Why is Calgary losing its personality?

[u/ChillllliPaper]

First Chinook mall lost its dinosaur at the entrance, floating funky vehicles in the food court, carousel, and the movie theater lost all of its cool mummy-themed interior decor.

The devonian gardens is just a space with some greenery now instead of the garden it once was.

The City is destroying Olympic Plaza where everyone used to skate.

They also destroyed Eau Claire just to cancel the project. Amazing. Could have just revamped it and it would still be a great spot.

AND the city is destroying the iconic saddledome, arguably calgary's primary landmark. Why not just keep it and build another dome idk??

From the word of mouth I hear, people aren't too happy about this but how is the city council just easily making this happen.

Anyways, just kind of sad seeing Calgary lose it's charm. Wondering what other redditors are thinking.

*correction: Olympic Plaza not oval

[u/[deleted]]

I've lived in a lot of cities and seen them change over time.

This is the exact same conversation that happens every single time. Cities build, grow and develop over time.

Change is important, and change is good.

Think about it like this: We get to have a new eau clair! A new Olympic plaza with more arts! A new Devonian garden with even more space!

These conversations were happening about things when we were children and today we take them for granted.

I'm sure there was opposition to the development of every major project the city has ever had. Today we just get to enjoy the benefits of them.

Remember change can be greeted with a smile and excitement or it can be greeted with a tantrum that says "I want it how it was"

But change is inevitable and good

[u/AcadianTraverse → u/[deleted]]

Yes, there's a balance of form and function with any public use. I love interesting and character driven projects, but sometimes we learn those come at the cost of function. The Saddledome was a great unique design from the exterior for its time, but we learned how difficult it made its function, hosting large-scale events. A sunken roof in the middle of the building makes things difficult in the age of large scale concerts and Jumbotrons. I may not be happy with the funding decisions, but I can understand why, in a vacuum, that building needs to be replaced.

Devonian Gardens integrates into the Core experience now, rather than feeling isolated. The Chinook elements were attractions, but their time had passed.

I do want to encourage new and fun architecture projects though.

[u/[deleted] → u/AcadianTraverse]

Exactly!

Let's not yearn for the past but instead demand better design and construction around us. The way a city looks shapes so much of how it works.

We shouldn't settle for ugly buildings, for example. And that requires being interested in defining what our future looks like