After seeing the Beatles in concert last spring, it was only a matter of time before I got around to seeing Michael Jackson too. Impressive, right? Okay, so they've all been impersonators, but that's not to say that they haven't been incredibly entertaining shows. This one by Vegas performer, Kenny Wizz, was no exception. His Michael Jackson was spot on all around. From the singing to the dancing, it really was a convincing act and we had an absolute blast pretending it was the real deal.
With the unexpected fun my sister and I had at the Beatles show in June, we thought it would be fun to do something like that again. At Christmas I saw an ad and decided to get tickets for the April 5 show at the Esplanade as a present for her. We're both big MJ fans and have a lot of memories listening to his music growing up, so there was no shortage of enthusiasm when it came time for the concert.
I joked last year about the crazy lady we sat next to, but this year I actually went to the show with her. I'm still not sure if my sister realized it wasn't actually Michael Jackson. She screamed and danced, and we both sang along to every song. You were also allowed to snap pictures, so I got some awesome shots of the concert. No question, we made the most of the show and quoted South Park's Mr. Jefferson more times than I can remember. It was a brilliant way to catch up, and clearly, a great time!
The old Imperial Bank building was constructed a hundred years ago in 1913, but today it's really only a shell of its former self. This downtown Medicine Hat building hasn't been a bank for decades, and the entire interior has been modified numerous times, leaving only scraps of what I presume was actually a really beautiful place at one time.
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The main floor of the building features two vacant commercial spaces divided by a staircase that leads to an office space and several apartments. The abandoned real estate office upstairs was like an eighties time warp, as it has been left as is.
Downstairs is where the last scraps of history seem to be hiding. The basement is pretty much derelict, but the wooden doors, frames, and two toned walls suggest that these would've been some nice bankers offices. The vault is now just a large concrete opening, and unless you knew this was a bank you probably wouldn't look twice at it. However, I did stumble onto a rather impressive surprise that I passed by several times before recognizing it.
Sitting under the basement stairs, covered in dirt and dust, there was the original vault door. This location hasn't been a bank for over 50 years, so to stumble onto the original door after everything else had been stripped away was pretty amazing. You could even see a painted border detail around it, and all of the hinges and handles were still intact.
It was a cool space, perhaps most because it quenched my curiosity about what had become of it. I fear parts of the interior are no longer worth salvaging though, and despite the beautiful exterior, I'm not shocked that it's remained vacant in its current state. The future of this location remains in question.
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