Holy Cow. For the record, I am (or was) enthusiastic about an injection of life into this space. Not like this. While it has always been a unique, and occasionally weird spot to hang out in the core, time has obviously not been kind to some elements of the park. The always strange vertical log-wall/seating area along the northwest corner has begun to surrender to nature, decayed and moss covered, yet comforting in it's familiarity. The sections of the plank bridge walkway that have not been replaced heave and moan, perhaps reminding you of a simpler time, or that this might be the biggest risk you'll take all day and broken ankles eventually heal. It's all part of the charm.
Perhaps you'll sit a while and eat your shawarma, despite the occasionally dystopian atmosphere. A couple of magpies squabble over a pizza crust, a bottle picker kicks another in the balls in a Roll-Up-The-Rim cup dispute for the ages (free potato wedges). Someone, somewhere is screaming about Jesus. Commuters huddle for safety on the train platform, unable to avoid the constant 8th street echo, as familiar as the wind...gottasmoke?gottasmoke?gottasmoke?..and so on.
And yet, now comes the inevitable and obvious destruction of a truly public space. The foul stench that wafts down Stephen Avenue from the angry corpse of Devonian Gardens threatens to infect another downtown oasis. These renderings, preliminary as they may be, find me longing for the Calgary that was. It would be nice if the brutalist nature of the park could be retained, if only to remind us that ugly does not always mean bad.
What a shame.
