Olympic Plaza at 20 (now 25...) yrs - is it under threat?

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Olympic Plaza at 20 (now 25...) yrs - is it under threat?

Postby newsposter » Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:11 am

For a place to become a heritage site, it must first survive its 20th birthday! Two different stories on Olympic Plaza this week, as the 20th anniversary of the 1988 games approaches...

The Olympic Plaza is the major downtown reminder and remainder of this important time in Calgary's history, the site of the medal presentations. A study of downtown parks seems to be recommending that the park be renovated in a way that would destroy much of its historic value, including the removal of the Olympic colonade that was the backdrop of the medal ceremony:

The (Olympic) plaza, which features a skating rink in the winter and a wading pool in the summer, is one of the 19 parks being looked at by the city, said parks planner Patrick Mahaffey.

"Some aren't that well used and haven't been redesigned for years," he said.

For example, Mahaffey said, Olympic Plaza is both well loved and well used, yet the city has heard some concerns about safety in the evenings.

"So do we do a complete redesign?" he asked, noting those are questions they hope to answer through the public input process.


Here is the full story:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/new ... e93f40ef4b

But before any of that happens (or not), City Council is also planning to add tribute plaques for Olympic athletes. This arguable re-inforces the historic importance of Olympic plaza.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/new ... b8a6c078dc
Last edited by newsposter on Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby newsposter » Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:49 am

Well, five years since the last posting on this, and Olympic Plaza is still there and thriving, though there is still talk about renovation from time to time. It would be nice to get the water features around the "podium" area working again. There have been quite a few articles about Olympic Plaza and how the 1988 Olympics energized downtown during the 25th anniversary. Here is one such article from the February 18, 2013 Herald:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calga ... story.html
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