Calgary Tower

Husky Tower

It was built as the Husky Tower to mark Canada's centennial

Marathon Realty and Husky Oil conceived the tower as a joint venture to honour the centennial of 1967. It opened to the public on 30 June 1968 and was renamed the Calgary Tower on 1 November 1971, as a tribute to the citizens of Calgary.

The pour

The column was built from one continual pour of concrete

Pouring began on 15 May 1967 and was completed 24 days later, at an average growth of 7.6 metres per day. The column was built from an unprecedented continual pour of concrete.

7.6 metresaverage growth of the column each day of the pour

The height

The developers understated the height to keep rivals from topping it

Developers claimed the tower would stand 187 metres, hoping to stop competing developers from surpassing its record. Officials in San Antonio, Texas, announced the Tower of the Americas, and the developers then revealed the true height of 191 metres.

The flame

A gas-fired cauldron on top was lit for the 1988 Winter Olympics

Canadian Western Natural Gas built the cauldron in October 1987 as a gift to celebrate the 1988 Winter Olympics. It was first lit on 13 February 1988 and is lit again for special events, including Canada Day.

Glass floor

A glass floor looks straight down on the streets below

A glass floor extension opened on the north side of the observation deck on 24 June 2005. Standing on it, one can look straight down on 9th Avenue South and Centre Street. The stairs have 802 steps and are used for a charity race.