Angel’s Cafe is resuming operations in a city near Calgary, after being forced to close its doors in Edworthy Park earlier this year to make way for replacement work on the Bearspaw feeder main.

Owner Cathy Jacobs confirmed Irvine Tack and Western Wear, about 50 kilometres north of Calgary, has offered to help recreate Angel’s during the construction period.

“We’re really sad to leave our community,” Jacobs told CBC Radio’s The Homestretch on Wednesday. “But, you know what, we can’t sit around.”

The City of Calgary has agreed to move the café structure off-site and store it for up to three years at its expense, city officials told CBC News in a statement. 

City officials said the building must be removed by March 8 before water restrictions come into effect, and crews begin excavation work on the site. 

Jacobs said a team of volunteers has spent the last two weeks cleaning out the building.

“We’ve never worked so hard — 14 hour days, 16 hour days — to try to do everything possible to make this move workable,” she said. “Now it’s in the hands of the city.”

In January, Jacobs told CBC News the city had notified her the café’s lease would be terminated. They were evicted from the property on Feb. 22.

Some business owners in the Bowness and Montgomery areas have expressed concern about the potential side effects of the city’s plan to replace the feeder main, following two catastrophic breaks in the span of 18 months. The city is working on building a new steel pipe parallel to the existing one, which will eventually take over service. 

“Angel’s Cafe will have an opportunity to reopen once all work is completed and it is safe to do so,” the city’s statement said.

Costs for the relocation have not been finalized, the city said. The plan is to dismantle the structure into four parts, then transport the pieces to a city storage facility.

It is unusual for the city to pay for businesses to store their goods, city officials told CBC News in an email. Even though Angel’s Cafe owns the building, given the tight timeline for removal, the city said it was better positioned to take on the move.

A loss for the community

Angel’s Cafe has operated in Edworthy Park for nearly 30 years, beginning as a food truck in 1998. 

Jacobs said upon finding out she would have to close the business she “cried for the woman who worked so hard to build what we have today.”

“Then I cried for our community because honestly, without our community, none of what we’ve done in the last 28 [years] really matters,” she said.

Calgary resident Ethan Hagarty said the move is “a sad loss for the community.” Speaking to CBC News as crews worked on dismantling the building, he said he has fond memories of the place, including meeting his girlfriend there.

“She was a server there, and about two weeks before it closed I met her there, and it’s a beautiful interaction that thankfully is continuing afterwards,” he said.

Hagarty added he’s glad Angel’s Cafe has found a new location, which he hopes to visit.

Still, he said it will be strange to not see it every day.

Partnership a ‘no-brainer’

The partnership with family-owned Irvine Tack and Western Wear will see Angel’s move into a kitchen included in Irvine’s new expanded location. 

Owner Leanne Irvine said they had been looking to expand their business and open a restaurant, and when they learned Angel’s was losing its spot, offering them a place was a “no-brainer.”

“We just meshed together,” Irvine said. “It was just kind of meant to be.”

They hope the restaurant will be ready to open in the next four to six weeks.

Jacobs said she is still attached to the Edworthy Park location and hopes to return there as soon as possible. But she’s also optimistic about the new location.

“We just fell in love with this family,” she said. “They’re just amazing people, and it’s a real win- win situation.”