Look what's under here

Excavations and building sites in Calgary are revealing vistas and glimpses we won't see again.

Driving across town yesterday, we went through downtown. It's under construction. The whole city is under construction.

The demolition of some of the existing buildings - and I won't be sidetracked today about which demoloitions are unwise - is leaving gaps like missing teeth. There are some fleeting opportunities for taking a look at the backs and undersides of buildings, and for seeing long views of a few places which will soon be obscured by new concrete.

The old Colonel Belcher Hospital is straight west of Memorial Park, at 2nd Street between 12th and 13th Avenues SW. Before the hospital, that lot used to be where Senator Pat Burns (one of the Big Four) had his grand house. He used to be able to look across the road at Memorial Park, which had some beautiful formal gardens. Burns's gardener was William Reader, who left to become Calgary's first park superintendent and to have a major influence on Calgary gardens and plant life.

Right now there's a hole where the Burns house once was. If you stand to the west of the hole you can see Memorial Park the way it used to be viewed.