So we’re watching this movie, a little known but most enjoyable flick shot in Calgary called Waydowntown (from 2000). The story is that a corporate drone who on a bet spends a full month living in the city’s extensive Plus 15 Walkway Network and never venturing outside. A dark comedy, it’s a look into the spirit-breaking culture of big business in a sterile, climate controlled urban-jungle hell made of glass and concrete.
To go “Waydowntown” is to commit suicide by jumping from a high rise office window. The film touches on this as a final outcome for a pivotal character.
With the credits rolling we were hit with this crazy notion. How about we explore the Plus 15, central to the story, every possible metre of it that’s publicly accessible?* Let’s imagine ourselves characters in the film, even if only for a short time and go where they went. What a great idea.
Goin’ Waydowntown: wandering Calgary’s Plus 15 Network. Presented by Chris Doering & Connie Biggart. (BIGDoer/Synd)
Businesses in the main parts of the Plus 15 are open on Sunday, the day of our visit and were kinda busy, but in most sections they’re shuttered and the halls eerily empty. We’d have the place to ourselves for long stretches and would go a good ten or fifteen minutes without seeing a single soul. And of the few people that passed most we’re bored security guards, more than happy to engage us in conversation. “Finally someone to chat with!” Seems that being alone like that can get to you. They talked our ears off!
Now let’s take in our strange journey…
1) 11:44:00 AM. It’s so frickin’ freezing outside. Mother Nature be damned! Here at Gulf Canada Square we enter the “system” and for the next three or so hours, we’ll call Calgary’s Plus 15 home. In that time we’ll cover every single section that’s open.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
2) 11:52:22 AM. Just a waterfall thingy. The halls were so dead quiet that the sound it made echoed off the walls.
3) 11:54:18 AM. Put yourselves here any workday at noon-ish and it’d be a madhouse, but here it’s devoid of any signs of life. That’s a theme this day. Luckily, another food court is open in the complex. Wandering the Plus 15 can make a person hungry.
4) 11:57:14 AM. Thick glass keeps the bad outdoors away.
5) 11:59:42 AM. All the electronic gadgets that make the world go round.
6) 12:00:14 PM. The shoe shine place, the ladder-climbing corporate shill’s bestest friend. They do a good business here during the week.
7) 12:00:40 PM. The “screaming” room from Waydowntown. I think it was a smokers corner back then – back when they allowed smoking in buildings. It’s just a small glass enclosure big enough for a few people, with a door at each end. Bizarre.
8) 12:36:20 PM. Post lunch, lost in the Core Shopping Centre. What’s that, people down there? Open stores bring in a few shoppers. The Plus 15 here actually covers four levels, the upper one a food court – and Devonian Gardens, a large green space closed this day. Lots of trendy boutiques here which we could never afford to shop in.
9) 12:43:00 PM. The glass ceiling is covered in a thick blanket of snow. So much of the white stuff this year. What the heck, are we in Winnipeg?
10) 12:46:58 PM. An empty hall and a splash of colour. Back in high school, the days I bothered to attend that is, Adidas was the cool brand of running shoe. Any other and you were mocked.
11) 12:51:06 PM. 2017 was Canada’s 150th. Here’s to a 150 more – if we all join hands and work together and get along, it can happen.
12) 1:00:50 PM. It seems like we’re wandering aimlessly, but we have formula so we don’t miss any sections. Here, a giant size chess-game.
13) 1:07:58 PM. Winter still has a grip on the city and won’t let for two more months. A chance capture, two LRT trains passing. It’s how we got into the core. One of the few times I’m glad we’re not outside. The wind howls.
14) 1:08:42 PM. One leaving the Core Shopping Centre, things get quiet. We bumped into these same people a number of times. Then a guard kicked them out for bringing their dog.
15) 1:12:14 PM. Only the biggest wheels get in. And you have to know the secret handshake. A club where money and power are requirements to being a member.
16) 1:13:28 PM. Caribou Crossing Whisky. “Some tasty woody notes come out after a few minutes, but there is not much spice and no pepper until the end when it joins the tannic oak in a dry and spicy crescendo”, says one review. Through the glass at a liquor store.
17) 1:14:36 PM. In some nondescript hallway that seemed to never end, looking up, a snow covered skylight.
18) 1:19:58 PM. Pondering some investments. The darling of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Archon Minerals, is up! Whoo-hoo, next stop, the Audi Dealer! We’re in the Stock Exchange Tower.
19) 1:20:38 PM. It’s rare to find a payphone these days. Can’t remember the last time we used one. How about you?
20) 1:21:36 PM. A multi-story statue in some lonely corner of the system. Then it hits us, it’s been like forever since we’ve seen another person. We’re the last people on earth.
21) 1:29:38 PM. A fun-house like view. We’re looking so thin! In back a Starbucks. Now there’s something you don’t see everyday.
22) 1:32:02 PM. Through the door is a downtown hotel – many of the outer reaches of the system lead to places like this, or parking garages. Maps are found in many spots along the way. That carpet!
