View source for The Wildcat Cafe

{{Short description|Log cabin in Yellowknife, Canada}}
[[Image:Wildcat Cafe Yellowknife Northwest Territories Canada 01A.jpg|thumb|Wildcat Cafe in the Old Town.]]
'''The Wildcat Cafe''' is a vintage log cabin structure in [[Yellowknife]], [[Northwest Territories]], Canada and represents the mining camp style of early Yellowknife. The structure, which houses a summer restaurant, is located in what was then the central business district of the city.<ref name="CBC">[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wildcat-cafe-to-close-in-2011-for-renovations-1.899019 Wildcat Cafe to close in 2011 for renovations]</ref><ref name="history"/> It is a City of Yellowknife Heritage Building, designated in 1992. First opened in 1937 by owners [[Willie Wylie]] and [[Smokey Stout]], it is the oldest restaurant in Yellowknife.<ref name="walking">[http://www.northernfrontier.com/08_thingstodo/documents/Old_Town_Heritage_Walking_Tour_of_Yellowknife4286.pdf Old Town - Heritage Walking Tour of Yellowknife] The Wildcat Cafe p.20</ref> Subsequent owners were Carl and Dorothy Jensen (1939–1942) and [[Mah Gow]] (1942–1951), Yellowknife's first recorded Chinese resident.<ref name="history">[http://www.yellowknife.ca/Assets/City+Clerks/Committees/Heritage_Committee/Wildcat+Cafe+Brochure+-+Summer+Season+2010.pdf Wildcat History]</ref> The cafe closed in 1951 with the illness of Mr. Gow.<ref name="walking"/> The building was saved from demolition in the late 1950s when a small group of Yellowknifers fought to have it protected as a heritage site.<ref name="history"/> By 1970 no work had been done to restore the abandoned cabin and it was in poor shape when a new generation of concerned citizens lobbied for its protection. It was soon renovated and reopened as a functional restaurant in 1979.<ref name="history"/> The [[Old Stope Association]], a non-profit heritage society, was responsible for its operation in the 1970s–1980s, and today it is managed by the Wildcat Cafe Advisory Committee.<ref name="history"/><ref>[http://www.yellowknife.ca/City_Hall/Committees/WildcatCafeAdvisoryCommittee.html Wildcat Cafe Advisory Committee]</ref> In 1992, the cabin was declared a heritage site as an important old building in Yellowknife and the city took ownership.<ref name="history"/> It is one of Yellowknife's most popular tourist attractions.
[[File:Map of the Wildcat Cafe in Yellowknife.png|left|300px|thumb|Map of the Wildcat Cafe in Yellowknife]]

In 2011, the city of Yellowknife decided to completely renovate the log building, which had settled far into the ground and was leaning dangerously in several directions at once.  The City engaged Rick Muyres, the premier log cabin builder in the NWT to oversee the rebuild. The dis-assembly process, including cataloguing and numbering the pieces, started on May 11, 2011.<ref name="name=franhurcombphotography">[http://franhurcombphotography.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/the-wildcat-cafe-rebirth-2011/ The Wildcat Cafe: rebirth 2011]</ref> Reconstruction and repair continued during the summer of 2012 and the opening was delayed due to a number of unforeseen problems; however, the Wildcat Cafe reopened on June 22, 2013.<ref>[http://www.yellowknife.ca/en/living-here/resources/Heritage/Yellowknife-Heritage-Building-Project-2013-Complete-Report.pdf City of Yellowknife Heritage Building Project, 2013] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104045257/http://www.yellowknife.ca/en/living-here/resources/Heritage/Yellowknife-Heritage-Building-Project-2013-Complete-Report.pdf |date=January 4, 2015 }}</ref>

The [[Canadian Museum of History]] in Gatineau, Quebec, exhibited a replica of the cabin.<ref name="history"/> This replica is being removed as part of a larger renovation to the museum's Canada Hall.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://edgeyk.com/article/wildcat-replica-coming-down-could-be-up-for-sale/|title = Wildcat replica coming down, could be up for sale - EDGEYK.com|last = Rendell|first = Mark|date = December 4, 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord|62|27|59.46|N|114|20|56|W|region:CA-NT_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildcat Cafe}}
[[Category:Restaurants in the Northwest Territories]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Yellowknife]]
[[Category:Historic buildings and structures in the Northwest Territories]]