A tower is a tall structure , taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
116-512: The Calgary Tower is a 190.8-metre (626 ft) free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary , Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower , it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an urban renewal plan and to celebrate Canada's centennial of 1967. The tower was built at a cost of CA$ 3,500,000 and weighs approximately 10,884 tonnes, of which 60%
232-408: A carillon that was presented to the city by the local Dutch community in 1975 as part of the city's centennial celebrations. It was played daily at noon until removed in 1987 for storage. The carillon has since been refurbished and restored to operation. Tower Towers are specifically distinguished from buildings in that they are built not to be habitable but to serve other functions using
348-537: A multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the most recent time that two consecutive Olympic Games were hosted in North America (with the 1984 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Los Angeles, California, United States). It was the first Winter Olympic Games to be held for 15 days, like the counterpart Summer Olympic Games . The majority of
464-647: A "Big-ticket Games" idea, and estimated to cost nearly three times what Vancouver was expected to pay to host the Winter Olympics. Vancouver's bid was based on already developed infrastructure, including the Expo 86 precinct, the Pacific Coliseum and Whistler Blackcomb , which later served as the basis for the successful 2010 Winter Olympics bid and the later unsucceful 2030 Winter Olympics bid. CODA then spent two years building local support for
580-420: A 170-metre (550 ft) "restaurant-observation tower". The chosen site housed Canadian Pacific's Calgary passenger station which was demolished a year after the announcement to make way for the development. The provincial government reviewed the tower proposal for consideration as a publicly funded centennial project, but Public Works Minister Frederick C. Colborne recommended against the use of public funds for
696-573: A 2016 feature film, Eddie the Eagle . The Jamaican bobsleigh team , making their nation's Winter Olympic debut, was also popular in Calgary. The team was the brainchild of a pair of Americans who recruited individuals with strong sprinting ability from the Jamaican military to form the team. Dudley Stokes and Michael White finished the two-man event in 30th place out of 41 competitors and launched
812-484: A certain height, a tower can be made with the supporting structure with parallel sides. However, above a certain height, the compressive load of the material is exceeded, and the tower will fail. This can be avoided if the tower's support structure tapers up the building. A second limit is that of buckling—the structure requires sufficient stiffness to avoid breaking under the loads it faces, especially those due to winds. Many very tall towers have their support structures at
928-703: A controlling interest in the tower in 1970. The structure was formally renamed the Calgary Tower on November 1, 1971, as a tribute to the citizens of the city. It is still called the Husky Tower by airport officials, however, to distinguish it from the tower at the Calgary International Airport . The Petro-Canada Centre 's west tower overtook the Calgary Tower as the tallest structure in Calgary in 1983. The tower underwent significant renovations between 1987 and 1990. The addition of
1044-520: A feature on top of a larger structure or building. Old English torr is from Latin turris via Old French tor . The Latin term together with Greek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, connected with the Illyrian toponym Βου-δοργίς. With the Lydian toponyms Τύρρα, Τύρσα, it has been connected with the ethnonym Τυρρήνιοι as well as with Tusci (from *Turs-ci ),
1160-473: A fraction of Witt's gold medal-winning score. American speed skater Dan Jansen 's personal tragedy was one of the more poignant events of the Games as he skated the 500 metre race mere hours after his sister Jane died of leukemia . A gold medal favourite, Jansen chose to compete as he felt it is what his sister would have wanted. Viewers around the world witnessed his heartbreak as he fell and crashed into
1276-449: A level playing field for all broadcasters. For the first time, the negotiations were based on a series of sealed bids and representatives from ABC , CBS and NBC vied for the opportunity to broadcast the Games. After six rounds of sealed bids, the ABC delegation led by producer Roone Arledge was successful with an agreement paying a record US$ 309 million ( CA$ 386 million Canadian at
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#17327803404821392-613: A lot of criticisms because of the various environmental concerns,the rejection by International Ski Federation (FIS) of slopes for each of the 10 events in the program and the use of artificial snow due the lack of natural snow on that season. After the first inspections,the International Ski Federation (FIS) officials noted the venue's lack of technical difficulties needed for the Olympic competition. Therefore, these FIS delegates proposed some major changes in
1508-468: A more noticeable part of the city skyline at night. The Calgary tower features a revolving restaurant , Sky 360. The restaurant does a complete rotation every 45 minutes during the day and every 60 minutes in the evening. The base of the tower is connected through the Plus 15 skyway network to One Palliser Square , Fairmont Palliser Hotel and EnCana Place . Stairs to the observation deck are not opened to
1624-532: A nightly summary, while CTV had the rights to Winter Games with CBC broadcasting a nightly summary. The nightly summary of the Games was also televised on CBC . Japan's broadcast rights were awarded to NHK in July 1986 for US$ 3.9 million. OCO'88 made several alterations to the Olympic program as part of efforts to ensure value for its broadcast partners. Now, the premier and main events, including ice hockey and figure skating, were scheduled for prime time and
1740-555: A nine-month delay. Second, the Olympic Oval was built on the campus of the University of Calgary for C$ 40 million. Contrary to what was proposed in the bid in which this infrastructure would be outdoors, throughout the process it was realized that it would have to be 100% covered and is the first fully enclosed 400-metre long track speed skating in the world, to protect the athletes and public from bitterly cold weather and
