Some individuals say it with flowers. Some with an engagement ring.
For Keith Beggs, it was a brick surrounded by mortar and positioned at Calgary’s Olympic Plaza that confirmed his true intent for the girl who would develop into his spouse.
“She was saying, ‘Are we critical or not?’ So I stated, ‘I do know, I’ll purchase a brick,’” Beggs recalled Friday as he and his spouse, Barb, picked up the brick inscribed with their names.
Trying again, he stated, there’s just one cause he purchased the brick.
“So she’d marry me.”
As a part of a fundraiser forward of the 1988 Olympics, individuals might buy and personalize a brick to line the bottom of the plaza on the east finish of downtown for $19.88. Over the a long time, a number of the bricks grew to become so eroded, the writing was barely seen, whereas many others have been cracked and gouged.
The Beggs’ brick was one among some 33,000 slated for destruction, because the growing old plaza and adjoining performing arts advanced endure a $660-million overhaul. The town had stated the bricks can be too fragile to salvage.
However in an Eleventh-hour turnaround final month, after getting an earful from individuals dismayed their beloved keepsakes can be trashed, town stated it will not less than attempt to return some.
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Tons of of individuals lined up Friday contained in the Agriculture Constructing on the Calgary Stampede Grounds at tables marked alphabetically with dozens of bricks laid out neatly behind.
Individuals had every week in December to register on-line to have town attempt to retrieve their bricks.
Kyle Ripley, director of parks and open areas on the Metropolis of Calgary, stated there have been about 8,000 requests and about 70 per cent, or roughly 5,600 bricks, have been recovered.
We’ve carried out the unimaginable,” Ripley stated.
“We’ve got these bricks that have been put in place virtually 40 years in the past. 5 of their six sides have been mortared they usually have been set to be safe and in place for in perpetuity.
“It had horses and people and bikes and also you identify it that went on to that plaza for occasions. We had one space of the plaza the place we tried to take away them, and the mortar was actually stronger than the bricks and the bricks have been turning primarily to mud as we have been attempting to take away them.”
Peter Soroka, 34, is a pair years youthful than the brick he picked up Friday. It bears the names of his dad and mom, Gary and Donna.
He stated they every moved to Calgary within the ’80s and met at The Keg Steakhouse on Electrical Avenue, as soon as a bustling nightlife district near downtown.
“They received their brick inscription after which my dad handed away 5 years in the past now, so I wished to get it for my mother,” Soroka stated.
He’s relieved it was salvageable.
“I went down earlier within the week and requested the blokes if I might come down and attempt to dig it out myself, they usually weren’t too eager on that,” he stated.
“All of the bricks in my part have been fairly damaged up, so I didn’t have excessive hopes it will truly get recovered. It appears nice, so I’m fairly excited.”
A design for the $70-million plaza overhaul is to be revealed early this yr and is anticipated to include parts of town’s Olympic legacy.
Ripley stated the bricks have been by no means going to stay on the plaza ceaselessly.
“Olympic Plaza was actually to be a brief fixture as a part of the Olympics … a spot for Calgarians to have a good time and the place we might award the medals,” he stated.
“It’s lasted now 36 or 37 years and can proceed to reside in its new kind.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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