This Calgary park was once home to a massive hospital
While Murdoch Park is now a popular spot for recreation in Calgary, many Calgarians don’t know that the land the park sits on was once home to a massive hospital.
Located in Bridgeland, the park is now filled with green space, pathways, sports courts, and gathering areas, but for nearly nine decades, the site served a very different purpose, playing a major role in Calgary’s health-care system.
According to the Bridgeland Riverside Community Association, Calgary General Hospital first opened on the site in 1910, becoming an important health-care hub as the city continued to grow. The hospital was expanded and rebuilt over the years to meet the needs of Calgary’s growing population, eventually becoming one of the largest hospitals in the city.
The hospital campus had grown into a major complex that provided care to thousands of Calgarians and employed many health-care workers.
Bridgeland Riverside Community Association
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In the late 1980s, the Peter Lougheed Centre opened in northeast Calgary and was initially administered by Calgary General Hospital as “one hospital on two sites,” while the Bridgeland location became known as the Bow Valley Centre of the Calgary General Hospital.
Changes made to Alberta’s health-care system in the 1990s led to the hospital’s closure, and despite protests and court challenges to overturn the decision, the demolition of the hospital was mandated.
The facility shut down in 1997, and just a year later, on Oct. 4, 1998, the hospital campus was demolished through an implosion, marking the end of an era.
The land was later redeveloped, with the former hospital site becoming Murdoch Park, a green space that now serves as a gathering place for residents and visitors.
Today, the only visible reminder of the hospital’s history is a memorial wall in the park featuring the words “Calgary General Hospital 1910–1998.”
Did you know about the Calgary General Hospital at Murdoch Park? Let us know in the comments below.