1856-630: A plasterer before the Games to making £10,000 per hour per appearance afterward. Left embarrassed by the spectacle he created, the IOC altered the rules following Calgary to eliminate each nation's right to send at least one athlete and set minimum competition standards for future events. Regardless, the President of the Organizing Committee, Frank King, playfully saluted Edwards' unorthodox sporting legacy, which would also be commemorated with
1972-405: A public contest. The 1988 Winter Olympic Games were the most expensive Games, summer or winter, to be held at that time, with total expenses exceeding CA$ 879.6 million. The high cost was anticipated, as organizers were aware at the outset of their bid that most facilities would have to be constructed. The venues, constructed primarily with public money, were designed to have lasting use beyond
2088-517: A second gold in Calgary. Her compatriot Christa Rothenburger won the gold medal in the 1000 metre race in speed skating, then went on to win a silver medal in the team sprint cycling event at the 1988 Summer Games to become the only person in Olympic history to win medals at both Olympic Games in the same year. The Soviet Union won gold in ice hockey as Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden took silver and bronze, respectively. As it had in 1976, Canada again failed to win an official gold medal as
2204-647: A shift in television policy by the International Olympic Committee and growing enthusiasm by broadcasters in the United States. Amendments to the Olympic Charter in 1977 established a policy mandating joint television rights involving the IOC and the local organizing committee and was enshrined in the 1981 bid agreement for the Calgary games. The joint negotiating committee convened in 1984 late-January, some weeks before
2320-469: A significant cost at that time. Three of them are located within Calgary and the other two are located west of the city. First, the Olympic Saddledome was planned to be the main venue of the games, hosting ice hockey and figure skating finals.This arena is also part of Stampede Park and was expected to cost C$ 83 million, but a cost overrun pushed it to nearly C$ 100 million and caused
2436-486: A souvenir shop and a revolving restaurant were part of a $ 2.4 million refurbishment of the upper levels of the tower. In 1990 a glass rotunda to serve as the new lobby was added. A natural gas -fired cauldron was constructed at the top of the tower by Canadian Western Natural Gas in October 1987 as a gift to celebrate the 1988 Winter Olympics . The torch, which consumes 850 cubic metres (30,000 cu ft) per hour,
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#17327803404822552-711: A target (see siege tower ). Today, strategic-use towers are still used at prisons, military camps, and defensive perimeters. By using gravity to move objects or substances downward, a tower can be used to store items or liquids like a storage silo or a water tower , or aim an object into the earth such as a drilling tower . Ski-jump ramps use the same idea, and in the absence of a natural mountain slope or hill, can be human-made. In history, simple towers like lighthouses , bell towers , clock towers , signal towers and minarets were used to communicate information over greater distances. In more recent years, radio masts and cell phone towers facilitate communication by expanding
2668-635: A team of 150 students from Bishop Carroll High School , the sister-brother pair made up to 300 appearances per month in the lead-up to the Games. From their introduction at the closing ceremonies of the Sarajevo Games in 1984 until their retirement at the conclusion of the Calgary Games, the pair made about 50,000 appearances. The iconic mascots graced signs welcoming travellers to Calgary for nearly two decades until they were replaced in 2007. The mascot's names "Hidy" and "Howdy" were chosen by
2784-432: A vote of 27–9. Calgary's bid was at the time the most ambitious for the Winter Olympics ever, as the city lacked winter sports facilities and almost everything would have to be built from scratch. CODA proposed constructing all new venues, arguing that if Calgary was awarded the Games, Canada's inventory of training facilities would increase significantly. The Vancouver bidding committee argued that Calgary's bid represented
2900-522: A year-round destination for Albertans, by facilitating and accelerate Canmore's economic transition away from coal mining to tourist attraction. However, the Nakiska ( Cree meaning "to meet") ski resort was the most controversial and polemic complex built for these Winter Olympics. It is located on Mount Allan (inside Kananaskis Country ) and it hosted the alpine skiing events.It cost around C$ 25 million to Alberta government funds. This venue drew
3016-696: Is also sometimes used to refer to firefighting equipment with an extremely tall ladder designed for use in firefighting/rescue operations involving high-rise buildings. 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games ( French : XV Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( Blackfoot : Mohkínsstsisi 1988 ; Stoney : Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or Wenchi Ispase 1988 ; Cree : Otôskwanihk 1988 / ᐅᑑᐢᑿᓂᕽ 1988 ; Sarsi : Guts’ists’i 1988 ; Kutenai : ʔaknuqtapȼik’ 1988 ; Slave : Klincho-tinay-indihay 1988 ), were
3132-591: Is below ground. It opened to the public on June 30, 1968, as the tallest structure in Calgary, and the tallest in Canada outside Toronto. It was renamed the Calgary Tower in 1971. The building is a founding member of the World Federation of Great Towers. The project was originally conceived as a joint venture by Marathon Realty (the real estate subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway ) and Husky Oil for their new head offices in Calgary. They proposed building
3248-484: Is reflected in the annual Calgary Stampede , which also relied heavily on volunteers to run the Olympics. Over 22,000 people signed up for more than 9,400 positions, no matter how inglorious: doctors, lawyers and executives even offered to collect the waste generated during the opening ceremony. Also, for the first time, a "Homestay" program was created and several local families opened their homes to visitors from around
3364-469: The 1976 Summer Olympics , host country Canada failed again to win a gold medal on their home soil (They won three gold medals in demonstration events, but they are not added at the official medal table). The Finnish ski jumper, Matti Nykänen , and the Dutch speed skater, Yvonne van Gennip , won three individual gold medals each. The 1988 Winter Olympics were also remembered for the "heroic failure" of both
