The building that has served as the social hub for sailors at the Canadian Forces base in Halifax for the past 53 years — Fleet Club Atlantic — will be bulldozed this fall, and the club will be relocated to new quarters.

The pub and performance space — with a wood-panelled ceiling and upper balcony — was built in 1963 to serve the lower ranks at CFB Halifax. Higher-ranking members had to be invited in.

The building will be knocked down in early November to make a parking lot, and the Fleet Club will move to the ground floor of a new 300-unit housing complex being constructed next door to the old location.

Concert venue

Edward Roberts, who has been the general fix-it man at the club for the past 27 years, told CBC's Information Morning he has some good memories from his time working there, including a Kim Mitchell concert where all the breakers blew the moment the show started.

Roberts said the venue has also hosted April Wine, Trooper, Signal Hill and The Irish Descendants, among other musical acts.

Korey Tynes said a number of senior chiefs have re-visited the club during its final days to share their stories. (CBC)

Long line-ups

Long-time bartender, Brian Flemming, who started at the Fleet Club back in 1982, said it used to be the busiest bar in town.

"At one time, we were the only real bar in Halifax, so when I'd come in on a Sunday morning, you'd have about 40 people waiting outside to get in," he said.

The culture of drinking has changed in the military now, he said, so the club doesn't host as many big parties as it used to.

The Fleet Club Atlantic, which houses a pub and performance space with a wood-panelled ceiling and upper balcony, was built in 1963 to serve the lower ranks at CFB Halifax. (CBC)

Great kids

Flemming reminisced about the "bosses nights" at the club, where people were encouraged to invite their bosses in for a drink. He said 1,000 people used to show up and the festivities would last for hours.



It was hard work sometimes, Flemming said. "A while back ago we had 600 people here and I was on the bar by myself," he said.

But Flemming said the work makes him feel young. "The kids here are really great. They're polite, they treat us well."

Korey Tynes said it's "bittersweet leaving the old to move to the new. There are so many memories." (CBC)

Second home

He said the Fleet Club gives military members — especially those who are away from home — a place to socialize. "It's like a second home to them."

Master Seaman Korey Tynes, who oversees day-to-day operations as president of the mess committee for the Fleet Club Atlantic, said he remembers heading down there as a junior member for a beer or two with friends.

"The best part of it is everyone would talk about the stories that they have from their travels," he said.

The building will be knocked down in early November to make a parking lot, and the Fleet Club will move to the ground floor of a new 300-unit housing complex being constructed next door. (CBC)

Bittersweet

Tynes said a number of senior chiefs have re-visited the club during its final days to share their stories.

"It's one of those things that's bittersweet," he said. "Bittersweet leaving the old to move to the new. There are so many memories."

That said, the building is aging.

"I think it's time for it to go," Flemming said. "It's falling apart. Like, it's freezing here in the winter, and in the summer you roast to death, so it's not a comfortable place to work in."