Downtown Debate Club
A century ago, the Camrose Canadian Club was the toniest time-killer in town. While billiard tables took up the main floor, an upstairs reading room offered international periodicals as fodder for heated discussions.
by Scott Messenger
But for a club dedicated to fostering citizenship, it was surprisingly exclusive: women were barred for all but one day a week. After the club dissolved in 1918 and this provincial historic resource served as courthouse, city offices, an Alberta Treasury Branch and municipal library, it’s again encouraging debate as Merchants Tea and Coffee House, owned for nearly four years by Camrosian Cory Sabeski. Drop by on a Monday morning and you might find scholars from nearby Augustana University pondering religion, politics and society over freshly baked goods. “We’ve come full circle, now that you mention it,” says the 30-year-old Sabeski. Well, there is one important difference: everyone’s welcome, anytime, boy or girl.
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