Olympic Plaza Transformation project advancing through engagement, design

CMLC shares key findings from public engagement and next steps for construction preparation, invites Calgarians to commemorate Olympic bricks.

As development manager for the Olympic Plaza Transformation project (OPT), Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) and their partners at Arts Commons and The City of Calgary are pleased to share an update on the project’s progress and next steps.

Public engagement identifies design, programming, safety and accessibility priorities

This spring, CMLC led public engagement to inform the design process for the transformed plaza. Building on findings from The City’s 2016 public engagement about the future of Olympic Plaza and CMLC’s 2021 engagement for the adjacent Arts Commons Transformation project, this phase of public engagement resulted in participation from more than 3,100 Calgarians representing all four quadrants of the city, who shared their aspirations for the kinds of experiences and design features they hope to have in the future Olympic Plaza.

“We’re grateful that so many Calgarians took the time to share their ideas and aspirations for the future of Olympic Plaza through our public engagement this spring,” said Kate Thompson, CMLC’s President and CEO. “The plaza has served our city well in its current form for 36 years. As we look to revitalize and modernize this critical block in the downtown core, understanding Calgarians’ feedback is critical in ensuring that the future plaza is inclusive, accessible and adaptable for as many people and uses as possible.”

Through an online survey and in-person pop-up events, Calgarians indicated that the top five design features they’d like to see in the future plaza are, in order: green space, a performance/concert area, festive lighting, an outdoor eatery/patio and a skating surface. On the topic of programming and activation, respondents expressed interest in free performances/outdoor concerts, festivals, cultural events, food service/food trucks, and art installations. The engagement findings also underscored the need to address safety and the perception of safety in the plaza, to increase awareness of programming and events, to improve accessibility, and to offer a broader range of events and programming.

Through early 2024, CMLC and Arts Commons also engaged with more than 50 interested parties and existing event organizers to understand how they currently program the plaza and what design elements and event infrastructure would support their programming of the space in future.

The feedback gathered from the public and interested party engagement will inform the OPT design team as they advance the design for the future plaza. While the plaza is still in the early stages of design, at this time, the design for the future plaza does currently contemplate a skating surface for winter months. The design for OPT is expected to be revealed in early 2025.

The full public engagement report is available here.

Calgarians invited to commemorate Olympic bricks before plaza closes

Since the onset of the project, the project team has received inquiries related to the future of the plaza’s Olympic bricks. While the bricks were never intended to be repurposed and integrated in the revitalized plaza, the project team has examined the possibility of removing and returning the bricks to purchasers. Due to their age and condition, 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, and would also come at significant cost and schedule impacts to the project. As such, the bricks will not be preserved in the redevelopment effort.

“We recognize that the bricks hold sentimental value for many Calgarians as fond memories of the 1988 Olympics, which is a significant chapter in our city’s story,” said Thom Mahler, The City of Calgary’s Director of Downtown Strategy. “While the bricks will not be preserved, we and our partners at CMLC and Arts Commons hope that Calgarians will join us in commemorating the bricks before the plaza closes at the end of this year, and we look forward to a crafting a new chapter for this important gathering space in our downtown core.”

Calgarians are invited to participate in commemorative activities:

• Visit Olympic Plaza any time between now and the end of December and find your brick using The City of Calgary’s Olympic Brick Finder.
• Register for one of six free, family-friendly Brick By Brick events through the month of September. CMLC’s team will be on site to help Calgarians find their brick, and a photographer will be available to capture photos of Calgarians and their bricks. CMLC will also provide materials for Calgarians to do and take home a name rubbing of their brick. Register to attend a Brick By Brick event here.
• Additionally, a digital scan of the entire plaza is being prepared to create a digital archive of the space. More information about the digital scan will be available in the coming months.

Preparing for construction in 2025

Olympic Plaza will be closed at the end of 2024 through 2028 to facilitate construction on the Arts Commons Transformation expansion and the Olympic Plaza Transformation. The City of Calgary will continue working with event organizers to find alternate locations for events during construction. In the coming months, The City of Calgary will advance light site preparation works, including the relocation of the City of Calgary’s Parks depot and the Women are Persons! sculpture. The City of Calgary will continue to program Olympic Plaza through December.

The Olympic Plaza Transformation has an anticipated project cost of $70M, of which $40M has already been allocated through The City of Calgary’s 2023-2026 budget for downtown revitalization. Efforts are underway to secure the remining required funds, bolstered by recent announcements of support for the transformation of the Arts Commons campus by the Government of Alberta and the Werklund family.

“We are thrilled by the progress we and our partners are making on the transformation of the Arts Commons campus,” said Alex Sarian, President and CEO of Arts Commons. “Already this year we have celebrated the announcement of a generous Provincial funding commitment, the reveal of a world-class architectural design on the Arts Commons Transformation expansion and a history-making philanthropic gift by Dave Werklund and his family. As we prepare to break ground on our new facility and finalize a new design for Olympic Plaza, we are so proud of the role our arts sector is playing in shaping our city’s cultural and civic future.”