A BIGDoer.com Classic from 2018. It just might hold title as Calgary’s oldest service station still original in form and function. Or maybe the oldest period, no matter the qualifications. Here, tucked away in a corner of Lakeview Community, set back from all the hustle and bustle of the city, is Lakeview Husky. It’s a strange anachronism and is sure to turn a few heads – if you’re into this kind of stuff.
Pass it by and you’ll surely ask, what year is this?
This humble neighbourhood service station is a throwback to when things were done different and has all the old school elements. Full service at the pumps and repair bays are both something you don’t see much any more. They do have a convenience store of sorts (old gas station often didn’t), but it’s limited in selection and perhaps the only modern feature. The place looks like it’s right out of the 1960s…because it is.
Retro Service Stations: Lakeview Husky – the oldest in town? A little pop-culture fun with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
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This piece is from a few years ago and we brought it back for your enjoyment. Ours too and we really had fun making it. The context is from 2018 – keep that in mind – but we’ve added an update at the bottom of the post. Now on with the show…
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Lakeview Husky is pretty much as built and dates all the way back to 1963. The architecture of that era is so different from any other period and is instantly recognizable.
Old aerial photos show it was slightly smaller when built, but they expanded it to the current size soon after (demonstrated in another aerial photo). It looks like they added a third service bay to the right (north-facing) wall and at the same time, expanded the parking lot in that direction. This was all an empty field before.
We don’t think there’s a single service station in Calgary that’s still operating in 2018, that goes back this far. In fact, we were hard pressed to even find ones from the ’70s and ’80s, save for a couple exceptions.
Today’s subject is in contrast to the huge convenience store/gas bar combos of of today. Outside being a place to top up your tank, the current incarnations differ in nearly every way compared to this outlet. Their emphasis is on selling you something – junk food or some vice – while you stop in for a fill. In the old days, selling you some gas, new tires perhaps, or doing a brake job paid the way. And they knew you by name.
This community goes back to the early 1960s and is located on the north side of the Glenmore Reservoir (hence the Lakeview name). Busy Glenmore Trail on its south periphery sort of cuts off the area from the rest of the city. It’s a neighbourhood alone and by itself and if not for popular Glenmore Park, there would be few reasons for those not living here to pass through or visit. The area around Lakeview Husky almost has a small town vibe.
We’ve seen an old photo from the early days showing the gas station and it appears pretty much as it does today. Originally Lakeview Texaco it became Lakeview Esso after 1989. Esso Canada bought out Texaco Canada that year. It then became Lakeview Husky only a few short years later, in the mid-1990s.
In the past, there was another service station nearby and it went by the name of Lakeview Shell. It was a couple blocks north and in a shopping mall complex. Built about the same time as Lakeview Texaco/Esso/Husky/Esso, it lasted into about 2010-ish.
There is, incidentally, a Shell Station in another Calgary neighbourhood (Varsity) that’s housed in a very similar building to this one, only it’s newer by a couple years. Old phone books confirm it was always a Shell. While appearing similar, it doesn’t retain all the retro charm to this degree. It’s self serve, has pumps under a canopy, but it still has service bays in use, so it’s not far off in that regard at least.
That two completing firms, Shell and Texaco used such similar architecture is curious. Usually they wanted an image unique from anyone else. A visual search showed both used their respective (similar) designs extensively in the ’60s.
It’s believed Lakeview Husky is the oldest station in town and the next oldest found is that Shell we spoke of a couple paragraphs up (late ’60s). There was that place downtown by city hall, and it was older still (1950s), but it closed recently. It looked tired (and ratty) and didn’t have the time-standing-still charm of this one.
Lakeview Husky is full service and outside some Co-op stations today, in this part of the world, there a few others that offer this. When was the last time someone filled it for you? We bet it’s been a while.
Lakeview Husky has open islands, with no roof or cover to protect one from the elements and only a couple pumps. Very different. Many gas bars today can accommodate dozens of vehicles at a time, with six, eight or even more pumps and all are usually under a protective canopy. You sure appreciate that when it’s pouring out. The pumps out front are a fairly modern, however.
They have a humble convenience store and that’s practically unheard of today. They sell a bit of pop and chips or stuff like that. The mega-marts at most gas bars in 2018 are usually bigger, with aisle after aisle (after aisle…after aisle) of stuff that’ll clog your arteries and make a heart specialist cringe. But not here – to that degree anyway.
Lakeview Husky has service bays. Back when, this was the norm, and a good income stream (now it’s Slim-Jims and smokes) but ones like it are now few and far between. Of the hundreds and hundreds of gas stations in the city, we found only a small handful that do car repair. Interestingly many of those are Husky branded, but at stations newer than this.
Lakeview is not 24hrs. Yup, a regular nine to five, or what ever it is. We visited at 7-8pm-ish and no one was around. Anyway, this neighbourhood rolls up the sidewalks after dark, so there’s not much business to be had later on. They have bathrooms reached from the outside too and you probably have to ask for a key to open them.
In the 1960s and even into the 1970s, this is how a gas station worked. It’s from another era. From what we can see, business is pretty good here, so there might no reason for change. Seems they’re making it work, even if they’re one of the last doing it this way.
We didn’t see a ding-ding-ding air bell that announced when a customer drives in. But if they don’t have one today, I bet they used to. All service stations did. As kid it was fun to set them by jumping on the hose, much to the attendant’s annoyance, and then furiously running away as though you committed the crime of the century. We were hardcore troublemakers at ten!
Husky Energy dated back to the 1930s. They originally operated out of the US, but today are mostly a Canadian company. Of the all the big players in the industry, in this country, it seems they have the smallest presence in terms of number of stations. Some Husky outlets were formerly branded Mohawk.
Gas prices on our visit were about $1.38 per litre.
Seen out front of Lakeview Husky, the first time we dropped by, and we did so twice, is a beautiful 1940s Oldsmobile. Now that’s a ride! That colour…it gorgeous! That shine! That giant chromed grill! We’re not sure if it’s 60x, 70x or 90x series (the first two models are more common), all of which seem to share the same body and to us non-experts look pretty much the same.
We understand they differ mostly inside and under the hood. As usual, we didn’t look on the car itself, having been caught up in the moment while shooting and forgetting to do so. Silly us! We really should up our game when it comes to car IDing.
This body style was produced from 1941-1948 (varying slightly depending on the model) and by the numbers this one’s probably from the years ’46 to ’48 when production was the highest. Oldsmobile cars in Canada, from that era and based on our own observations, are not the most common. We’ve only seen a couple like it.
It seems this one’s from Northern Alberta based on the club plate seen. It reads McLeod Valley Classics Auto Club, Peers Alberta.
Updates 2025. It’s now called Lakeview Service/Lakeview Esso but still looks pretty much the same otherwise. They replaced the sign out by the road with something that lights up and it seems they stay open a bit later too (7am-9pm according to the Esso Home Office). Husky Energy ceased to be a few years back and sold all their assets.
When we snapped our current photo, the price of gas was $1.37, so not much different than in 2018 here. Lakeview Esso is still full service and they still repair cars (seemed busy too). It’s all pretty much as it was…now what year is this again?
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Date of adventure: October and November, 2018 + November 2025. Location: Lakeview neighbourhood, Calgary Alberta. Article references and thanks: City of Calgary Archives and the Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society (Phone Books).
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