In June of 1962, the Canadian Pacific Railway announced a proposal to redevelop part of its reserved land in the heart of downtown Calgary. In an effort to bolster its waning revenues and to redefine its urban presence, the CPR proposed a multimillion dollar development project that included retail, office, and convention facilities, along with a major transportation centre. With visions of enhanced tax revenues, increased land values, and new investment opportunities, Calgary’s political and business leaders greeted the proposal with excitement. Over the following year, the scope of the project expanded, growing to a scale never before seen in Canada. The plan took official form through an agreement between the City of Calgary and the railway company to develop a much larger area of land and to reroute or remove the railway tracks from the downtown area—a grand design for reshaping Calgary’s urban core. In 1964, amid bickering and a failed negotiating process, the project came to an abrupt end. What caused this promising partnership between the nation’s leading corporation and the burgeoning city of Calgary to collapse?
Table of Contents
List of Tables, Maps, and Figures – ix
Acknowledgements – xi
Introduction- 3
1. Setting the Stage: The City’s Personalities and Agendas, 1953 to July 1962 – 21
2. Heady Days of Hope: Two Announcements, June 1962 to April 1963 – 35
3. From Arrangement to Agreement: Dodging the Negotiation Potholes, April 1963 to January 1964- 71
4. Temperature Rising: The Project Under Public Scrutiny, February to June 1964 – 129
Conclusion – 179
Epilogue – 189
Appendix A, Heads of Arrangement – 193
Appendix B, Agreement of Intent – 197
Appendix C, Major Participants – 217
Appendix D, Calgary City Councils, 1962-64 – 219
Notes – 221
Bibliography – 249
Index – 253