now confirms that a sale is complete, though the buyer’s details and terms of the sale are being kept private for now.

READ MORE: ‘Iconic’ Black Knight Inn to be demolished after 44 years

But also visible to passers-by is the hotel’s conference centre being deconstructed.

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Salomons says the tower will be brought down using strategically placed platforms and a long mechanical arm.

“There was lots of interest both on the sale and lease side of things. The marketing from the start was to seek expressions of interest and develop a vision for the site, and it being 5.61 acres, there’s lots one could do with such a large space. We tried a bunch of avenues, and people have proposed a number of different things,” says Salomons, touching on the asset auction which happened in recent months.

“It had a good turnout. They raised a few hundred thousand dollars. A lot of stories were shared from people about their experiences with the Black Knight Inn, with the steak sandwiches coming up quite frequently. There were even some ghost stories.”

Salomons notes at least 20,000 bags of asbestos were removed from the building during remediation work.

Demolition of the tower is expected to be largely completed by the end of April.

Demolition of the former Black Knight Inn is now underway just off Gaetz Avenue at 30 Street in south Red Deer. The hotel has stood since 1977. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Demolition of the former Black Knight Inn is now underway just off Gaetz Avenue at 30 Street in south Red Deer. The hotel has stood since 1977. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)