5 things you didn't know about the Calgary Centre Street Lions
If you’ve spent any time downtown, chances are you’ve run into the iconic Calgary Centre Street lions. They make a pretty striking set, but have you ever wondered how they got there?
These stony felines adorn the Centre Street Bridge, with two facing north and two facing south. They were unveiled all the way back in 1916, but they weren’t actually supposed to be there.
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Here are five things you didn’t know about the Centre Street Lions and their history.
The lions were a last-minute addition
As with any municipal project, the budget was a limiting factor when it came to building the Centre Street Bridge. In order to keep costs as low as possible, there was no plan for the bridge to have decorations of any kind.
Of course, that all changed thanks to a funny twist of fate.
They were made by a local sculptor
One day, a city alderman came across a beautiful stone lion in front of a home in Northwest Calgary. Upon inquiring, the alderman discovered that the sculpture was built by a Scottish stonemason named James L Thompson, who worked as a city labourer.
After that, it didn’t take long for Thompson to be assigned the task of creating lions for the Centre Street Bridge.
The lions were modelled after the ones in Trafalgar Square
If you’ve ever been to London, England, you might recognize the inspiration for our little lions here in Calgary. The sculptor Thompson decided to model the Calgary lions after the bronze ones at the base of Nelson’s Column in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Thompson spent the winter of 1916 holed up in a shed near the Centre Street Bridge working on bringing these 12,600-kilogram sculptures to life. The lions are also not the only thing he created.
Thompson also sculpted the ornaments around the lions with imagery reflective of the city’s background; roses for England, shamrocks for Ireland, thistles for Scotland, maple leaves for Canada, and bison heads for the west.
The current bridge lions are replicas
As any Calgarian knows, winters in our fair city can be a bit harsh. Since their debut in 1916, the Centre Street Lions have weathered many freeze and thaw cycles coupled with the near-constant vibration of street traffic. Time and wear took their toll.
When the Centre Street Bridge was closed for renovations in 1999, the lions were assessed, and it was determined that the sculptures were too fragile to remain on the bridge. Out of the four, the southwest lion was in the best shape, so it was fully restored and used to make a cast mould, which was used to create four new statues to replace the originals.
But you can still see one original
The fully restored southwest lion now has a new home, and you can go visit!
The original southwest lion sculpture that was used to create the mould for the replacements has been conserved to remain in a state of arrested decay. That means cracks and weathering that show the sculpture’s age have been preserved, while conservation work protects the structural integrity.
The lion can be found overlooking the Centre Street Bridge in Rotary Park so that locals and visitors alike can experience this century-old sculpture in a safe and accessible way.
City of Calgary Public Art/Supplied
The Centre Street Bridge and its associated statues became a Municipal Historic Resource in 1992, and the lions are all part of the city’s Public Art Collection. The other two original lion sculptures are still very frail, so they’re being held in storage for safekeeping.
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Did you already know this about the Centre Street Lions in Calgary? Let us know if there were any fun facts we missed, or if you can think of any