Though it’s said beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I sometimes wonder if eyesores tend to be more universal.

I ask because most Edmontonians keen to architectural aesthetics seemed relieved to see bulldozers begin to rip down the old Baccarat Casino this week. It’s a building that has been pilloried as one of the ugliest structures ever to sully the city’s skyline, although I think it’s more accurate to describe it as an example of how tastes change over time.

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In fact, when it opened in 1996, the casino was seen by many as a welcome relief of colour and fun in an area of downtown that had little else of note.

Architect Gene Dub told the Journal at the time he designed the Baccarat ”to look like a play area for adults,” with segments of red, yellow, blue and green that were intended to suggest a pile of children’s blocks.

Whatever the case, the progression of 21st century style was not kind to the Baccarat. And with the facility now being razed to the ground, it leads one to wonder what other Edmonton eyesores might also deserve to become ex-buildings, or at least redeveloped.

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Many of you may even have a top-five list, so here’s mine.

The Legislature Annex: 1953

Proponents of this “modernist masterpiece” on the legislature grounds note the building does have some historical significance as the city’s first curtain wall building . And I assume that it must have seemed sleek, sexy and fresh in the era that it opened.

But these days, all I see is a structure that sticks out like a big, blue-green thumb next to the more graceful, classical government buildings surrounding it.

Or if not a thumb, then think of it a 12-storey middle finger to the legislature, festooned in a troublesome turquoise that must top the list of colours bridesmaids hope they never have to wear.

Northlands Coliseum: 1974

Oilers fans may roast me, but there are good reasons to be glad the city has the Coliseum slated for demolition. And I say that not just because I grew up a Calgary Flames fan and saw many childhood dreams dashed in the building.

Sure, parts of the arena’s interior had some character, but what was there ever to like about the rest?

The 360 degrees of drab? Its parking-lot locale that’s largely empty 355 days a year? Or the fact the building seemed to develop sweat stains each time it rained?

Maple Leaf Gardens or Wrigley Field, this is not.

I know some Edmontonians would like the Coliseum salvaged, but my view is that it’s time for this plain concrete pizza to meet the wrecking ball.

HUB mall: 1973

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Among more modern facilities, the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy is a test tube of abstract art gone wrong, in which an excess of colour is used to try to make up for an unflattering design.

Still, my least-favourite campus building has long been HUB Mall.

The idea for HUB was to try to emulate the feeling and design of a European covered street with apartments on top of storefronts.

I’ll give the architects credit for trying something different and maybe it worked at one point . But these days even the massive skylight roof can’t stop me from thinking of it as a 300-metre submarine sandwich that’s long past expired.

Chancery Hall: 1950s

Though some urban art aficionados would apparently like to see the new Stanley A. Milner Library bulldozed and have the city start again, I think we need to see it open in a couple of months before passing judgment.

Besides, however it comes out, the library likely won’t be the biggest blemish on Churchill Square. To me, that inglorious honour should go to Chancery Hall.

Despite its elegant name, the building on the northeast corner of the square is a poor cousin to its neighbours including the Winspear Centre, Art Gallery of Alberta and City Hall.

Perhaps it’s that the building kind of resembles a boxy white wedding cake, complete with dripping icing on top. Picture it with some giant candles on top, and you’ll see what I mean.

The hotel in the Quarters district: 2016

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the attempt to be a pioneer in an area badly needing redevelopment, and the attempt to do something unique.

Guests have told me the views of the river valley over Jasper Avenue are pretty nice.

But in terms of the design, I don’t get it.

What is the style supposed to be? Some kind of space ship? A messily stacked bookcase? A set of dominoes starting to tip?

Perhaps as the Quarters starts to come to life, it will make more sense, but right now this glass Jenga set looks badly out of place.

Photo by Greg Southam / Postmedia

Photo by David Bloom / Postmedia

Photo by Bruce Edwards / Edmonton Journal

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