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

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Crowfoot was top of the list for a while. It was first with stadium seating and curved screens. I seem to recall seeing Speed 2 there when it first opened.

It probably was. I grew up in the South and going past Memorial didn’t happen unless you were skiing. It was basically another city to me until I moved past the Bow in my 30s.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rayne008

I can't remember the last time a saw a grasshopper. My kids have never seen one.

Yeah there certainly seems to be less of them in the city. I recall seeing a lot more dragonflies in the city when I was young as well.

[Barnet Flame]

Marlborough Mall was my movie fix almost every Saturday. With only three screens and movie ratings, meant I saw certain movies over and over again. I reckon I saw 9 to 5 almost 59 times (might be exaggerating).

Other notable repeat viewings:

Xanadu
Battle Beyond the Stars
Used Cars
Oh God
Oh Heavenly Dog
The Electric Horseman
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

[Captain Otto]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Wasn’t it Cannery Row first or was that a different restaurant all together?

I recall Cannery Row being in that tall red brick building that now houses a World's Gym. Across from the new Modern Steak/Catch.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah there certainly seems to be less of them in the city. I recall seeing a lot more dragonflies in the city when I was young as well.

all the old school Calgary climate bugs are just going to be replaced by stuff like those ticks that make you allergic to meat.

[Shazam]

I saw a ton of dragonflies last year. I always get a monster one stuck in the house every year too.

[Sliver]

I never see enough dragonflies. They're such a cool bug.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah there certainly seems to be less of them in the city. I recall seeing a lot more dragonflies in the city when I was young as well.

Grasshoppers and Dragonflies are bugs whose cool factor outweighs the eww factor. I remember being fascinated with them as a kid during the summer.

[browna]

Totally forgot (just remember from the listings, never went) about Calgary Place and Palliser Square theatres.

Is there a more 1970s to 1991 era building than Palliser Square as far as mixed use?

Basically the tourist hub of the city in thst era, a Via Train station, the Tower, theatres, connected to the Palliser at the west and Four Seasons (now Marriot) at the east end.

Would’ve loved to remember how that config with the train station worked; walking through there now almost daily it’s got to be almost empty, given the odd layout and footprint for any sort of office setup. Tower Drugs is still in there and I assume it’s still around in because its still surviving off the fact in printed money back in the 80s selling over priced snacks and People magazines to Euro and eastern Canadian tourists who stayed on a layover in the Palliser for a few days on their Via trip from Vancouver to Montreal.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by browna

Totally forgot (just remember from the listings, never went) about Calgary Place and Palliser Square theatres.

Is there a more 1970s to 1991 era building than Palliser Square as far as mixed use?

Basically the tourist hub of the city in thst era, a Via Train station, the Tower, theatres, connected to the Palliser at the west and Four Seasons (now Marriot) at the east end.

Would’ve loved to remember how that config with the train station worked; walking through there now almost daily it’s got to be almost empty, given the odd layout and footprint for any sort of office setup. Tower Drugs is still in there and I assume it’s still around in because its still surviving off the fact in printed money back in the 80s selling over priced snacks and People magazines to Euro and eastern Canadian tourists who stayed on a layover in the Palliser for a few days on their Via trip from Vancouver to Montreal.

Not sure how Palliser drugs is staying in business. Palliser One is pretty empty of business tenants. Slumberger has been fully remote work and now the building has been cleared to convert to residential which will take some time.

I heard the old rail platforms are still hidden under the mass of concrete and parkade structures somewhere.

I had no idea there were movie theatres there. There is still one live theatre company in Palliser Square (Lunchbox maybe?) but the other one packed up and closed during covid.

[Johnny Makarov]

The old Palliser theatre you had to go down like 100 steps of a winding staircase.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Wasn’t it Cannery Row first or was that a different restaurant all together?

I seem to remember it was The Corkscrew before Earls Place.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

The old Palliser theatre you had to go down like 100 steps of a winding staircase.

Where was it even? Deep in the bowels of the complex? Or entrance by the street to the tower?

[Hack&Lube]

I remember this curtain before Jurassic Park! This is still the coolest cinema I remember going to in terms of the feeling of it.

North Hill Cinemas in the Sears parking lot!

[browna]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Not sure how Palliser drugs is staying in business. Palliser One is pretty empty of business tenants. Slumberger has been fully remote work and now the building has been cleared to convert to residential which will take some time.

I heard the old rail platforms are still hidden under the mass of concrete and parkade structures somewhere.

I had no idea there were movie theatres there. There is still one live theatre company in Palliser Square (Lunchbox maybe?) but the other one packed up and closed during covid.

As I said, it's likely living off the profits of the 80s.
I'm sure the old theatre are where Lunchbox etc are.
Parking structure was there when Via was there, so nothing should be covered over.
I vauguely recall as a child that youbhs to go "down" from the floor where the Tower is to get to the Via station, and alll sorts of tourism offices nd car rental desks also on the Main level.
But it's a labyrinth of alcoves and odd office spaces and random picturs on the wall of Red Earth gas plant and such circa 1965 to 1985, that some oil company forgot to take down when they went away.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by browna

As I said, it's likely living off the profits of the 80s.
I'm sure the old theatre are where Lunchbox etc are.
Parking structure was there when Via was there, so nothing should be covered over.
I vauguely recall as a child that youbhs to go "down" from the floor where the Tower is to get to the Via station, and alll sorts of tourism offices nd car rental desks also on the Main level.
But it's a labyrinth of alcoves and odd office spaces and random picturs on the wall of Red Earth gas plant and such circa 1965 to 1985, that some oil company forgot to take down when they went away.

I found these:

https://imgur.com/gallery/9SejV

https://www.flickr.com/photos/benand...n/photostream/

Apparently in 2013 there was something called a Hidden Spaces tour? They should have filmed the Last of Us down there. It looks like a post-apocalyptic bunker. That's a 1975 Stampede sticker on that window.

[CliffFletcher]

The Palliser Square was one of the marque theatres in the city, with the biggest screens and largest capacity. The Empire Strikes Back opened there. Lineups ran all the way outside and past the Calgary Tower entrance. They oversold tickets, and some kids had to sit on the floor to watch.

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The Palliser Square was one of the marque theatres in the city, with the biggest screens and largest capacity. The Empire Strikes Back opened there. Lineups ran all the way outside and past the Calgary Tower entrance. They oversold tickets, and some kids had to sit on the floor to watch.

I was there.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I never see enough dragonflies. They're such a cool bug.

Over the summer I see them quite a bit in Royal Oak around all the ponds.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The Palliser Square was one of the marque theatres in the city, with the biggest screens and largest capacity. The Empire Strikes Back opened there. Lineups ran all the way outside and past the Calgary Tower entrance. They oversold tickets, and some kids had to sit on the floor to watch.

North Hill says hold my beer. Wasn't their screen the largest in Calgary?