3480-586: The CA$ 72.2 million Canada Olympic Park , and CA$ 40 million for the Olympic Oval . Provincial expenses included CA$ 14.4 million to build the Canmore Nordic Centre , and CA$ 25.3 million to build Nakiska . All three governments contributed to the CA$ 97.7 million Olympic Saddledome . Of OCO'88's reported revenue of CA$ 526.8 million, CA$ 110 million was paid to the IOC as a share of television and market rights, and an additional CA$ 7 million
3596-496: The CBS network for $ 243 million, a 20 per cent reduction compared to Calgary. A series of ticket-related scandals plagued the organizing committee as the Games approached, resulting in widespread public anger. Demand for tickets was high, particularly for the main events which had sold out a year in advance. Residents had been promised that only 10 per cent of tickets would go to "Olympic insiders", IOC officials and sponsors, but OCO'88
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3712-599: The Chinook winds . Third, Canada Olympic Park (formerly called the Paskapoo Ski Hill ) was renovated for C$ 200 million and is located on the western outskirts of Calgary. This most expensive venue of these Winter Olympics hosted the men's bobsleigh , luge , and men's ski jumping and its portion of the Nordic combined events. Also, it hosted some events of the demonstration sport of freestyle skiing . From
3828-492: The Pacific Ocean at Victoria, British Columbia before returning east to Alberta, and finally Calgary. The torch covered a distance of 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), the greatest distance for a torch relay in Olympic history until the 2000 Sydney Games , and a sharp contrast to the 1976 Montreal Games when the relay covered only 775 kilometres (482 mi). The identity of the final torchbearer who would light
3944-810: The Qin dynasty . Towers were also an important element of castles . Other well known towers include the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy built from 1173 until 1372, the Two Towers in Bologna, Italy built from 1109 until 1119 and the Towers of Pavia (25 survive), built between 11th and 13th century. The Himalayan Towers are stone towers located chiefly in Tibet built approximately 14th to 15th century. Up to
4060-493: The Royal Canadian Air Force 's Snowbirds , the parade of nations and the release of 1,000 homing pigeons . Canadian composer David Foster performed the instrumental theme song ("Winter Games") and its vocal version ("Can't You Feel It?"), while internationally recognized Canadian folk/country musicians Gordon Lightfoot singing Four Strong Winds and Ian Tyson performing Alberta Bound were among
4176-734: The Stampede Corral shared the functions of secondary venues for the ice hockey tournament and the figure skating preliminaries. Though the Stampede Corral did not support the International Ice Hockey Federation 's (IIHF) standard-sized Olympic ice surface, OCO'88 was able to convince the IIHF to sanction the ice rink for Olympic competition, in exchange for a C$ 1.2 million payment. A record 57 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) entered athletes at
4292-407: The height of the tower. For example, the height of a clock tower improves the visibility of the clock, and the height of a tower in a fortified building such as a castle increases the visibility of the surroundings for defensive purposes. Towers may also be built for observation , leisure, or telecommunication purposes. A tower can stand alone or be supported by adjacent buildings, or it may be
4408-520: The megaproject , selling CA$ 5 memberships to approximately 80,000 of Calgary's 600,000 residents. Calgary also secured CA$ 270 million in funding from the federal ( CA$ 200 million) and provincial governments. Some civic leaders, including then- mayor Ralph Klein , travelled around the world to lobby IOC delegates. The arrival of the National Hockey League 's (NHL) newly relocated Calgary Flames from Atlanta in 1980 drove
4524-473: The " Battle of the Carmens "—between Witt and American rival Debi Thomas , who had both elected to skate to Bizet 's Carmen in their long programs—were the marquee events of the Games. Boitano won the gold medal over Orser by one-tenth of a point. Witt won the gold while Thomas won the bronze medal. Manley was not viewed as a medal contender, but skated the greatest performance of her career to come within
4640-452: The $ 23.5 million contract to serve as the host broadcaster, responsible for the manpower and equipment to televise the games. In 1978, while the bid was strengthened, CBC and CTV signed an agreement that if Calgary were the eventual winner, the two broadcasters would create a consortium in which the purchase of television rights would take place jointly. The previous arrangement had CBC provide full coverage for Summer Games with CTV broadcasting
4756-499: The 10 official Olympic Winter sports, and lettering was engraved on the steel caldron portion. The torch used a mixed type of three fuels (gasoline, kerosene and alcohol) to allow a continuous burn during the unpredictable Canadian winter. Approximately 100 torches were manufactured for the Games. The 1988 Winter Games began on afternoon of February 13 with a $ 10 million opening ceremony in front of 60,000 spectators at McMahon Stadium that featured 5,500 performers, an aerial flyover by
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4872-617: The 1988 Winter Olympics, with eight more NOCs than any other previous Olympic Winter Games. 1,109 men and 315 women, for a total of 1,424 athletes, participated in these Games. Fiji , Guam , Guatemala , Jamaica , the Netherlands Antilles and the Virgin Islands had their Winter Olympics debut in 1988. There were 46 events contested in 6 sports (10 disciplines). In addition, there were 22 events in 4 demonstration sports and disciplines that have no official status in
4988-547: The 3rd millennium BC, and the Etemenanki , one of the most famous examples of Babylonian architecture . Some of the earliest surviving examples are the broch structures in northern Scotland , which are conical tower houses . These and other examples from Phoenician and Roman cultures emphasised the use of a tower in fortification and sentinel roles. For example, the name of the Moroccan city of Mogador , founded in
