Olympic Plaza (Calgary)

Last updated
Olympic Plaza
Olympic Plaza 01.JPG
General information
Location Calgary, Alberta
Named for 1988 Winter Olympics
Groundbreaking22 May 1986 (1986-05-22)
Opened31 July 1987 (1987-07-31)
Renovated2025
Design and construction
Architects M. Paul Friedberg
Gibbs Gage Partnership
Carson McCulloch Associates
Renovating team
Architects CCxA
gh3*
Belleville Placemaking

Olympic Plaza is an urban park and gathering place in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located around Macleod Trail and 7 Avenue South, it was created as the venue for the medal ceremonies at the 1988 Winter Olympics. [1] In 2004, over 30,000 people packed the plaza to celebrate the Calgary Flames' run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. [2]

Contents

History

Olympic Plaza serves as a meeting place, and an outdoor event area, hosting concerts and festivals. In the winter, it is used as a public ice skating area. [3] The plaza is accessible by Calgary's CTrain system at the City Hall station. [3] As a fundraiser for the 1988 Winter Olympics, Calgarians were invited to purchase and personalize a brick to pave the plaza for $19.88 [4] . Prior to the plaza's demolition in 2025, the City of Calgary invited brick purchasers (or those close to them) to retrieve what bricks could be salvaged [5] .

In January 1988, Globe and Mail architecture critic Adele Freedman reviewed the buildings constructed for the upcoming Olympics. Concerning Olympic Plaza she wrote:

The most alarming missed opportunity of them all is Olympic Plaza, a block-large public space smack in the middle of downtown, across from the glass hulk known as Calgary City Hall. It is on the plaza that medal presentations will take place. Paul Friedberg & Partners of New York, a landscape architecture firm, won a limited competition for the job, in association with the Gibbs Gage Partnership. The instant popularity of the plaza is proof it was desperately needed in a city centre choked with corporate towers. It can't have much to do with design. The plaza is a visual horror. The appointments of the plaza include a neon-striped colonnade, a cumbersome row of Egyptoid arches, and a massive, free-standing iron gate which has been bolted open. These may look suitably festive on television. But Calgarians will have to live with this vastly inferior rendition of Charles Moore's 10-year-old Piazza d'Italia long after Olympic banners have ceased to flutter. [6]

Due to its location, directly across from Calgary City Hall and at the head of major pedestrian thoroughfare Stephen Avenue, the plaza is often the site of protests. [7] [8] [9] The plaza has raised concerns with residents due to the large concentration of the homeless around the plaza, as well as a significant increase in violent crime and opioid overdoses. [10] The plaza is currently undergoing renovations, with the original structures being demolished in January 2025, and the plaza set to reopen by 2028. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "This month in history: February 1988 - The Olympic Plaza". Calgary Herald. February 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ Calgary salutes Flames, slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved November 30, 2006.
  3. 1 2 White, Ryan (November 18, 2022). "Olympic Plaza opens for skating on Sunday with free CTrain service for skaters". CTV News Calgary.
  4. ↑ Bell, David (January 3, 2025). "'I am pretty pumped': Olympic plaza brick return program on solid ground". CBC News. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  5. ↑ Desai, Devika (January 3, 2025). "Memories rekindled brick by brick as city returns Olympic Plaza keepsakes". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  6. ↑ Adele Freedman, "A few Olympian delights but it's sure no site for sore eyes," Globe and Mail, (23 January 1988), E1.
  7. ↑ Williams, Radana (March 26, 2022). "Calgary police arrest 2 during ongoing weekend protests downtown". Global News.
  8. ↑ Markus, Jade (February 10, 2023). "Calgary mayor threatens to fine protesters after drag event cancelled". CBC.
  9. ↑ Randhawa, Rachneet (May 15, 2022). "Calgary women's rally protests right to abortion in Olympic Plaza". City News Calgary.
  10. ↑ Herring, Jason (June 23, 2022). "'I don't feel safe': Crime and safety always top of mind for downtown residents". Calgary Herald.
  11. ↑ City of Calgary (2026-01-16). "Olympic Plaza Transformation". calgary.ca. Retrieved 2026-01-19.

51°02′45″N114°03′32″W / 51.0459°N 114.0590°W / 51.0459; -114.0590


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