Paula Simons: Edmonton city council will need flexibility to save historic Brighton Block

The Ernest Brown Block opened for business in 1912, the elegant Edwardian headquarters of Edmonton’s leading photographer, Ernest Brown. For years, the three-storey red brick and limestone building, later known as the Brighton Block, was one of the most iconic commercial buildings on Jasper Avenue, a symbol of Edmonton’s first great building boom.
But the block fell on hard times. It became a rooming house. Then it became a run-down rooming house.
The Ernest Brown Block — now k