The National Music Centre

Apart of Calgary’s East village the National Music Centre is home to a collection of musical instruments that are part of Canada’s history in music. Originally the plan was to preserve the King Edward Hotel a historic hotel in Calgary’s East Village after it was Condemned but given the opportunity they built the Centre. The King Edward hosted numerous Jazz musicians.

The Centre is made of ceramic tiles that have a floating affect, they were brought from Germany and the Netherlands. The building was designed to carry sound around the building so that you can hear the music being played from the 5th floor at the first floor.

The Studio Cost $191 Million dollars it began construction in 2013. Private citizens and companies donated from $100,000 to $500,000 to the project.

The Bell Studio is also available to be rented for parties and special occasions.

Chinese Cultural Centre

It is now the year of the rooster the last year of the Calendar.

In the heart of Chinatown Calgary there is a staple that draws many to it, The Cultural Centre.

The building has become such a local icon and can also be rented out for parties thrown by the public.

It was completed in 1992 and cost nearly $30 million.

It was inspired by the a building in Beijing called the Temple of Heaven.

The ceiling is one of the cultural centres is a defining characteristics

There are 561 dragons and 40 phenixes.

The 21 metre high ceiling is also supported by 4 gold trimmed columns.

The ceiling is truly a work of art and draws people to see its designs.

Olympic Plaza

Originally made for the medal ceremony of the 1988 Olympics the plaza now is used as a venue for public events.

Every year for Canada day they enjoy celebrations in Olympic Plaza.

Olympic Plaza is located right across Old City Hall and the Calgary Manciple Building

In the Winter Olympic Plaza is transformed into a outdoor ice rink.

In 2004 about 30,000 people packed the Plaza to celebrate the Calgary Flames run at the Stanley Cup.

People are a loud to skate for free.

People of Calgary payed for Olympic Plaza brick by brick, Private citizens bought a single brick.

Citizens bought each brick for $20 each.

There has been talk of renovation since 2004 of the plaza, do to the amount of aging the brick’s may not be salvageable in their current condition.

Olympic Plaza is a favourite place amongst Calgarians, many come on any given day just to eat lunch near the beautifully designed structure.

 

McDougall Centre

The McDougall Centre was built in 1908 and was originally called “Provincial Normal School”

The Architect behind the building Allan Merrick Jeffers.

The building is made of Sandstone and helped earn the city the nickname “The Sandstone City.”

Jeffers was appointed Alberta’s provincial Architect in 1907.

The McDougall Centre is made out of Sandstone like many classical buildings in Calgary.

The building was designed in Beaux Art style, which is lavish and ornamentally heavy.

It was used as the provinces first normal school.

It is thought that this school was used to compensate for Edmonton Being Called Alberta’s Capital.

A normal school is used to train high school graduates to be teachers or a teachers college.

It was renamed McDougall School when the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) bought it in 1922, It was named to honour George and John McDougall.

It was used as a school and the office of the CBE.

The McDougall School was used as a Elementary and Jr. High school until 1981.

The Building was no longer feasible as a school due to low enrolment.

It was named a historic resource in 1982 and went through a five year renovation and was reopened in 1987.

In 1987 it was used as the south government building, it is now a office and meeting place for Alberta’s official’s.

George C. King Bridge

Formally known as the St. Patrick island bridge the George C. King Bridge spans the Bow River.

The Bridge was Renamed George C. King for Calgary’s second Mayor who served as Mayor from November 4 1886- January 16 1888.

The bridge is 182 metres across.

The bridge cost $25 Million.

The bridge was the winner of a contest to decide the bridge design for the revitalization of the east village.

The bridge was designed to look like “stones being skipped.”

Before the bridge was even up and running it was hit by the 2013 floods causing damage to the bridge deck forcing the project back a year.

The George C. King bridge was designed for pedestrians and cyclists.

The designers are based out of Paris, known as RFR SAS.

The bridge links East Village to St. Patrick Island Park.

Theatre Junction Grand

This is the oldest theatre in Calgary it was built in 1912. The Theatre is thought to be one of Calgary’s “first major cultural gift.”

When Theatre Junction Grand opened in 1912 it had 1350 seats and had the largest stage in Canada.

The current Stage space is 16.46m by 10.97m.

It was designed by an Architect named LR Wardrop.

Sir James Alexander Lougheed had the building built.

