\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Angel's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e187be680d7dcb8f96e36c009b31ca77f649a13ca0efa4b677ce51ea31621e6c.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAngel’s Cafe owner Cathy Jacobs at her new location near Crossfield, Alta., Thursday, June 18, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jeff McIntosh<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t spend your life \u2026 in one location for 28 years and suddenly you\u2019re not there anymore and not be affected by it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The city said it would store the old caf\u00e9 building for as long as three years, maybe less. Then, she could go home again.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not sure she will.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur friends need us home,\u201d said Jacobs. \u201c(But) the world\u2019s going to look very different (in) two to three years. The world looks different in four months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her coffee story began in 1998, when she bought a food truck, then called Angela\u2019s Ice Cream. It had a picture of a dancing hot dog on the side. She hated that.<\/p>\n
Fate changed Angela to what eventually became Angel\u2019s Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Jacobs said she had been speaking with a man who had considered killing himself but was stopped by an angel. After that, she kept spotting references to angels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked the word up and it just means a messenger. And I thought, OK, I can be a messenger. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing for 28 years,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
The care became a community draw, a meeting point.<\/p>\n
Then came the water.<\/p>\n
Calgary\u2019s Bearspaw South Feeder Main first burst in June 2025, causing water restrictions.<\/p>\n
Less than 18 months later, it happened again, in the week after Christmas.<\/p>\n
City council realized the main was effectively a dead main walking, and it was time to replace it. Mayor Jeromy Farkas promised an accelerated repair by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
Angel\u2019s Cafe was one of two businesses displaced by the construction.<\/p>\n
The pipe repair is meant to be non-invasive, reinforcing the pipe without having to unearth it. But it meant having to pick up Angel\u2019s Cafe and move it.<\/p>\n
Jacobs said she went back and forth with the city in turbulent and unpredictable talks before the building was picked up and shipped out.<\/p>\n
At first it was going to stay in place but later ordered moved. In the meantime, Jacobs had taken out grills and other parts of the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Jacobs said she believes she should have been compensated by the city for the building rather than seeing it moved and stored for a costly future revival.<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s also stuck paying the mortgage as the building collects dust.<\/p>\n
Calgary\u2019s real estate and development services team said the repair work includes the pipe near the caf\u00e9 location and that the building had to be moved or demolished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city took the empathetic approach to save the building while negotiations for the longer term were still ongoing,\u201d it said in an email.<\/p>\n
It said two residents continue to live in the area. The city delivers them water and they must follow safety rules when moving through the site. Another business was vacated while a third remains.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tDish<\/p>\n
Every Second Friday<\/p>\n
The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney.<\/p>\n