23) 1:33:34 PM. Another dead-end. On reaching a turn around point like this we’d double back and look for the next hallway yet visited, assuring us in a systematic way that we’d take in every single open section this here day.
24) 1:37:38 PM. We all look the same on the inside.
25) 1:39:06 PM. A very backwater section of the Plus 15. The place was all ours.
26) 1:45:56 PM. The price tag of these specs was eye-opening! Downtown sure is expensive.
27) 1:49:00 PM. Waydowntown is definitely worth watching. Once again we’re alone.
28) 1:55:12 PM. The kilometres keep adding up. Some sections of the Plus 15 are new and shiny, others old and with an industrial feel, but they share one thing in common – no one is about.
29) 1:56:08 PM. The Sunterra Store looks empty, but inside bakers were preparing various goodies for the following business day. The smells were intoxicating. Hmmm….wonder if I could make it over the fence. The yellow pylon warns of a liquid spill long since dried up.
30) 1:59:10 PM. A reminder how horrible the day was outside. In this rare instance, we’re happy to be inside, even if the emptiness is getting to us. The brain wonders where everyone went. The Calgary Tower generally gets lost among all the tall office and condo towers in downtown but from this angle it stands out by itself, proud and in all its glory.
31) 2:16:12 PM. An old Noorduyn Norseman in retirement. This the first purpose designed bush plane made in Canada and was built from the 1930s to the 1950s. These rugged beasts could be outfitted with tires, pontoon floats or skis as seen here.
32) 2:26:26 PM. Silver and green, Connie waits back there. Here, something as quiet as a footfall echos loudly and a whisper becomes a shout. What an unusual effect. On a busy weekday, the din must be overwhelming at times.
33) 2:28:36 PM. Waiting for the bus out front of the Bay. The colder it gets, the later they seem to run.
34) 2:41:00 PM. Another empty section that’s ours and ours alone. Where is everyone?
35) 2:45:28 PM. Everything begins to blend together, one section of the Plus 15 looking much as every other. How long have we been wandering these vacant halls? An hour, a day, a month? Time losses all meaning. Then we round a corner and see this…
36) 2:45:42 PM. There’s cows about! They’re called, get this, “Udderly” Art (insert rim-shot here). Always wondered where they went. A bunch of them used to be on display in various parts of the city, but seemingly vanished long ago, like some eighteen years or so. Now we know at least where some of them went (not all are here).
37) 2:47:40 PM. Each cow is unique and reflects the personality of the artist which created it. All started with the same “blank canvas”.
38) 2:48:58 PM. Out the window, winter’s in charge. The hallway…there’s no one…just these cows. Us and cows. A low hum is heard from the heating system…
39) 2:53:08 PM. A vintage computer expansion card on the “cyber-cow”. Ohhh, extra memory! 640K out to be enough for anyone! And a real-time clock – no more entering the time on boot-up! This card probably cost a fortune in its day. Now it’s a reminder of how quick electronics hit obsolescence.
40) 2:59:42 PM. Some old folks out for a walk. The Plus 15 this day was a fine alternative to the cold, cold outside. Seems at least a few people had the idea to walk it. Safe bet we were the only ones that explored every last bit of it. And I doubt anyone else had heard of the film Waydowntown. It’s pretty obscure.
41) 3:02:54 PM. We liked the colour here.
42) 3:07:56 PM. Another food court with no one about. By now we’re getting a bit weirded out by emptiness and silence of it all. There should be people here, but there’s not. Nuclear war, some Twilight Zone Episode, do we smell that bad? Where have they gone?!
43) 3:09:28 PM. Modern sculpture that is also functional. These “trees” help control the wind down at street level. The fins help absorb and redirect gusts. They’re lit up in an array of colours come night.
44) 3:11:04 PM. We’ve close to to the end now. A part of us, the one that’s all safe and warm, doesn’t want to leave – it’s really thinks we could live in the Plus 15 for a month and wants to do it. But the other looks to the outdoors as some release, even if conditions there are somewhat inhospitable. The latter will win.
45) 3:14:18 PM. Some three hours, some twelve or so clicks, a surreal adventure behind us. Step out into the light of day, out into the real world, first time in some time, our Waydowntown experience at an end. Even by our standards this was strange.
46) 3:17:08 PM. Follow the smoke. The smell was unbelievable. Snap back to reality. Off to the train station.
The Plus 15 system dates back to the 1970s and was conceived as a way to protect those moving about the city’s core from nasty weather. It’s since grown to be one the largest interconnected downtown walkways in the world. It’s not without its critics, many of who feel it keeps people off the streets, killing businesses there. It’s called Plus 15 (often stylized +15) as this is the height the walkways are above the ground.
* Some sections of the Plus 15 are card access only where as others are closed on Sundays meaning we could not explore all of it, just those sections open to the general public. In addition, a second section is disconnected from the main part, which if following the don’t go outside rule of the movie, means it was off limits to us (and mostly closed on Sunday anyway). Still, we calculated there’s some eight or nine clicks of it we could walk even if constant backtracking meant we’d put in about good fifty percent more in mileage (kilometreage?).
