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

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by Dion

IIRC AHS shut them down once because they found a dead cat in the kitchen.

That goes in the Chicken Meow Mein.

[Bs&Cs]

-the way South Center mall was back in the mid 90's, they had petting zoos once in a while. Saw Lion King at the old movie theatre in there.
-Video Spot in the strip mall in Willow Park, on Fairmount Drive. I think its a Sobey's now. Disney movies and NES rentals for cheap. The DQ in that mall only served ice cream and I think it was closed in the winter. Willy's was in the corner of that parking lot, and I think it was a Chicken on the Way at one point too.
-Used to go to the 7-11 on Fairmount, in the summer with my mom on the way to the video store. I think its an A-1 now but it was a pet hospital at one time.
-Red Robin, which was my favorite place to go as a kid. The one on Macleod.
-Along with the Calgary Zoo. I still see fragments of it as I remember it, the lion and tiger enclosures are the same, but I miss the old buildings. The reptile, primate, australian houses. And of course the polar bears. It seemed much bigger and had more stuff than it does now,
-Chuck-E-Cheese, when it was over off 32nd. Creepy old singing robots. Kind of run down but was always pretty fun.
-Tee-to-Green in Shawnessy with the enormous golf ball. We lived with our house backing onto the CP rail tracks... and thats all there was there. Used to collect golf balls from the driving range .
-Shawnessy/Midlake when it was just a regular four way intersection. Had friends in Midnapore and Shawnessy and would just ride back and forth now, but crossing Macleod always seemed scary. Traffic was very light then tough, as Sundance and Sommerset/Bridlewood were the end of the city. I remember having to leave the city to get to Spruce Meadows.
-Easy Street and Bonkers were big at the time, thats where all the birthday parties were. Easy Street was in Chinook where the food court is now, no?
-10th Street NW looked so different even fifteen years ago. Loved the used books stores on that strip, they're all gone now. McNally Books on Stephen Ave was one of my favorites too.
-and the dump of a Zellers at the 4 Street/Center Street corner, its a superstore now. That Zellers was such a dump, seemed like no one even worked there. I remember playing hockey in there with a buddy a few times waiting for our girlfriends to get out of Diefenbaker and never getting harrassed about it. My sister shoplifted from there endlessly because

[1qqaaz]

-The community of Edgemont used to have a wading pool that had a big stream leading to it
-Nosehill Park had horseback riding a long time ago
-Bowness Park used to have a lot more stuff to do
-I generally miss bowling alleys. There doesn't seem to be many left

[jeep991]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

-The community of Edgemont used to have a wading pool that had a big stream leading to it

Really? Where was it? I grew up in Edgemont from the early 80s to mid 90s. I can't remember a wading pool in there at all.

[calf]

Originally Posted by jeep991

Really? Where was it? I grew up in Edgemont from the early 80s to mid 90s. I can't remember a wading pool in there at all.

If I remember correctly, it was in the ravine just north of edgepark Blvd, and a bit south of where Tom Baines/the daycare is. Always seemed the water was never on for it.

I had no idea it was gone...is that waterfall that led to it still around?


Edit: looks like it all is...man, that breaks my heart



https://maps.app.goo.gl/12YdK

[jeep991]

Originally Posted by calf

If I remember correctly, it was in the ravine just north of edgepark Blvd, and a bit south of where Tom Baines/the daycare is. Always seemed the water was never on for it.

I had no idea it was gone...is that waterfall that led to it still around?


Edit: looks like it all is...man, that breaks my heart



https://maps.app.goo.gl/12YdK

Yeah, lots has changed. I remember when I was a kid (7-8) climbing up the hill behind the Edgemont Center, now a Gold's Gym I think, with my sister and cousins. Nothing but prairie. We'd hang out on these big boulders at the top of the hill and then go build hideouts in the long grass and play there all day. After we'd go to the Red Rooster and spend our allowances on candy and pop. Those were the days.

[CofR]

Originally Posted by Bs&Cs

-and the dump of a Zellers at the 4 Street/Center Street corner, its a superstore now. That Zellers was such a dump, seemed like no one even worked there. I remember playing hockey in there with a buddy a few times waiting for our girlfriends to get out of Diefenbaker and never getting harrassed about it. My sister shoplifted from there endlessly because

That Zellers was so dumpy. If I'm remembering correctly they had one of their diners on the inside.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by Bs&Cs

-Along with the Calgary Zoo. I still see fragments of it as I remember it, the lion and tiger enclosures are the same, but I miss the old buildings. The reptile, primate, australian houses. And of course the polar bears. It seemed much bigger and had more stuff than it does now,

I go to the Zoo every time I’m back in Calgary, my family are avid zoo-goers. (if you’ve ever been talked to by a tall, bearded volunteer with an Australian accent in either the butterfly house or penguin plunge that’s my dad) I’ve probably been to the zoo close to 500 times in my life and it is so much bigger and better than it used to be.