5104-510: The British ski jumper, Michael Edwards , and the debut of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team . Both of them became subjects of major feature films about their participation in these Games: Cool Runnings by Walt Disney Pictures in 1993 and Eddie the Eagle by 20th Century Fox in 2016. At approximately C$ 829 million, the Calgary Games were the most expensive Olympics ever held at
5220-644: The Canadian Olympic Association (COA) delegated officially all Olympic responsibilities, including staging the Winter Olympics under the Olympic Charter , to the newly formed OCO'88 in February and September 1983 respectively. However, conflicts within OCO'88 grew in the public eye and a review of the entire management structure was conducted after Ralph Klein threatened it with a public inquiry in 1986. Thus, Frank King remained as CEO, but with
5336-486: The Games and were planned to become the home of several of Canada's national winter sports teams. The record-breaking cost of the Calgary Olympics came in stark contrast to the original projections during the 1981 bid, which estimated a total cost of CA$ 218 million, split between CA$ 126 million in capital costs and CA$ 92 million in operating costs. The significant growth in capital expenditures came despite
5452-499: The Games were awarded to Calgary, the cultural and community aspects of the bid were pushed aside by the newly formed Calgary Olympic organizing committee called the Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 (OCO'88). It then proceeded to take on a "vigorous, resilient, and impersonal corporate business strategy" based in the work made by Los Angeles 1984 Organizing Committee (LAOCOG) toward the planning and operation of
5568-399: The Games were lengthened to 15 days from the previous 12 to ensure three weekends of coverage. However, a significant downturn in advertising revenue for sporting events resulted in ABC forecasting significant financial losses on the Games. Calgary organizers appreciated their fortunate timing in signing the deal. King described the timing of the contract with ABC as "the passing of the sun and
5684-485: The Games. Bill Pratt was a former general contractor who took over as OCO'88 president in 1983. He was the main manager that oversaw the construction of the Olympic megaproject . Donald Jacques, a former general manager of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede , once said, "Because of him, everything was built on time and on budget." However, Bill Pratt was controversial by rubbing many of his colleagues
5800-651: The Greek and Latin names for the Etruscans (Kretschmer Glotta 22, 110ff.) Towers have been used by humankind since prehistoric times. The oldest known may be the circular stone tower in walls of Neolithic Jericho (8000 BC). Some of the earliest towers were ziggurats , which existed in Sumerian architecture since the 4th millennium BC. The most famous ziggurats include the Sumerian Ziggurat of Ur , built in
5916-409: The Husky Tower stood 191 metres (626 ft) tall and was the tallest structure of its type in North America. It dominated the Calgary skyline, standing well over twice the height of the previous tallest structure in the city, Elveden House . Developers deliberately misled the public, claiming the tower would stand 187 metres (613 ft), in the hopes of preventing competing developers from surpassing
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#17327803404826032-617: The Husky Tower's height record. Shortly after officials in San Antonio , Texas, attempted to claim the record in announcing the completion of the 190-metre (622 ft) Tower of the Americas , developers revealed the Husky Tower's true height. The Husky Tower officially opened on June 28–30, 1968, in three separate ceremonies. The observation level featured a lounge/restaurant called the Hitching Post . Marathon Realty acquired
6148-515: The IOC. The Calgary Herald headline after the announcement negatively reflected on the "bargain" the European network received, and OCO'88 chairman Frank King publicly expressed his disappointment with the IOC. Samaranch's argument for providing for a privileged negotiation with EBU was ensuring European viewers had equal access and coverage of the games, something he did not believe would occur if private networks from each nation were provided with
6264-399: The Jamaican team into worldwide fame. The pair, along with Devon Harris and Chris Stokes, crashed in the four-man event, but were met with cheers from the crowd as they pushed their sled across the finish line. Their odyssey was made into the 1993 movie Cool Runnings , a largely fictionalized comedy by Walt Disney Pictures . * Host nation (Canada) All of
6380-510: The Olympic cauldron was one of the Organizing Committee's most closely guarded secrets. The relay began at St. John's with Barbara Ann Scott and Ferd Hayward representing Canada's past Olympians and ended with Ken Read and Cathy Priestner carrying the torch into McMahon Stadium representing the nation's current Olympians. They then stopped to acknowledge the contribution of parathlete Rick Hansen and his "Man in Motion" tour before handing
6496-408: The Olympics were Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen and Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip as they each won three gold medals. Italy's Alberto Tomba won gold in two skiing events, his first of five career Olympic medals en route to becoming the first alpine skier to win medals at three Winter Games. East Germany's Katarina Witt defended her 1984 gold medal in women's figure skating, capturing
6612-534: The Sarajevo 1984 Winter Games at the IOC's president residency at the Lausanne Palace were held to negotiate the Calgary television contracts with American broadcasters. The negotiating committee was represented by Dick Pound for the IOC, Bill Wardle for OCO'88 and consultant Barry Frank. The co-negotiating committee designed a new tender process for the television rights bid with an emphasis on creating
6728-402: The Winter Olympics. At the bidding documents,the city was marketed with a capitalist, oil-driven and vibrant economy that also had mountain playgrounds, extensive wilderness , and a rodeo culture. When the two images of Calgary and Alberta were brought together,they seemed to be contrasting; however, they complemented each other as part of extensive and intense bidding lobby process. Calgary
