Plans for a mega makeover of Stampede Park (or should I say Culture + Entertainment, aka C+E District) have been in the works since the mid-1990s. After a few false starts, the makeover is finally coming to fruition with the opening of the Sam Centre, the expanded BMO Centre and the new Stampede Station for this summer’s Stampede celebration. Some might say it started back in 1981 with the opening of the Roundup Centre, since re-branded as the BMO Centre.
But the ongoing redevelopment started in 2014 with the opening of the Nutrien Western Event Centre, a state-of-the-art facility designed for national and international agricultural exhibitions and trade shows, as well as to be a centre for agriculture industry education and, of course, the annual Aggie Days. Two years later, Enmax Park opened on the east side of the Elbow River and the relocation of the Indian Village to the east side of the Elbow River below Ramsay (rebranded as Elbow River Camp) during Stampede. The Youth Campus concept, also announced in 2016, included plans for rehearsal space for Young Canadians School for the Performing Arts and Calgary Stampede Showband, a Stampede experience museum and an outdoor plaza with amphitheatre.
A year later, in 2017, the TransAlta Performing Arts Studios opened its doors, as the new home for the Young Canadians and Stampede Showband. That same year the Calgary Arts Academy High School relocated to the campus’ renovated historic Weston Bakery building. The Youth Campus v.