The combination of “Canadian wilds” section and then Zoo Island make it actually a challenge to see everything in a day, especially so if you take a trip through the dinosaur section.

The exhibits themselves are so much better too. There is no comparison between the current Africa exhibits and the old primate and big-mammal houses. Do I miss the elephants and polar bears? Of course. But the quality of life the animals experience is so much better than it was.

The old zoo is definitely not a thing I miss about “old Calgary.”

That Mother’s pizza glass posted above though, that made my nostalgia bone hurt.

[d00little]

Originally Posted by driveway

I go to the Zoo every time I’m back in Calgary, my family are avid zoo-goers. (if you’ve ever been talked to by a tall, bearded volunteer with an Australian accent in either the butterfly house or penguin plunge that’s my dad) I’ve probably been to the zoo close to 500 times in my life and it is so much bigger and better than it used to be.

The combination of “Canadian wilds” section and then Zoo Island make it actually a challenge to see everything in a day, especially so if you take a trip through the dinosaur section.

The exhibits themselves are so much better too. There is no comparison between the current Africa exhibits and the old primate and big-mammal houses. Do I miss the elephants and polar bears? Of course. But the quality of life the animals experience is so much better than it was.

The old zoo is definitely not a thing I miss about “old Calgary.”

That Mother’s pizza glass posted above though, that made my nostalgia bone hurt.

I remember a really darkened exhibit when I was younger. It was either for reptiles, insects or bats. Do you recall?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by d00little

I remember a really darkened exhibit when I was younger. It was either for reptiles, insects or bats. Do you recall?

That was the nocturnal house with reptiles and bats and stuff. It was my favorite part for some reason.

Originally Posted by driveway

I go to the Zoo every time I’m back in Calgary, my family are avid zoo-goers. (if you’ve ever been talked to by a tall, bearded volunteer with an Australian accent in either the butterfly house or penguin plunge that’s my dad) I’ve probably been to the zoo close to 500 times in my life and it is so much bigger and better than it used to be.

The combination of “Canadian wilds” section and then Zoo Island make it actually a challenge to see everything in a day, especially so if you take a trip through the dinosaur section.

The exhibits themselves are so much better too. There is no comparison between the current Africa exhibits and the old primate and big-mammal houses. Do I miss the elephants and polar bears? Of course. But the quality of life the animals experience is so much better than it was.

The old zoo is definitely not a thing I miss about “old Calgary.”

That Mother’s pizza glass posted above though, that made my nostalgia bone hurt.

It has been about two years since I was at the zoo but I thought the dino park was closed now. I thought they shut it down to redevelop it or something.

[calgarybornnraised]

What about camp for a week. Camp Yamnuska?

Going to the mountains and spending a week with your class mates.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by calgarybornnraised

What about camp for a week. Camp Yamnuska?

Going to the mountains and spending a week with your class mates.

It's still part of the CBE curriculum for grade 6. Not a week long, only three nights or something like that. It's called Camp Chief Hector now.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by calgarybornnraised

What about camp for a week. Camp Yamnuska?

Going to the mountains and spending a week with your class mates.

Camp was awesome except for when my parents didn't come pick me up at the end. This was before cell phones existed so no one knew exactly what to do. I cried for quite a while when I was the last kid left.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Camp was awesome except for when my parents didn't come pick me up at the end. This was before cell phones existed so no one knew exactly what to do. I cried for quite a while when I was the last kid left.

Ouch. Did you live in the wild for a few days?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by driveway

I go to the Zoo every time I’m back in Calgary, my family are avid zoo-goers. (if you’ve ever been talked to by a tall, bearded volunteer with an Australian accent in either the butterfly house or penguin plunge that’s my dad) I’ve probably been to the zoo close to 500 times in my life and it is so much bigger and better than it used to be.

The combination of “Canadian wilds” section and then Zoo Island make it actually a challenge to see everything in a day, especially so if you take a trip through the dinosaur section.

The exhibits themselves are so much better too. There is no comparison between the current Africa exhibits and the old primate and big-mammal houses. Do I miss the elephants and polar bears? Of course. But the quality of life the animals experience is so much better than it was.

