by Kenn Enns

On the final Wednesday in June, Shelf Life Books hosted the book launch for Unlocking Queer Futures by the Queer Creators of Calgary. Featuring the work of one of our own booksellers among its contributors, the anthology reflects on life in Alberta and asks what the future could hold for the queer community, through a mixture of prose and poetry.

The bookstore was packed as attendees chatted between the bookshelves, and contributors signed one another’s copies of the anthology like yearbooks. Behind the refreshments for the evening, is evidence that our building has been bringing people together for decades.

Visitors might notice a striking Art Deco glass piece that overlooks Shelf Life’s event space, without realizing they are looking at the original logo of The Parkside Continental, one of Calgary’s legendary gay nightclubs. The Parkside Continental, along with its sister venue, The Green Room on the second floor, served as a hub for our city’s queer community throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Last summer, former co-owner of The Green Room, John Holt, restored and reinstalled the historic glass piece, reconnecting the bookstore with an important chapter of Calgary’s queer history. After discovering the original sign had survived for decades tucked away in a drag performer’s basement, Holt learned only a small portion of the glass needed to be replaced and began restoring the sign to its former glory.

He remembers the Parkside Continental as smoky, crowded, and full of life. “Think of the wildest, craziest disco party you could ever have, and multiply it by a thousand.” The Green Room upstairs featured a piano bar and nightly drag performances. Together, the two venues became a place for Calgarians to find their chosen families. Holt describes the bar as being one of the few places people could truly be themselves, as if walking into the bar was like flicking a light switch and finding safety.

The history of the building is one of the reasons Holt felt such a responsibility to preserve the signage when he learned it survived. “I felt an obligation to put it [back] in a condition where it could be seen publicly,” he said. “And it makes me very proud to see it still hanging there, I’m just fortunate enough to have been able to do that for the community.”

He says the sign has an ability to bring out stories from former guests of the nightclub, and as it did for the Parkside Continental decades ago, “speak to people today and let them know there was a safe space [here].”

The message continued to resonate long after the club closed. Earlier this year, former patrons of the club gathered in Calgary, travelling not just from across the city, but from across the country and the United States for a Parkside reunion, returning to reminisce about the place that shaped their lives.

In an interview with Calgary Gay History Project, Holt said: “Many memories were created in the walls of this building; some clear, some faded, some lost. It has played a vital role in our community. I celebrate bringing this piece of the past to the present. It belongs to all of us.”

The legacy of the Parkside Continental and The Green Room continue on, though now in a different form. Where Calgarians once gathered for drag performances and cabaret shows, they now gather for book launches and afternoons spent browsing the shelves (though there have been a few drag performances incorporated into book events!). While the building’s purpose may have changed, its role as a place for people to find a sense of belonging has stayed the same.

Calgary’s queer spaces may have changed over the decades, but the importance of finding community has not. Today, the building is once again filled with stories, only now shared through books and readings. But by preserving a crucial part of Calgary’s queer history, Holt hopes those stories continue to be shared and remembered. “These things need to be saved. They need to be talked about,” he says. “I can only imagine what this sign would say about itself, and [what] it witnessed.”

Alberta Queer History Reading Recommendations

• Cruising the Downtown: Celebrating Edmonton’s Queer History by Kristopher Wells
• Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary by Kevin Allen
• Unlocking Queer Futures: An Anthology by the Queer Creators of Calgary
• A Queer Map: A Guide to the LGBTQ+ History of Calgary from the Calgary Atlas Project
• Prairie Fairies: A History of Queer Communities and People in Western Canada, 1930-1985 by Valerie J. Korinek

For Calgarians interested in learning more, follow @yycgayhistory on Instagram or visit calgarygayhistory.ca to join the next walking tour, (which includes a stop inside the bookstore!).