Tourist Attractions you would like to see in Calgary

[Calgarian]

Something like the California Academy of Sciences on the edge of Nose Hill would actually be pretty cool! Nothing other than maintenance buildings should be in the park, leave it as is!

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I thought Wild Rose already moved? Would be great for them to be in Ramsay I think, sort of an industrial option, but with a nice restaurant facing the street.

WR has moved the vast majority of their brewing to the SE (not far from Big Rock, I believe). They're still looking for a site for a retail site / brewpub. I had heard they were hoping to be central, but decent and affordable space might be hard to come by. I think they have a year left where they're at.

The Quonset in Currie Barracks isn't sad. Homely maybe, but not sad. And it has a super sunny patio. It would have been great if they could have kept that in operation as the neighbourhood grew around it. And the market. And the old hangers... all together it might have made for an interesting neighbourhood (and attraction), more a mix like Ramsay than a 'burb like Garrison Woods.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Something like the California Academy of Sciences on the edge of Nose Hill would actually be pretty cool! Nothing other than maintenance buildings should be in the park, leave it as is!

Glad you're now up to speed. The multitude of minds have together come to a similar conclusion.

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

Here is what I struggle with. VIP tickets for X-Fest $250. Coachella Tickets $380. I just don't feel like I get my bang for buck at x-fest. Great lineup, and I am stoked to go. But Coachella is really something else. Beyond the music the facility and the efficiency at the venue is worth every penny.

X-Fest is pricy. I got my 250+ bands of much more intimate concert talent for $150 early bird for Sled Island. That's a deal and the quality is every bit as good as the big festivals, if not better because its more authentic and personal.

As for X-Fest being pricey, I suspect it is the same reason why beers are 7-9 dollars a pint in this city. Oil bucks and cash money; enough people will pay for it.

This is an obvious preference choice: $380 is a ridiculous amount for a festival (even $250 is a little steep). Sure it has the top 100 bands in the world currently (few can deny that the lineup is anything short of a whose-who of the current scene) but that's creates all sorts of other issues.

Everything is outrageously pricey, its crowded everywhere, you're favourite acts might only get small sets against such large list. Half the time you are competing between two acts that are playing at the same time on different stages.

No doubt it would be fun though! What wicked party. Just an really, really expensive one.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by RWin

Again I agree. But it can still be a good tourist draw. This isn't a perfect example but it was built long after anything like this was needed.

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/

It definitely can but if I read the information at the end of that link correctly, that castle was built during the age of castles and has become a tourist attraction many years later. Why rob the current age of architecture of that chance?

There are some great ideas being thrown around in this thread and I'd love to give an architect the chance to build a contemporary building that might not be inhabited a couple hindered years from now but attracts visitors in the same way as that castle. It could even take architectural inspiration from German-style castles and have similar features in a modern fashion. Take Vancouver's Central Library for example, it took a page out of the Colosseum's design guide.

Edit: Just took a look at the dates and it wasn't from the age of castles. Nevertheless, I still think if he chose a 19th Century-style design it could be just as popular as today.

[jsbertram]

I can't believe nobody has suggested a bungee jump yet.

off the Calgary Tower.

or The Bow.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

or the Centre Steet Bridge!
Wheeeeeeeeee!
* Splash! *

[Jimby]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I can't believe nobody has suggested a bungee jump yet.

off the Calgary Tower.

or The Bow.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

or the Centre Steet Bridge!
Wheeeeeeeeee!
* Splash! *

The Stoney Trail bridge over the Bow in Bowness would be perfect!

[ue]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

I'm not sure either. Most people attribute it to high costs for land/rent. But yeah, whatever the case may be it would be really nice to have a market in the inner city that you could walk to. The Beltline seems like a no-brainer.





Totally agree, an art gallery is the most glaring missing item from Calgary I think. I can't think of any city over 550K that doesn't have one.

Heritage Park is pretty much the same thing as Fort Edmonton. It's actually a very popular site - Canada's largest living historical museum

High costs for rent is a ludicrous excuse for not having a proper urban farmers market for city dwellers to connect with farmers and artisans on a weekly basis. The people who think that must not realize the land that St. Lawrence and Kensington in Toronto sit on are highly lucrative pieces of land, or the ByWard in Ottawa, or basically any market in the Lower Mainland.