6844-486: The addition of more full-time staff. Also, more than 9,000 volunteers were registered who were allocated to the most diverse areas. Despite these changes, there was still some animosity within OCO'88. Kevin Walmsley noted that Bill Pratt and Frank King continued to have a very tense relationship and that any movement caused sparks with each other. Some members of the media commented that the changes made further alienated
6960-591: The city in January 1985 estimated the games would create 11,100 man-years of employment and generate CA$ 450 million in salaries and wages. In its post-Games report, OCO'88 estimated the Olympics created CA$ 1.4 billion in economic benefits across Canada during the 1980s, 70 percent within Alberta, as a result of capital spending, increased tourism and new sporting opportunities created by the facilities. The 1988 Olympic torch relay began on November 15, 1987, when
7076-609: The city to construct a new multi-use arena that would later be named the Olympic Saddledome , demonstrating to the IOC Calgary's determination to host the Winter Olympics. The Olympic bid itself emphasized the unique cultural and natural characteristics who mark the Calgary Metropolitan Region and the Alberta Province and also canadian prairies landscapes, as a perfect places for hosting
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#17327803404827192-439: The coin-flip, although he remained silent on the first flip, so a second coinflip was required, and NBC won with a choice of "heads", and after 30 minutes of deliberation submitted a $ 304 million bid. ABC's representative Arledge made a quick phone call to executive Fred Pierce, and ABC submitted a $ 309 million bid, exceeding NBC's bid by $ 5 million. ABC's record-setting bid was immediately controversial, first Arledge had exceeded
7308-656: The constant revisions of the project, the later addition of 4 more days in competition and mainly the gigantic demands for tickets, the Organizing Committee decided to move the closing ceremony to the Stadium which held twice the capacity of the Saddledome. The last time that the two Winter Olympic ceremonies were held at the same venue was at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley , California . The 1988 Winter Olympics' five main all-purpose venues were created at
7424-468: The current management structure, were either fired or willingly resigned. Also, there were claims that some of the volunteers were verbally abused. As a result, David Leighton resigned as OOC President in 1982, after only five months on the job. Therefore, Bill Pratt, a former general manager of the Calgary Stampede , became the new OCOG's president shortly afterwards. The City of Calgary and
7540-598: The design for the Torch, the base of the torch is made of maple wood, the national tree of Canada, aluminum , and hardened steel, all 100% collected in Canadian territory. The torch was designed to remain lit despite the extreme conditions of Canadian winters. The Torch had to be light enough for relay runners to carry comfortably, and the final design came in at 60 centimetres in length and 1.7 kilograms in weight. The maple handle portion included laser-incised pictograms of
7656-534: The entire building simultaneously. Although not correctly defined as towers, many modern high-rise buildings (in particular skyscraper ) have 'tower' in their name or are colloquially called 'towers'. Skyscrapers are more properly classified as 'buildings'. In the United Kingdom , tall domestic buildings are referred to as tower blocks . In the United States , the original World Trade Center had
7772-669: The events took place in Calgary itself. However, the snow events were shared by Nakiska ski resort in Kananaskis Country at the west of the city and the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park in the town of Canmore . In 1988, a record 57 National Olympic Committees (NOC) sent a total of 1,424 athletes to these Games. These Winter Olympics would be the last attended for both the Soviet Union and East Germany NOCs. Just like
7888-548: The featured performers. Governor General Jeanne Sauvé opened the Games on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II as an estimated 1.5 billion people watched the ceremony. The weather was a dominant story throughout much of the Games, as strong chinook winds that brought daily temperatures as high as 17 °C (63 °F) wreaked havoc on the schedules for outdoor events. Events were delayed when winds were deemed unsafe for competitors and organizers used artificial snow making equipment to ensure skiing venues were properly prepared. It
8004-542: The few that already existed and were within the campus of the University of Calgary . McMahon Stadium , the primary outdoor facility used mainly by the Canadian Football League 's (CFL) Calgary Stampeders and inside of the University of Calgary and had originally been chosen to host only the opening ceremonies and the Saddledome was chosen to be the place of the closing ceremonies . But with
8120-424: The first millennium BC, is derived from the Phoenician word for watchtower ('migdol'). The Romans utilised octagonal towers as elements of Diocletian's Palace in Croatia , which monument dates to approximately 300 AD, while the Servian Walls (4th century BC) and the Aurelian Walls (3rd century AD) featured square ones. The Chinese used towers as integrated elements of the Great Wall of China in 210 BC during
8236-474: The first time both the ski jumping and Nordic combined cross-country skiing events were contested in a single day. Despite using artificial cooling, the bobsleigh and luge events did not need to be rescheduled; however, several races had to be postponed because of the high temperatures recorded and also because of the dirt that was carried away by these winds. The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) Board of Directors had originally 25 members. It
8352-501: The general public, with a host broadcaster producer , Ralph Mellanby , describing it as "an oilman's and cattleman's Calgary thing." Long-time IOC member Dick Pound , on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), went on record to say that the IOC grew increasingly frustrated, as it saw the actions of OCO'88 as a refusal to collaborate with them. The 1988 Winter Olympic Games coincided with
8468-472: The host of an Olympic Games. Canadians won two gold medals in demonstration events, including by Sylvie Daigle as one of her five medals in short-track speed skating. Canada's top official performances came in figure skating where Brian Orser and Elizabeth Manley each won silver medals. Promoted by the media as the " Battle of the Brians "—the competition between Orser and American rival Brian Boitano —and