The old zoo is definitely not a thing I miss about “old Calgary.”

That Mother’s pizza glass posted above though, that made my nostalgia bone hurt.

Are you old enough to remember when the zoo had a playground that was on water? Like you'd play around on this big fake boat or something, then you'd jump from block to block on these little ~two foot square islands dotted all over the water. If you missed a landing, you were in the pond soaking wet. I remember my cousin falling in once. What a hilarious way to make a playground. Would have been around 1981 it was like that.

[Jiri Hrdina]

That was the old children’s zoo
It had the boat and some weird big house thing you could also play in
I’ve found few photos of what it was like but I remember it well

[driveway]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Are you old enough to remember when the zoo had a playground that was on water? Like you'd play around on this big fake boat or something, then you'd jump from block to block on these little ~two foot square islands dotted all over the water. If you missed a landing, you were in the pond soaking wet. I remember my cousin falling in once. What a hilarious way to make a playground. Would have been around 1981 it was like that.

I feel like I remember the boat, but that the pond around it was empty. Wasn’t it part of the “kid’s zoo”? About where the cafeteria is now, across from the greenhouse. This big old wooden structure with a slide, some petting zoo animals, and a display of the contents of an animal’s stomach. The animal had died as a result of ingesting kilos of items tossed into its enclosure. I can’t remember the specific animal (maybe a seal or sea-lion?) but it had eaten pounds of coins and balloons and all kinds of crap. The message was “don’t throw things in the enclosures.”

The boat I remember looked like it once had some exhibits you could see through little portholes, but in my memory they were either empty or blocked, there was nothing in them. As a young kid in the mid-to-late 80s it was kinda creepy.

[Bs&Cs]

Originally Posted by driveway

I go to the Zoo every time I’m back in Calgary, my family are avid zoo-goers. (if you’ve ever been talked to by a tall, bearded volunteer with an Australian accent in either the butterfly house or penguin plunge that’s my dad) I’ve probably been to the zoo close to 500 times in my life and it is so much bigger and better than it used to be.

The combination of “Canadian wilds” section and then Zoo Island make it actually a challenge to see everything in a day, especially so if you take a trip through the dinosaur section.

The exhibits themselves are so much better too. There is no comparison between the current Africa exhibits and the old primate and big-mammal houses. Do I miss the elephants and polar bears? Of course. But the quality of life the animals experience is so much better than it was.

The old zoo is definitely not a thing I miss about “old Calgary.”

That Mother’s pizza glass posted above though, that made my nostalgia bone hurt.

I can't deny that the updated zoo is certainly more... modern than the old zoo. That polar bear building was pretty sad by the end when it was pretty much empty, with a couple seals being its only residents... It is mostly nostalgia for my favourite place to be when I was a kid.

That said, the new primate building basically cuts the grounds in half, it barely has anything in it and its un necessarily massive. I liked the zoo better when the layout was a bit more spread out, instead of basically crowding everyone into just two areas. Just seems like a waste of all that space. The African section is well done but its really just comparing one big cement hole with another. Though I always felt bad for those hippos in the old mammal house, I was pleased to see they incorporated the lion den rocks into the new exhibit instead of getting rid of it, but it was a lot more fun when it was a park.

When it comes to animal welfare, I appreciate the steps that Calgary Zoo has taken in the areas of conservation and their off site activities with whooping cranes, burrowing owls etc are admirable but they still has massive issues with zoo layout, ie cougars, bears and wolves in eyeshot of moose and deer, ditto for lions and zebras. These issues were raised during the last renovations and not addressed, so I'm not sure how much better off most of the animals are off now besides maybe a modest upgrade in living space and a few extra woodchips. I remember the abject misery that that last polar bear seemed to be in before it died. I don't object to animals being moved on if thats whats deemed appropriate

Originally Posted by CofR

That Zellers was so dumpy. If I'm remembering correctly they had one of their diners on the inside.

By the end of that store's existence, it was the saddest place in town.

I also live in Harvest Hills and have Mother's every couple of weeks. Still awesome pizza, can confirm.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Bs&Cs

-Used to go to the 7-11 on Fairmount, in the summer with my mom on the way to the video store. I think its an A-1 now but it was a pet hospital at one time.

The pet hospital is still beside the A-1, formally the 7/11 which was there for as long as I can remember (mid 80's)

[Jordan!]

What's the name of that incredible cookie place in Chinook mall??

New York Fries still a thing? A guy in Gilbert who used to run a franchise opened up a Poutine shop near my house.

Made me so happy