Richard Road is a short winding street in SW Calgary which connects from Crowchild Trail to Glenmore Trail and runs adjacent to Currie Barracks. The road was first named in 1970 by the Calgary Planning Commission.

Many of us hear announcers on the radio proclaim the road as ‘Reeshard’ road–as in after the famous Montreal Canadians hockey player, Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard. No one is quite sure where this absurd rumor started, but it grew big enough to even have radio announcers on major stations change the pronunciation themselves!

Well no more will we need to mispronounce the name of Richard Road! It is the good old, English-sounding, ‘Richard’.

THE TRUE ORIGIN

Believe it or not, the very first proposed name for Richard Road was ‘Richthofen’, however the idea was shot down by the planning commission, due to it’s association with the German ‘Red Baron’ fighter pilot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen

During the planning Commission hearings, the commission did accept two other names for Roads in the area: Richard and Richardson. The name Richardson honored a long-time manager of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede known as the “dean of the exhibition managers.”

Behold ladies and gentlemen, the original press clipping from 1970:

NONSENSE

The idea a Calgary street name would be after a Montreal hockey player retired for 10 years is a bit absurd. Ask any Calgarian 50 years+, and they will tell you they’ve always known the road to be name ‘Richard’, pronounced anglophonic.

Not to mention the road is located in Richmond Park. Also, there is a Richard Way, Richard Place, and Richard Crescent connecting to Richard Road, standard practice with street naming in communities. Or all these also pronounced ‘reeshard’? Hogwash!

Lastly, there is not one solitary piece of empirical evidence the the road is named after a hockey player. No signs. No anything.

It is, and always has been Richard Road. The claim is it pronounced ‘reeshard’ road is officially DEBUNKED!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Please share this article on your social networks and pass it around. If we can get enough momentum, we can change the way it is pronounced amongst our friends and hopefully with the wonderful on air personalities at the radio stations.