8584-518: The maximum allowable bid set by ABC's executives by $ 34 million, and in the coming weeks ABC's coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics which cost $ 91.5 million returned poor Nielsen ratings . Early estimates speculated the network would lose $ 50-$ 60 million televising the games. The Wall Street Journal described the NBC agreement as the "biggest prize of the Winter Olympics ". The deal which
8700-399: The moon at the right time for Calgary". The revenue growth from broadcasting was significant for the Calgary Games, OCO'88 generated $ 324.9 million in broadcast rights, which was a significant growth over an eight-period (the 1980 Lake Placid Games generated US$ 20.7 million). ABC had net losses of more than $ 60 million, and broadcast rights to the 1992 Winter Olympics were later sold to
8816-643: The nickname the Twin Towers, a name shared with the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur . In addition some of the structures listed below do not follow the strict criteria used at List of tallest towers . The tower throughout history has provided its users with an advantage in surveying defensive positions and obtaining a better view of the surrounding areas, including battlefields. They were constructed on defensive walls , or rolled near
8932-460: The office of the organizing committee. At that time, the American dollar was trading 40 cents higher than the Canadian dollar, resulting in significantly higher than anticipated revenue through currency conversion. The ticket manager maintained his innocence claiming he was used as a scapegoat and sponsor credit card Visa was responsible for the error, despite his claims, the ticketing manager
9048-506: The opportunity to bid. Dick Pound was also critical of the decision and argued more revenue could be brought in from BBC and RAI alone and the privileged status suppressed the willingness of the EBU to make a market-value bid on the games. The CTV Television Network won the bid to broadcast the Games in Canada in December 1983, paying CA$ 4.5 million for the exclusive rights. CTV also won
9164-509: The organization's leadership and revived CODA. King and Niven consulted former Olympic Sprinter and CODA founder, Ernie McCullough , and politician Arthur Ryan Smith , who had worked on previous bids, for guidance on the project. In October 1979, CODA secured the Canadian Olympic Association's (COA) support for Canada's official bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics, winning over a competing bid by Vancouver with
9280-651: The outer wall in the first quarter of his heat. In the 1000 metre race four days later, Jansen was on a world record pace when he again fell. After failing again in Albertville, Jansen finally won a gold medal at the 1994 Lillehamer Games . One of the most popular athletes from the games was British ski jumper Michael Edwards , who gained infamy by placing last in both the 70 and 90 metre events finishing 70 and 53 points behind his next closest competitor, respectively. Edwards' "heroic failure" made him an instant celebrity; he went from earning £6,000 per year as
9396-509: The overall medal tally. The weather conditions were a problem facing OCO'88 during the Games, with temperatures ranging from −28 to 22 °C (−18 to 72 °F). After an unexpectedly freezing opening ceremony, the outdoor competitions scheduled to start the next day had to be postponed. This ended up affecting the men's downhill skiing event at Nakiska which was postponed for one day, due to Chinook winds blowing up to 160 km/h. The women's downhill event also experienced
9512-456: The periphery of the building, which greatly increases the overall stiffness. A third limit is dynamic; a tower is subject to varying winds, vortex shedding, seismic disturbances etc. These are often dealt with through a combination of simple strength and stiffness, as well as in some cases tuned mass dampers to damp out movements. Varying or tapering the outer aspect of the tower with height avoids vibrations due to vortex shedding occurring along
9628-495: The planned height rose from 170 to 180 metres (550–600 ft). Construction began on February 19, 1967, and completed in 15 months at a cost of $ 3.5 million. The column of the tower was built from an unprecedented continual pour of concrete . Pouring began May 15, 1967, and was completed 24 days later at an average growth of 7.6 m (25 ft) per day, a rate that was praised by industry officials as an "amazing feat of technical and physical workmanship". Upon completion,
9744-511: The previous three Winter Games combined. In the OCO'88's final report, the Committee admits the culmination of fraud charges, a large portion of premier tickets requested by Olympic insiders, and poor communications led to a negative public reaction to the ticketing process. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, both summer and winter, the Organizing Committee worked with a refund policy for returned or unused tickets. When an event
9860-410: The project. The concept of a centennial tower was originally proposed for Edmonton, but the project was opposed by residents near the chosen site. Former Calgary Mayor Grant MacEwan asked the provincial government to move the project to Calgary, until Marathon and Husky decided to build the project independent of public funds. The plan for the tower continued to change as construction delays occurred and
9976-437: The public, but have been used on occasions for publicity, as well as for an annual charity stair-climbing race. There are 802 steps. The Vertigo Theatre, founded in 1976 originally as Pleiades Theatre, is at the base of the tower. They have been entertaining the city from their location in the Calgary Tower since 2003, providing a full season of plays in the mystery genre , for adult and youth audiences. The tower also features
10092-655: The range of the transmitter. The CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario , Canada was built as a communications tower, with the capability to act as both a transmitter and repeater. Towers can also be used to support bridges, and can reach heights that rival some of the tallest buildings above-water. Their use is most prevalent in suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges . The use of the pylon, a simple tower structure, has also helped to build railroad bridges, mass-transit systems, and harbors. Control towers are used to give visibility to help direct aviation traffic. The term "tower"
