Downtown Calgary’s Olympic Plaza is more than just a gathering place for Maureen Love — it’s a symbol of family memories.
“We were down here with our newborn son to do the medals, we did the fireworks, we did the torch run,” Love said of the 1988 Winter Games. “This really was an amazing spot to be during the Olympics.”
Love is one of 33,000 Calgarians who paid $20 to be part of the 1988 Winter Olympic legacy by buying a brick at Olympic Plaza.
The brick is inscribed with her son’s name and is a tangible reminder of the two-week celebration.
“It’s the memory of all of us being down here,” Love explains.
“It’s not just a piece of the history of Calgary — it’s part of our personal, family history.”
Olympic Plaza has been a community hub in the downtown core since its construction for the 1988 Winter Olympics when it was used for medal ceremonies. Since then, it has hosted numerous festivals, protests and community events.
It’s a part of Millie Hartviksen’s family history as well. Her parents and sister both have bricks at Olympic Plaza and would like to find a way to save them, rather than see them lost to the plaza’s redesign.
“I’d rather have it with me,” says Hartviksen. “I’ll put it in my garden or something. After already losing mom and dad in the last couple of years, it’s just another bit of grief.”
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) is starting work on the plaza transformation in the new year and while recognizing the sentimental value of the bricks, says it isn’t feasible to keep, or include, them in the future design.
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In a statement, CMLC says “the project team has examined the possibility of removing and returning the bricks to purchasers, but individual excavation of the 33,000 bricks is not feasible and is unlikely to be successful without causing significant damage to the removed bricks and those around them.”
But both Hartviksen and Love think it can be done. They are asking the city to reconsider the plans and allow those who want their bricks the change to get them themselves.
“We’d like to be able to find a way where we might work with the city,” says Love. “So, the few of us, or many of us, who want our bricks because it has a special memory for us to be able to get our bricks.”
A sentiment echoed by Hartviksen, saying “have everybody sign a waiver so they don’t have to worry about liability issues and help provide tools to do it.”
The pair have been in touch with city officials, including CMLC, the mayor and their city councillors but haven’t had any luck pleading their case.
With the fate of the bricks coming up quickly, they are making one final ask to find a way to keep their piece of history.
“If the city had a will to do this, I think they’d be able to make it happen,” says Love. “Let us take our little brick once it’s closed off and have that special memory.”
Some people have not been so patient. A few Calgarians have taken matters into their own hands, prying their commemorative bricks out of place.
The Olympic Plaza upgrades are being bundled together with a transformation of Arts Commons and improvements to a portion of Stephen Avenue with CMLC to serve as the development manager for all three projects.
Once the upgrades to Olympic Plaza are complete, programming like concerts and activations in the space will be managed by Arts Commons, which will also operate and maintain the revitalized plaza.
The goal is to complete construction in time for the 2028-29 theatre season.
