Calgary MP Stephanie Kusie launches Parliamentary petition to save Olympic Plaza bricks

A Calgary MP is collecting names on a petition in hopes of saving the Olympic Plaza bricks.

A Calgary MP is collecting names on a petition in hopes of saving the Olympic Plaza bricks.

To celebrate the memory of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, over 30,000 bricks were engraved and placed in Olympic Plaza at a cost of $19.88 each.

But the city has announced plans to revamp the area, and the group in charge of the plaza design says the bricks are too old to be repurposed.

Stephanie Kusie, who represents Calgary Midnapore in Parliament, hopes the bricks — or even just the names on the bricks — can be recognized within the new structure.

Over the last few weeks, a number of Calgarians have been dropping by the plaza and removing the bricks with their name or their family’s name.

The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), which is overseeing the renovation of the area, explored the possibility of removing the bricks and returning them to the original purchasers, but it was deemed “not feasible.”

“They're not in a condition where if you can take it out, it will be intact. So as a result of that, it's not a wise thing to do,” said Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong.