Design
The Calgary Park That's United Historic Preservationists and Parkour Athletes
The city wants to renovate Century Gardens Park, but two unlikely groups are fighting to save it.
On warm days, when office-tower émigrés can enjoy their lunches next to its calming water features, Calgary's Century Gardens Park serves as a popular daytime downtown retreat.
But at 38 years-old, the Brutalist public space is starting to show its age. The color of its odd concrete features has faded to a dreary ash, the foliage is overgrown, and the water pumps are failing. Angular slabs create both barriers to pedestrian access and places for miscreants to hide—city park staff complain of finding evidence of overnight drinking and drug use.