10208-601: The rights to host the 1976 Summer Olympics , and Vancouver made attempts to host the 1976 and 1980 Games. Calgary, alongside neighbouring Banff , under the leadership of the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), submitted bids for the Winter Games in 1964 , 1968 , and 1972 . However, CODA went dormant in 1966 after losing three consecutive bids. In 1978, Frank King and Bob Niven of Calgary's Booster Club took over
10324-401: The same scenario. With the ski jumping venue facing north at Canada Olympic Park (COP), the same winds also disrupted those events, with the large hill event being postponed four times. It also disrupted the Nordic combined events, in which the ski jumping part had to be postponed as well. This situation ended up causing something unprecedented in the history of the Winter Olympics, as for
10440-556: The slopes in an action to cause bigger difficulties. These modifications were met with praise from Olympic alpine skiing competitors. Like at Canada Olympic Park, this venue also hosted some freestyle skiing events as a demonstration sport. Three other existing facilities served as secondary competition venues for the Games. The first one, was the Max Bell Centre hosted the demonstration sports of curling and short track speed skating . The Father David Bauer Olympic Arena and
10556-404: The stadium capacity was about two times bigger than the indoor venue. King also noted that the Calgary Games offered a then-record 1.9 million tickets for sale, three times the amount available at Sarajevo or Lake Placid and that 79 percent of them were to be allocated to Calgarians. By the start of the 1988 Winter Games, a record of over 1.4 million tickets had been sold, a figure that eclipsed
10672-475: The three levels of government taking over projects which constituted nearly half of the original budgeted capital projects. The primary source of revenue for OCO'88 was the lucrative television contracts, bringing in CA$ 325.9 million (58.3 per cent of revenue), the absolute majority coming from American broadcasters, followed by corporate sponsorships at CA$ 88 million (15.8 per cent of revenue), and ticket sales of CA$ 41.9 million (7.5 per cent of revenue). Of
10788-482: The time) in exchange for exclusive rights for the games. CBS exited the bidding process after the second round with a final offer of $ 257 million, while ABC and NBC both reached the fifth round with an offer of $ 300 million. In the sixth and final stage, the IOC and OCO'88 decided a coin flip would determine which of ABC or NBC had the right to submit the first bid or defer, a decision neither network supported. NBC's president of sports Arthur A. Watson elected to call
10904-494: The time, as all the necessary infrastructure was built from scratch. The facilities that were built for these Winter Olympics helped the host region to turn into the heart of Canada's elite winter sports program, under the tutelage of WinSport . After the Games, their legacy still standing and in constant use, as the five purpose-built venues for those Games are now used for training and hosting various winter sporting events every year. These policies helped Canada develop into one of
11020-607: The top nations in Winter Olympics competition. The climax of this effort was the overall first-place finish at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , Canada. Calgary made its fourth attempt at hosting the Winter Games when it bid for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, which also marked Canada's seventh bid for the Winter Olympic Games. Montreal made the first Canadian bid for the Winter Games in 1956 and won
11136-612: The torch to 12-year-old Robyn Perry , an aspiring figure skater who was selected to represent the future of the Olympic Movement three years before the IOC changed the year of the Winter Games, to light the cauldron. The design of the Olympic Torch for the Calgary games was a reproduction of the main landmark building of the Calgary skyline, the Calgary Tower . The National Research Council Canada developed
11252-590: The torch was lit at Olympia and Greek runner Stelios Bisbas began what was called "the longest torch run in history". The flame arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland on the Atlantic Ocean two days later and over 88 days, travelled west across the then 10 Canadian provinces and two territories. It passed through most major cities, north to the Arctic Ocean at Inuvik, Northwest Territories , then west to
11368-535: The total expenses for the Games ( CA$ 879.6 million), the Government of Canada contributed CA$ 200 million (22.7 per cent), the Government of Alberta contributed CA$ 130 million (14.8 per cent), and the City of Calgary contributed CA$ 43 million (4.9 per cent). The CA$ 320.8 million of government capital contributions not directly included in OCO'88's revenue statements included the Government of Canada constructing
11484-422: The tower both to honour Canada's centennial year of 1967 and to encourage urban renewal and growth of downtown Calgary . The structure was designed by A. Dale and Associates, and was designed to withstand earthquakes and winds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph). The urban renewal project was announced to the public on December 10, 1965, and consisted of a transport terminal, hotel, parking, office facility and
11600-533: The west of Calgary, the other two main all-purpose venues were built at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains . First, the Canmore Nordic Centre was 90% funded by the province of Alberta , for C$ 17.3 million. It is located beside the town of Canmore and it hosted cross-country skiing , plus its men's portion of the Nordic combined, and the men's biathlon events.Was projected that the area could become
11716-437: The world, and others were renting their rooms or houses to those who could not stay in pay a reserve in a hotel. Klein was among those who felt it necessary that the event be community driven, a decision which allowed the city's welcoming spirit to manifest. The Games' mascots, Hidy and Howdy , were designed to evoke images of "western hospitality". The smiling, cowboy-themed polar bears were popular across Canada. Played by
11832-460: The wrong way. One former co-worker once predicted back in 1983: "He will get everything built. There may not be many (of us) left around to enjoy it, but he'll get it done." His relations with the news media were also strained at times. He had barely settled into his new position when the Calgary press media began criticizing OCO'88 for excessive secrecy and for awarding Olympic contracts to Calgary's PR firm Francis Williams and Johnson Ltd. Pratt
