Still Standing
It’s seen by thousands and thousands of folks each and every day, but we suspect few know much about it. There, looming tall in an empty field next to a bus loop/LRT station and looking as though a rocket ready to launch into the great beyond, it’s the old Firestone Tower along busy Memorial Drive. This tall skinny curiosity is all that’s left of a tire factory that operated on the property here during the ’60s and ’70s, little known to those who are not old time Calgarians.
There’s the old the company logo, albeit some faded, on its sides.
The structure is said to contains toxins, PCBs being mentioned time and again. That stuff will ruin your day. Why it was not torn down when the factory was demolished is not clear, but maybe that contamination and the cost associated with the cleanup, contributed to its survival. It’s been suggest the soil around also contains yucky stuff and might explain why the valuable plot of land on which the tower stands has not been redeveloped. Still, there’s been proposals for “Fire Park” but none have made it past the planning stage.
The tower is historically recognized but this does not protect it in any way. Both city hall and developers are famous for having zero regard for history, if not a general contempt, and should it be in the way of something new, it most surely would be threatened. We can’t shake the feeling its days are numbered…
Sky blur is due to clouds moving over a long (30 second) exposure.
For steam locomotives…
Canadian Pacific Railway octagonal water tower.
Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.
If you need any more information on what we talked about here, by all means contact us!
Date of adventure: December, 2018.
Location: Calgary, AB.
You can view the tower from the transit parking lot.
A monument to Calgary’s industrial past.
Awesome shot!
Thanks so much Connie.
So many companies vanish leaving damages to you to clean up.
Yes, some messes were left behind. This one’s not so bad compared to some other former industrial sites in Calgary, like some of those refineries for example.
I used to tell my boys that it was actually a missile Tower that the military had put in during the Cold War. For years they believed me, and when I told them it was all a hoax, they didn’t believe me. Because I was in the military, that is why they believe that what I was telling them was true.
Messing with kids minds, eh? And once it’s ingrained, it’s hard to undo. Haha, they’re such easy targets!
My brother in law’s advertising business wanted to do it up as a Duracell battery…
A giant AA? That’d look so cool!
My father worked there back in the day.
Very cool!
I recall a guy protesting something back in the 70’s? He climbed up and sat on the top of the tower. Couldn’t find anything on the net.
I found an old newspaper clipping. Interesting!
Could we not make Firestone clean it out?
Hmmm, perhaps too much time has passed?
Reminds me of another set of towers that came down in 1973? The Robin Hood flour towers on 9ave in Calgary. I was working very near by in the Mannix building on 9th and 3rd when they bashed these enormous concrete monolithes to the ground. My drafting pencils used to jump off the paper every time that wrecking ball hit the thick basement foundation of those towers.
I vaguely remember the Robin Hood elevator. With all that concrete it must not have been easy or cheap to bring it down. Sounds like an earthquake!
Nice capture. Mine was just an iPhone pic taken on like a Tuesday afternoon while I was driving by.
Thank you. Phones can take incredible photos these days.
Neat perspective!
Thank you, we love shooting these.
Was this the old good year plant.
No, Firestone. You can see the faded lettering on the tower.
Remember this from the train station by Barlow Maxbell. Apparently, it is used as a landmark reference by pilots!
Makes sense. It’s along the flight path in.
I remember when the plant was open. It was a huge plant. Memorial Drive was a skinny road then.
Memorial a skinny road? Hard to imagine it. Calgary sure has grown since those days.
Love this shot. I love the gloom.
Thank you Johnnie, that means a lot coming from you.
That is a fantastic picture!
We try hard!
My husband worked there as a teenager for a short period of time in the ‘70s. I remember you had to go by it to get to the old Airport.
Cool connection! The old airport, those memories. It was so small.
The concrete floor is now used as the road to the loading ramps for the warehouse and the park and ride.
Ah yes, that concrete. It makes sense now.
Beautifully photographed!
Thank you!