The building is home to Theatre Junction a not for profit organization for the preforming arts.

In 1979 Theatre Junction Grand was slated for demolition due to the amount of wear and tear and was closed tell 2005.

2005 the building was bought by Theatre Junction for $12 million dollars thus saving the building. Theatre Junction renovated the building breathing life into the Grand after years the oldest Theatre in Calgary was up and running again.

In 2014 Theatre Junction opened a restaurant called Workshop Kitchen + Culture. Workshop Kitchen + Culture menu is known to change. The restaurant is fine dinning without the commitment of dressing up, patrons are seen dressed casual to formal attire.

Langevin Bridge

One of the oldest bridges in Calgary, the Langevin Bridge is 116.74 metres long and 14.02 metres wide.

In 1907 the original bridge that linked Calgary and riverside needed to be replaced due to ware and tare of the residents of Calgary and Riverside (at the time Riverside was separate from Calgary)

The Langevin Bridge was designed by an American civil engineer Charles H. Parker.

The bridge has been open since 1910, in 2009 the city set up 5600 programable LED lights to change colour and modernize the aging bridge. There is a website set up by the east village that allows the public to request colours on the bridge for charity’s and events.

in 1911 raised the approach road levels to give easy access to street cars railways which in the 1950s was removed, because of the new electric powered train system.

January of 2014 the Langevin Bridge was given a “Heritage Authority Plaque,” making it a historic site for the City of Calgary.

In recent years there has been calls to rename the bridge due to a controversy of the past. James T. Child a city engineer (1908-1911) thought the bridge to be named the riverside bridge, simply because of the district it was in.

St Mary’s Cathedral

It was designed by a Architect named Maxwell Bates, his most notable work was St Mary’s Cathedral. The modern Gothic design has been standing on 18th ave since February of 1957. The building is a very close to 17th ave and can be seen from 12th ave because of its bright lights.

The Cathedral over looks Rouleuville square which is the remains of a town just outside Calgary before it was taken completely over by Calgary in 1907, due to the rapid expansion by CP rails.

There has been modifications over the years to the building including in 1957 a 16ft statue of the Virgin Mary holding a child, made by Luke Lindoe.The church also contains bells from an older church that occupied the land earlier that where originally donated by Senator Patrick Burns.

The building is made of brick, it was originally suppose to be sandstone.

The Twin Towers of Bankers Hall

The Twin Towers of Bankers Hall are something else, the east tower was complete in 1989 and the west tower was complete 11 years later in the year 2000. The towers cost a total of $ 225 million CAD.

It was designed by Cohos Evamy an Architecture firm based out of Calgary AB. The crowns on the top of the Towers were designed to look like cowboy hats. The east towers is meant to be silver because of Calgary’s white hatting of foreign dignitaries and outstanding citizens.

The first three floors are retail space and on the fourth is a fitness club, called Bankers Hall Club for tenants and workers in and around the towers. The other 49 floors are office space. Bankers hall is home to some very high end retail such as Henry Singer and Blu’s.

Bankers halls biggest tenant is Canadian Natural Resources, an oil and gas company.

Bankers hall is connected to their downtown neighbours through a pair of plus 15’s.

The Twin Towers of Bankers Hall is a great piece of postmodern Architecture.

 

The Saddledome

The Saddledome home of the Calgary Flames and their WHL team the Calgary Hitmen.

The Saddledome began construction in 1981 and was complete in 1983 costing $97.7 million Canadian dollars.

It was originally called the Olympic Saddledome as the city was getting ready for the 1988 Olympics. Where they hosted Olympic figure skating and hockey events

It also hosted a number of Stanley Cup games in 1986 then in 1989 where the Calgary Flames tasted victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The last time they hosted the Stanley Cup was in 2004.

The biggest event recently hosted at the Saddledome was the NBA preseason game between the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets.

The Saddledome’s grounds is also where the Calgary Stampede is held every year, known as the worlds largest outdoor show.

The Saddledome has also hosted musical events most recently the final show of the Tragically Hip.

It has also hosted royalty as Queen Elizabeth II came for Alberta’s centennial in 2005 at the Saddledome.

It is currently one of the oldest arenas in the NHL and most unique, never in my travels have I seen a stadium shaped like a Saddle.

The shape highlights the western theme of Calgary and the surrounding areas.

Calgary is cowboy country in many ways this Stadium just highlights that very well.