11948-441: Was a director of that firm, before accepting the organizing committee job. OCO'88 had insisted that there was no conflict of interest involved in the whole process. Therefore, Pratt declared: "I have been nailed for a lot, but that does not bother me. The record stands". After the 1988 Winter Olympics bid was won in 1981, OCO'88 made a new technical assessment and had to re-plan all the originally proposed competition venues except for
12064-582: Was added to the list. An Olympic biographer, Kevin Wamsley, noted that the CEO Frank King, President Bill Pratt , Ralph Klein, and former COA President Roger Jackson had collectively the most influence on all aspects of these Winter Olympics. This organizing committee took a hierarchical form for planning these Olympics, which caused consternation from some staff, volunteers, and people in executive roles. The original staff, who were at odds with
12180-498: Was at the time the highest amount ever paid for a sporting event, allowed OCO'88 to announce the Games would be debt-free. The negotiations with American television broadcasters were in sharp contrast to negotiations for Western European rights with the European Broadcasting Union quickly closing an exclusive deal with the IOC for US$ 5.7 million led by Juan Antonio Samaranch and Marc Hodler on behalf of
12296-460: Was chaired by Frank King, followed by former Mayors Ralph Klein and Ross Alger , and other prominent Calgarians. The executive committee president was Robert Niven. The Olympic Organizing Committee (OOC) was formed by utilizing many of the original board of directors members. It was initially started with 11 members and was grown to 25 members by October 1983. It grew further to 29 members by 1985, when former Alberta premier , Peter Lougheed ,
12412-515: Was constructed on the north side of the tower's observation deck and opened on June 24, 2005. When standing on the glass, one can look straight down on 9th Avenue South and Centre Street. An LED , multicolour exterior lighting system was added and was first tested on August 1, 2014. 12 lights were added to the crown and 24 to the exterior floor. Each light has been programmed to be able to create over 16.5 million combinations of colour and lighting effects. It has been used since October 8, 2014, becoming
12528-443: Was convicted of fraud , theft , and forgery , and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Organizers attempted to respond to public concern by asking sponsors to consider reducing their orders and by paying $ 1.5 million to add 2,600 seats to the Saddledome, as well as increase capacity for ski jumping, alpine skiing and the opening ceremonies. This led to a change of the venue of the closing ceremonies from Saddledome to McMahon Stadium, as
12644-506: Was eliminated in the first round of balloting, Calgary won in the second and final round of balloting over Falun, by a margin of 17 votes. The announcement of CODA's victory sent the delegates in Baden-Baden and Calgary residents into singing and dancing. It also made then Alberta premier , Peter Lougheed , burst openly into tears in front of the cameras. Later, Ralph Klein sang a rendition of Mac Davis ' It's Hard to Be Humble . It
12760-497: Was first lit on February 13, 1988, when the Games opened, and burned 24 hours a day throughout. It continues to be reignited for various special events, including Canada Day . The tower was a founding member of the World Federation of Great Towers in 1989 along with the Eiffel Tower , among others. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1993, a year in which it topped 500,000 visitors for the first time. A glass floor extension
12876-620: Was later forced to admit that up to 50 percent of seats to top events had gone to insiders. The organizing committee, which was subsequently chastised by mayor Klein for running a "closed shop", admitted that it had failed to properly communicate the obligations it had to supply IOC officials and sponsors with priority tickets. These events were preceded by the ticketing manager for OCO'88 being charged with theft and fraud after he sent modified ticket request forms to Americans that asked them to pay in United States funds rather than Canadian and to return them to his company's post office box rather than
12992-474: Was one of three finalists during the 1988 Winter Olympics bid process. The other two were Falun , Sweden , and Cortina d'Ampezzo , Italy . The Italian town ( comune ) had before hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and was seen by many as the favorite. The vote was held on September 30, 1981, in Baden-Baden , West Germany , during the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress . After Cortina d'Ampezzo
13108-486: Was paid to the United States Olympic Committee for rights to broadcast the Games in the United States, and CA$ 3 million was reimbursed to NOC's for accommodation fees at the Games. The Games were a major economic boom for the city, which had fallen into its worst recession in 40 years following the collapse of both oil and grain prices three years before the games. A report prepared for
13224-463: Was postponed by at least 24 hours, the ticketholder was eligible for a refund. Due to weather issues, the 8 events that were scheduled for the first 24 hours had to be rescheduled, resulting in 130,000 ticket refunds totalling CA$ 2.9 million, with transactions handled by the Royal Bank of Canada . The city of Calgary is world-renowned for the enthusiasm of its population for volunteer work which
13340-536: Was the first Winter Olympics awarded to Canada and the second Olympic Games overall, following the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal . Cortina d'Ampezzo, along with Milan , would get to host the 2026 Winter Olympics . The town will be the fourth to host the Winter Olympics twice, along with St. Moritz ( 1928 and 1948 ), Lake Placid ( 1932 and 1980 ), and Innsbruck ( 1964 and 1976 ). Olympic historians, John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle noted that once
13456-462: Was the first time in Olympic history that alpine events were held on artificial snow. The Games were also marred by the death of the Austrian ski team's doctor, Joerg Oberhammer, on February 25 after a collision with another skier threw him underneath a working snow grooming machine at Nakiska, crushing and killing him instantly. The incident was ruled an accident. The top individual competitors at
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