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It’s the end of an era for Jasper Avenue — and one that leaves a big gaping hole on Edmonton’s main drag.

This week, City TV will do its last broadcast from its studios in Enterprise Square, a.k.a. the old Hudson’s Bay building.

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Rogers Communications is moving all its broadcast properties, including City, World FM and Omni, from the downtown to its studios on Gateway Boulevard and 59th Avenue.

For Rogers it’s a simple business decision to bring all its brands under one roof. At one point there were more than 220 radio and TV broadcasters working the first and second floors of Enterprise Square. Today, there are fewer than two dozen left — a common story across the news industry these days.

For Edmonton’s downtown, though, it’s a particularly sad moment, since it leaves the magnificent old department store with no street-front animation.

For almost 20 years, that little TV station has been a huge part of downtown’s renaissance. A cast of true Edmonton characters including the likes of Mark Scholz, Ryan Jespersen, Stacey Brotzel, Bridget Ryan and Courtney Theriault brought their snap and fizz to the corner of Jasper and 102nd Street.