Scarth Street in the Beltline already reminds me a bit of 104 St here in Downtown Edmonton and I think an outdoor market like the one here on 104th would be perfect. An indoor facility could be built at 17th and Scarth for year round use.

Well, Calgary does have the Art Gallery of Calgary, but it reminded me more of a well done private/independent gallery than an actual city art gallery like the Vancouver Art Gallery, AGA, AGO, or the Museum of Fine Arts.

Fort Edmonton is Canada's largest living history museum, not Heritage Park, but it does seem to be a good destination nonetheless (and like Fort Edmonton, great location).

Originally Posted by Calgarian

That "incomplete" list is pretty epic!

While there are lots of tourist attractions, there are few monuments in Calgary for tourists to go see.

At least Calgary has some. Don't sell yourselves too short. The Calgary Tower, Canada Olympic Park, and more recently, the Peace Bridge and the Bow seem to be Calgarian landmarks with at least moderate national knowledge. It's a bit different up here where we have local unique landmarks (the Leg, Muttart, AGA, High Level Bridge, etc) but they don't seem to have much recognition outside of this province.

[woychukb]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Totally agree, an art gallery is the most glaring missing item from Calgary I think. I can't think of any city over 550K that doesn't have one.

Originally Posted by ue

Well, Calgary does have the Art Gallery of Calgary, but it reminded me more of a well done private/independent gallery than an actual city art gallery like the Vancouver Art Gallery, AGA, AGO, or the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Glenbow actually announced a few months ago that they intend to focus on art going forward (link) instead of the sort of general purpose museum it currently is. That and the old Science Center is planned for an art gallery (link).

[ue]

^ Very interesting, thanks for the heads up.

[tsumetai]

I would also like to see a world-renowned aquarium in Calgary. I know that will never happen especially considering our landlocked position, but having visited the aquariums in Monte Carlo, Vancouver, and the one in San Diego zoo, I think that is a wonderful attraction. Even the fish tank at YVR airport is always a welcome sight for me. (airport design & beautification is another topic...)

There is also an emerging "art form" known as iwagumi or aquascaping. I would also love to see an aquascaping gallery or museum in Calgary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquascaping

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by tsumetai

I would also like to see a world-renowned aquarium in Calgary. I know that will never happen especially considering our landlocked position

I think this is the #1 reason we need something like this, an acrylic tunnel through a shark tank would be a damn cool thing to see in Calgary!

[freeweed]

Aquariums are not a growth industry. We certainly aren't going to get any marine mammals of any size here. Vancouver is probably going to lose theirs in the next decade or so.

But for fish etc? No reason we can't have that. Las Vegas has several large installations, and they're not exactly coastal.

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by Jimby

The Stoney Trail bridge over the Bow in Bowness would be perfect!

There are plenty of escarpments that could easily benefit from a few dozen zip-lines. Hell, you could probably zip from Shaganappi Golf Course right onto the Molly Malone's patio in Kensington.

Not to mention some downtown skyscraper zip-lines. I wouldn't mind being able to zip out of the 35th Floor of Centennial place and land past all the congestion south of 12th Ave during the evening commute.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by ue

High costs for rent is a ludicrous excuse for not having a proper urban farmers market for city dwellers to connect with farmers and artisans on a weekly basis. The people who think that must not realize the land that St. Lawrence and Kensington in Toronto sit on are highly lucrative pieces of land, or the ByWard in Ottawa, or basically any market in the Lower Mainland.

Scarth Street in the Beltline already reminds me a bit of 104 St here in Downtown Edmonton and I think an outdoor market like the one here on 104th would be perfect. An indoor facility could be built at 17th and Scarth for year round use.

With respect to a farmers' market, what do people consider a true farmers' market? Something like Calgary Farmers' Market or the Kingsland Farmers' Market or the Crossroads Market - which are more food courts with just a few actual farmers there?

Do people want a certified farmers' market in the core - not just a market which allows flea market stuff or resellers like Avon and such? Crossroads is not a certified farmers' market and doesn't call themselves one.

Would people rather have a real outdoor farmers' market that consists of mostly locally grown/produced produce/meats/jams/etc or locally produced artisan products - similar to Calgary's oldest certified farmers' market and also Calgary's largest outdoor seasonal farmers' market (Grassroots Northland since 1992)?

