Skating rink, green space among desired features in Olympic Plaza redesign

New design being worked on for aged Olympic Plaza Maybe you haven't spent much time there since 1988, or maybe you go all the time, but Olympic Plaza is being re-imagined.

Calgarians want to see more green space, performance area and festive lighting incorporated into the new design for Olympic Plaza, the city says.

The City of Calgary is sharing the results of public engagement survey that polled residents about what they most want to see in the redevelopment of the downtown area.

The survey was conducted in the spring and gathered information from more than 3,100 residents.

"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, president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) in a news release.

"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."

The top five design features Calgarians want to see in the redevelopment include more green space, a performance/concert area, festive lighting, an outdoor eatery/patio and a skating surface.

CMLC said the survey also highlighted Calgarians' desire to see more public safety measures, more awareness of programming and events, improved accessibility and a broader range of events.

Olympic bricks can't be saved

During the engagement process, CMLC said it received several comments from residents about the bricks that make up the walkways of the plaza.

Unfortunately, due to the age and condition of the bricks and the labour and cost required to remove them, they cannot be saved.

"The bricks were never intended to be repurposed and integrated in the revitalized plaza," the CMLC said in a statement.

Instead, officials invite Calgarians to commemorate the bricks through a number of events between now and the end of December.

Calgarians can find their brick using the Olympic Brick Finder and then register for one of six free Brick By Brick events throughout September to have a member of the CMLC team photograph them with their bricks and even provide material to create a rubbing of their brick to keep for posterity.

Olympic Plaza will be closed from the end of 2024 to 2028 for the construction of both the Arts Common Transformation project and the Olympic Plaza Transformation project.

The Olympic Plaza Transformation will cost approximately $70 million, of which $40 million has already been allocated through the city's 2023-24 budget.

Feedback from the CMLC report will be used to help guide the design team to produce a new concept sometime in early 2025.