Turns out GPS doesn’t work well in the core (silly us), so we can’t share what was to be our spaghetti like route. Darn.
The “screaming room” from waydowntown is an airlock of sorts – there’s a giant rolldown door that closes the whole +15 and the screaming room allows access when the giant door is closed
(A long read) After twelve years it's time to put a face to the name and come clean on something. That's rarely-seen Chris in the photo, one half of Team BIGDoer, my best friend for almost thirty years and orchestrator of everything you see here. For his entire adult life, he's battled a deep depression.
Mostly it's manageable, but there are extended bouts where it's crippling and his life comes to a grinding halt. Sometimes there are days or weeks where he's lost. Sleep does not come easy at this time and further aggravates the issue. As he ages, it's worsening and seems intent on destroying him from the inside.
If you see a lack of posts here, or ones poorly worded, confusing or simply off, it's from one of these periods.
Through all this, he remains as kind, thoughtful and loving as ever, but is somewhere else. To the family, it's just Chris and accepted as it should be. The kids and grandkids adore him no less. Until today, however, this has been hidden from the outside world, although closer friends and some readers were probably already suspect of his condition. I hope admitting this does not break the site.
He finds clarity when we're out and doing things, hiking or documenting something historic and it's only THE reason this page and our website exists. It's therapy. Then he's a new and passionate person, but the monster as he calls it always returns. The Beer Parlour Project has brought out a side I've never seen and when out in the field he's never been so on point and confident.
This post is not for sympathy but to inform. Just so you know where he is and here's what you can do to help (a last ditch request)...
If you see a missed comma or oddly worded sentence in a post, please be kind. You'll probably see his uncertainty when he's off and be nice there too. But if you like what you see, even if the write up could be presented better, post your encouragement. Say something and say it loud...it's important and will keep him sharing. Help Chris get better by cheering him on.
Other than some photos that are mine, everything else comes from him. All the tiring research and the writing (he admits he's NOT a writer), are his.
Chris puts every dollar he makes into this "project of a lifetime", and it's supplemented by donations from readers who enjoy the content. If you want to help...
Admittedly he was not thrilled with the idea of posting this but agrees it probably should be said, even if it makes him uneasy. He doesn't like appearing in photos either. He's so shy, thinks he looks goofy and hates his husky eyes. I love them and they're windows into a wonderful, complex and quiet, but tortured soul. It breaks my heart when he's in a bad space.
This image comes thanks to photographer Arturo Pianzola and was captured while exploring the historic Riverview Mental Hospital in Coquitlam BC. Chris thought since he was in the area last year, he'd stop by to visit with a grandfather he never really knew, who spent his last years at the facility and is buried on the grounds.
Thanks for listening and your understanding. Hopefully we'll see you next week. Johanna (Connie).
Journey of Natty Gann (Disney 1985) and the same location in the Crowsnest Pass 2014. We're visiting the Pass over the new year, as we often do, and this time we'll be staying at a house that appears (briefly) in the film. How cool, eh? Chris has decided it's time on this visit to reshoot this and other Natty Gann comparison shots we did from ten years ago. Stay tuned!
This scene was shot in historic downtown Coleman and shows the former Holyk's Grocery. It was built in the early 1900s and the store closed in the '60s. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Johanna (Connie).
From 2015. Rob Pohl and his strange old-style view camera joined us in documenting the Laing House (with permission). Head down to the comments to see an amazing coincidence with something I found inside.
From the Crossley slides, it's an undated view of Towers School, out near Cluny Alberta. It was originally called Swastika School but that's before the word and symbol were ruined by negative connotations. Built 1922. Gone? _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
The same alley in downtown Calgary's west end, in the 1970s & today. You have to look hard to see the connection! The area was quite run down back then and is in stark contrast to all the shiny condo towers seen present day. Calgary Place West, an apartment block, appears in both images although it's barely a sliver in ours. Check the comments for more info.
Photo credit: James Tworow collection. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
Lost highways (2022): a section of old #93 in Southeastern BC. That BIGDoer-mobile is gone now but quite famous and had a following of its own. Old mine roads, cow paths, 4x4ing across fields - no problem and people would recognize us out in remote areas just by this car. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
Love this one!
Thanks, we love getting creative!
Always a fun time and what a creative approach.
I so love doing these! And if you do it, do it well.
Neat! I always liked exploring downtown…especially when it was not a busy work day.
Love the non-busy times. Very eerie wandering the empty halls. But mid-day during the week, no way!
Quite the hike, thanks for the tag-along adventures you bring us on!
You are most welcome!
The “screaming room” from waydowntown is an airlock of sorts – there’s a giant rolldown door that closes the whole +15 and the screaming room allows access when the giant door is closed
We were scratching our heads on this one. Ahhh, now it all makes sense. Thanks!
Cool photoblog! I run catering deliveries through the +15s on weekdays to various offices – I wish I had the chance to see them devoid of people!
Glad you like it! Quite the contrast, weekday to weekend. Lots of people, or nobody. It can get crazy at times, but we liked the dead quiet Plus 15.