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Calgary Herald

Ford: Too many blind to the beauty of our past

Article content The grass was soft, the waterfront location cool and the forum was unique. Article content A performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture by the Toronto Symphony was memorable in and of itself. But to have its dramatic climax accompanied by cannon fire from the decommissioned warship HMCS Haida turned that 1970s experience into a lifetime memory. More than 50 years later, I can still hear the drums, brass and the cannonade as clearly as if it were yesterday. Article content Ontario Place opened the waterfront to landlocked city dwellers. Many won't understand what I am talking about. Ontario Place closed in 2012, labelled as neglected, an expensive drain on the provincial budget. Article content Complaints about cost and purpose started as soon as the ground was broken for its construction. It was called an expensive boondoggle and, if memory serves me well, a columnist for the Hamilton Spectator carped about the waste of money, which could have been spent on more important projects. I believe he mentioned water treatment. Article content Article content Before the newly renovated and mostly privatized islands are opened to those with money to spend on specialized spa treatments, I remember the glory days. I remember the glorious feeling of being able to sit on grass with a breeze off the lake and the freedom from the stifling heat of my apartment. Indeed, there are still public parks and open spaces, but Ontario Place was something special. Article content All of this is occasioned by its renovation and the release of the final design. Did I mention it will include a $400-million parking garage and, in 2029, the relocation of another downtown gem, the Ontario Science Centre? Article content Should any of this matter to Calgarians? It should, before those who see no beauty in age and longevity 'reform' this city. Consider the world's oldest building still in use: Rome's Pantheon, built to honour the gods around 125 AD. Since the 7th century, it has been a Roman Catholic church.