Our Town: No longer the city's tallest structure, the Calgary Tower is still looked up to after 50 years

Every city gets the tower it deserves. When the Calgary (née Husky) Tower opened in 1968, it was the tallest structure in Canada outside Toronto. That year, the price of oil was similarly elevated, housing starts hit their highest level in a decade and the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth expanded its festivities from nine to 10 days. Toronto, unable to rest knowing that Calgary was catching up, soon poured its own concrete pillar; eight years later, the CN Tower would not only dominate that city’s skyline but, for 32 years, hold the record for tallest free-standing structure in the world. (It was overtaken by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in 2009.)