The Calgary Tower will illuminate in blue and yellow on Wednesday night to honor Cliff Osborne, the structural engineer who designed the iconic structure, following his death earlier this month at the age of 89.
A Legacy in Engineering
Osborne's son, Doug Osborne, expressed a desire for Calgarians to recognize his father's pivotal role. 'I'd like the citizens of Calgary to know that he was the person that did all the engineering on the tower,' Doug said. Cliff Osborne contributed to numerous projects in the city, including the Harry Hays Building and many of the Plus-15 walkways.
Childhood Memories of the Tower
Doug recalled a vivid childhood memory from when the tower was still under construction. The family had the opportunity to visit the site. 'They had finished the pour, so the stack was up, and then they got the exterior elevator up, but there was nothing, and it was windy,' Doug said. 'I wasn't even with my dad. You got to go because, hey, we got the elevator, bring your family. I was five, and my sister might have been three at best, and my brother would have been a year and a half older. All of us just rode up the elevator, and we're standing at the top of the tower, windy as heck, and I was scared as heck.'
Construction Details
The Calgary Tower, standing at 190.8 metres, was built between 1967 and 1968 at a cost of $3.5 million. Originally known as the Husky Tower, it was renamed the Calgary Tower in 1971. Cliff Osborne was 32 years old when he worked on the project, which involved a continuous pour slip form method. Doug noted that there were competitions between day and night shifts to pour concrete as quickly as possible. Workers and engineers would ride up on the bucket without safety clips, a practice that would be unthinkable today.
A Tribute in Colours
Cliff Osborne attended Western Canada High School and later earned an engineering degree from the University of Michigan on a hockey scholarship. Growing up in Elbow Park, Doug said his father was fast on the ice but not NHL-caliber. He knew University of Michigan hockey coach and NHL icon Gordon 'Red' Berenson, who was a family friend and would join them for canoeing trips.
The Calgary Tower staff agreed to honor Osborne by lighting the tower in the colours of the University of Michigan—blue and yellow—reflecting his love for the school and its sports teams. Doug originally hoped for a 19-minute and 68-second lighting of the cauldron, marking the tower's opening, but the tower only does that for Olympic officials. Instead, they offered to light the tower in a favourite colour. 'I don't think dad had a particularly favourite colour, but there was a lot of Michigan stuff around, and so I thought blue and yellow,' Doug said.
