CALGARY - Phil MacAulay has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for the past 50 years, and even he's surprised at the measures his local branch has taken to keep the 103-year-old building alive.

The Calgary No. 1 Branch, nestled among towering downtown office buildings along the busy light rail track, predates the legion itself.

It opened in 1922 as the Great War Veterans Association. It became the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League in 1925 then a branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in 1961.

The legion will mark its 100th anniversary next year.

Membership has dwindled from about 3,500 in the 1970s to 425 now. The facility has been hit by a number of emergency repairs, including the need for a new roof. Many older members are nervous about the somewhat isolated

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