Old Calgary stuff you miss...(The Nostalgia thread)

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I remember when deerffot had traffic lights on it.......

I remember that too, but I think it was just the last set of lights at Douglasdale.

[Cole436]

Does anyone have any pictures of what Chinook looked like before the reno's? I only have vague memories.

[Methanolic]

Gas Coupons!

I recall in the mid 80's getting 1$ coupons for buying gas and they could be redeemed at the gas station's convenience store. was it Turbo or Domo?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by psyang

I remember passing by the sign announcing the movies all the time - one of those white signs with the removable black letters. The sign was on a brick-walled section of the mall where (I think) Jameson's Pub is now. I've been wrong before, though - may have conflated a bunch of memories into one...?

After a bit of searching, I did find this. Scroll down to the Calgary, Alberta section:
..

Great link. I had no idea that there was an old theatre up in Marda Loop until 1988.

The Showcase Grande was fantastic because it had old-school 'stadium style' seating in their upstairs theatre long before that style of layout made its return.

[ricoFlame]

That theatre at North Hill was a Monster. At least it seemed big when I saw Jurassic Park in there.

I remember being in awe of how it dwarfed the ones in the other malls in the area (Market, Northland)

[Rjcsjc62]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I remember when deerffot had traffic lights on it.......

It was brutal, there was 5 sets of lights.

Douglasdale
Barlow
130
McKenzie
22X

I lived in McKenzie in the late 90's and it took forever at rushhour.

[Roast Beef]

The GUN shop on Edmonton Trail. It changed into UNG Video.

[normtwofinger]

Here a pic of the Marda Theatre. I was very young when it was demolished, but I do remember it happening. If memory serves, it was located where the strip mall that Casablanca Video was in.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

Twas Wizards Castle (the Arcade). The dude who worked their with the pompadour was epic. I remember when his band King Rat had a video on muchmusic and I was like "whoa, that guy gives me my quarters!".

Haha me and my friends still joke around talking about that guy. He is forever etched in my childhood memories. Nothing like hitting up Wizard's Castle after a ''tough'' day at Jr. High, beating House of the Dead with 1 credit then lying to your parents saying you were studying at the library across the parking lot.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

You guys sure Brentwood Mall had a theatre? Are you thinking of Northland Village down the street?

Brentwood had a K-Mart, I remember.

They both had theatres. I saw ET at Brentwood as a kid. Northland's theatres were newly opened after renos in the 80s and I saw many a movie there in high school. The Gold's Gym is now where the theatres used to be.

[Flames in 07]

How you could get Stampede ride tickets for 70% off 2 weeks prior to the Stampede.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Does anyone have any pictures of what Chinook looked like before the reno's? I only have vague memories.

Which renos? It has changed a lot over the years. It started out as two separate malls, the north one had Sears, and the south one had Woodward's. Eventually, the two malls grew together, and have kept growing.

When I moved to Calgary in the late 70s, the two halves of the mall were still semi-separate. You could walk from one side to the other upstairs, but on the main floor, you had to go outside and cross a small road that connected the east and west parking lots.

http://www.chinookcentre.com/en/cent...urHistory.aspx


This is an aerial view of the original mall:



There's a semi-circle of houses across the street from the mall. That's still there, west of the mall across 5th Street. Macleod Trail is the road in the lower right of the picture. 60th Avenue is the road in the upper right corner (which, I believe is the road that originally separated the two malls).

At the time (around 1960), this was pretty much the southern edge of the city.

Woodward's and the Woodward's Food Floor occupied most of the west side of the mall, and I have no idea what stores were on the east side (the Bowling Alley was there from the beginning). When Woodward's sold off its grocery business in the 80s, Safeway took over the Food Floor (now the space occupied by all the stores from Old Navy to Jacob), and when Woodward's went bankrupt, the Bay took over the space, and have occupied it since.

In that photo of the original mall, the north end of the mall on the west side is the north end of The Bay today; and the south end of the west side is Old Navy today. The south end of the east side is now Chapters; and the north end of the east side is (I believe) now The Gap (might be Victoria's Secret).

The first expansion of the mall added the office tower, theatre, and food court. There used to be an escalator in front of where The Gap is that brought you up there. Sport Chek is now in the former theatre space, and a very small portion of the current food court is where the original food court was.


I'm actually surprised that if you look at the satellite view of Chinook today, you can still identify the original mall buildings. Although, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising since, other than the theatre, most of the significant changes have been to the northern half of the mall.

[flamesfever]

1. Going pheasant hunting, close to Calgary, and being guaranteed your
limit of 3, plus lots of unposted land.

2. Being able to drive, across town, any time of day without heavy traffic.

3. Numerous places and opportunity to find new pools of oil and gas,
coupled with a hot stock market.

4. Rare incidents of major crime.

5. Ed Whalen, when he had no hair.

6. Buckshot.

7. swimming at Happy Valley.

8. Price of an average bungalow at $12,500.

9. Trips to Banff to watch the Irish Rovers at Phyl's Pancake house.

10. Writing and receiving letters...not e-mail.

11. Looking over the top of Calgary from the top floor (10th?) of the
Summit Hotel.

12. Meeting US draft dodgers at parties.

13. Watching cattle graze on the North Hill.

14. Living on the edge of Calgary instead of the inner city.

15. Hi's Steakhouse, the Owl's Nest.

16. London Broil at the Calgary Inn (Westinn).

17. Limboing at the Lone Pine Supper Club.

18. Dancing at the Isle of Capri.

[Engine09]

Great thread, I didn't move to Calgary until '99 but have grown to love the city and enjoy learning cool facts and a bit of history.

Not sure if it's been mentioned before but anyone who misses the Drive Ins should take in the Starlight in Enderby, BC this summer. I went last year for a double feature and it was great, lots of room to park, old timey concession ads before the movie, and great sound through your radio.

www.starlightdrivein.ca

[puffnstuff]

I still remember the old Corral Drive In...watched many a movie there (with no sound, lol) from the hill behind it.
It used to be on the NE corner of Maleod and Anderson (where the bus barns/Anderson station is now)

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

8. Price of an average bungalow at $12,500

Aren't you missing at least one digit

[Loob]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Aren't you missing at least one digit

My Grandpa paid 16,500 in 1949 for his bungalow. He still lives in it.

[Makarov]

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Makarov

Yeah. I miss playoffs at the Joe Louis Arena too

[Bane]

Originally Posted by Red John

Good memories:

-Hub oil fire

That's a pretty classless thing to say

Two guys (Ryan Silver and Ryan Eckhard) died in that fire.