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Parker’s Pen – December 2024

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Sad to see the Famous Five uprooted from Olympic Plaza; they have served as an inspirational reminder of their courage in the fight to achieve women’s rights. A tribute visited by thousands of tourists over the past 25 years, giving voice to a cause while becoming one of this city’s must-see attractions.

They really should remain on that site. Why didn’t CMLC think to mention to the out-of-town designers of the new urban park the importance of incorporating the statues into any new plan? The comforting word that they will be stored and then given a new home doesn’t reassure me.

Remember the York Hotel? The eight-storey building at the corner of 7th Avenue and Centre Street that incorporated ‘distinctive architectural elements’ was demolished to make way for a second part of The Bow tower. The sister block was never built, but to appease those of us who mourned the loss of the York’s art deco freezes, the city numbered and stored every brick for re-use. Does anybody know where they are today?

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Not surprised to see a changing of the guard at the Calgary Co-op. A member and supporter since the ’60s, I have been befuddled at the decisions made during the last regime.

My first frustration was taking away the few chairs where seniors could sit down and have a cup of coffee while shopping at Dalhousie Co-op, only to convert the space into a cannabis store. A design was chosen to remodel the store years ago but still no action. The same with the Brentwood Co-op where architectural plans were presented for a new store and residential towers. No go.

Then there were changes to the way members were compensated for using Co-op gas followed by another upset to long-time members in stopping a yearly dividend cheque to spend wherever one liked, now you have to spend it at a Co-op.

Not so member-friendly today; I still shop at Co-op but only for its good beer that is brewed at Big Rock.

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And I was surprised to read that a councillor was unaware a couple of senior city staff had been fired without him knowing. I would have assumed that before a company let a CFO go, the board would have been informed.

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Welcome Humpy Hollow Park. Nice to see a new oasis in the wasteland of towers has been re-opened in a densely populated area of the beltline district.

The under-utilized green space at Centre Street and 17th Avenue SW has been transformed by the team at DIALOG into a multi-purpose park incorporating a centralized plaza, a covered performing stage and an off-leash dog park with synthetic turf.

Hope there’s also lots of room for off-leash kids to run wild as there are few such places in the downtown area, and no doubt more apartments and condominiums will be the cause of more children with a need for fresh air.

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Final words: No problem is so big or so complicated you can’t run away from it.

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