Olympic Plaza was built in downtown Calgary as a venue for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. It was where Olympic medal winners would be honoured during their awards ceremony, in a place many could access rather than at remote sites where the events were often held. Downtown Calgarians responded well to the opportunity and most agree that these Olympics, which entertained us with “Eddie the Eagle” and the “Jamaican Bobsled Team” among other heroes, were successful and well-received.
Olympic Plaza has been converted into a public park/gathering place and is maintained as a Calgary park. It’s often quite busy. During the summer months it’s a common spot for people working downtown to have lunch or residents in one of the downtown condos to include in their walk. Olympic Plaza is where (usually rare and very polite) public protests are held, and where parents take their kids to splash in the water on a warm summer day.
In the winter, the fountain and ponds are converted into a skating rink, one that is unusual for an outdoor rink in Canada as it refrigerated (to keep it from thawing during one of Calgary’s Chinook-wind warmed days).
Here are some views of Olympic Plaza that I snapped before the CoVid plaque shut everything down. I think it’s a love spot, and am fond of the skyscrapers that frame the plaza, often providing nice reflections of the city.