The biggest issue with an outdoor market comes down to the cost of the venue on which one operates a market - it's a very tricky balance between what the landlord charges and what the market charges for stall rent to their vendors. Some of these downtown markets in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto may very well be getting subsidized rents which makes the whole operation more viable but in Calgary, there currently isn't an availability of open space in the downtown core that is available at an realistic rent that makes an outdoor market feasible. Another problem is that there is already a glut of weekend markets in Calgary & area (Calgary Farmers, Kingsland Farmers, Crossroads, Blackfoot, South Fish Creek, Thorncliffe/Greenview, Inglewood, Bearspaw, Symons Valley, Cochrane, Millarville, Carstairs, Strathmore and Okotoks) - 14 weekend markets is a lot of stall spaces for the number of actual producers/vendors that are available.

Personally, I'd love to see an outdoor certified farmers' market in the core/beltline and probably the best place for it to get a start is from one of the community associations in those areas - problem is that they may not even have the space to do such. Another problem is it's very difficult to get established producers/vendors to give up a market they already may be at in exchange for a new market and or even opening up in a second, new stall at a new market.

Some might wonder how I have some insight with all of this - mostly because of a non-profit organization my wife is involved in runs a certified farmers' market here in Calgary and over the past 7 years, we've gained a lot of insight into what it takes to manage a farmers' market in Calgary. Believe it or not, rent costs versus stall income is a very big factor in the viability of an outdoor farmers' market in Calgary - The Hillhurst/Sunnyside market only just reopened in the past two years as well as the Triwood market. Triwood is still struggling and Sunnyside is only seeing success because of the live entertainment they can offer and the beer gardens as well.

Creating a new, outdoor certified farmers' market in the core/beltline would be a huge undertaking - see the Alberta Farmers' Market Association and the Alberta Approved Farmers' Markets web sites for more details regarding certified farmers' markets.

[freeweed]

Do they still have that farmer's market east of Blackfoot, well south of Crossroads? THAT is what I'd call a "real" farmer's market. Haven't been in years because it seemed closed a few times when I checked it out.

I've always been surprised that Eau Claire isn't turned into a huge farmer's market on summer weekends. So much wasted space both indoor and outdoor there.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Do they still have that farmer's market east of Blackfoot, well south of Crossroads? THAT is what I'd call a "real" farmer's market. Haven't been in years because it seemed closed a few times when I checked it out.

I've always been surprised that Eau Claire isn't turned into a huge farmer's market on summer weekends. So much wasted space both indoor and outdoor there.

Blackfoot wasn't a certified farmers' market and contained a lot of flea market vendors but at the same time, it did have a lot of produce stalls - problem is that some of them were just reselling produce they were buying from grocery brokers in Calgary and some of that produce is not grown locally.

Missed another Calgary weekend market (Sweetgrass Market in West Springs Village) - that's 15 weekend markets in Calgary and area.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by speedog

Blackfoot wasn't a certified farmers' market and contained a lot of flea market vendors

Are we talking about the same thing? I don't remember anything close to flea market vendors. This was basically a big open field, and every booth was produce - and a few things like honey and such, with a tiny amount of prepared foods. Certainly not something I'd associate with "flea markets". Hell, 10 years ago they had a goat paddock.

Of course I have no idea if these were the actual farmers or whatnot. Most of it seemed to be BC-grown or local, from what I recall.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I think this is the #1 reason we need something like this, an acrylic tunnel through a shark tank would be a damn cool thing to see in Calgary!

I think an aquarium is a silly idea. Instead of focusing on our strengths, geology, energy, dinosaurs, in-land sea, evolution of glacier activities, and leveraging assets such as nose hill, we want to "import" an aquarium.

Instead of fighting our assets and strengths, we should be embracing them.

[suburbia]

While I recognizing there are a whole bunch of people who don't have access to decent apples, I really don't think a farmers market is a true high calibre tourist attraction within our contexts. I think we need to be focusing on what would be on the radar for someone in other cities, that could seriously add strength to considering Calgary a destination. While there are markets such as in Asia or maybe even Seattle that could get into this realm, that's not the main item for us.