5,600 Olympic Plaza bricks were saved, being returned to those who purchased them

The City of Calgary is in the process of giving back thousands of bricks saved from Olympic Plaza ahead of the aging infrastructure's overhaul.

The bricks were sold as part of a fundraiser ahead of the 1988 Olympics.

Each cost $19.88, matching the year, and allowed Calgarians to add their names to the Olympic legacy.

However, Olympic Plaza and the adjacent performing arts centre are now set to undergo a $660-million redevelopment.

The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), which is overseeing the project, initially said saving the plaza bricks was "not feasible" and "unlikely to be successful."

Following public outcry – and the discovery that some people were prying out their bricks back on their own – the city announced in December that some of the 33,000 bricks could, in fact, be saved.

Those who wished to have their bricks back were given the chance to sign up online.

The city said as the number of people registering increased, the only viable option to remove the number of bricks that were requested was by lifting all 33,000 bricks in bulk.

"The window for this effort was tight because we wanted to avoid impacting public events at the plaza and avoid impacting the construction start for the new design," said City of Calgary spokesperson Kyle Ripley in a Friday news release.

Of the 8,000 bricks that were requested, officials say 70 per cent were successfully removed.

Thirty per cent could not be retrieved.

"The Olympic Plaza bricks are nearly 40 years old and were never intended to be removed or returned. These masonry bricks were installed to be in place for many years as a durable and weather-resistant public walkway, each mortared together on five of the six sides," said a news release. 

"The original construction and material of the bricks, as well as prior damage and general wear and tear over four decades, resulted many bricks cracking or breaking during the removal process."

The City of Calgary retrieved more than 5,000 Olympic Plaza bricks for interested purchasers.Each person who registered was contacted to let them know if their brick had been retrieved or not.

Then, on Friday, city officials started returning some 5,600 salvaged bricks to their original purchasers.

The bricks are available for pickup on Friday and Saturday.

"We’re excited to have provided this opportunity for the community and I’m proud of the team for stepping up," Ripley said.

Gail Ennis was one of the people who retrieved her bricks on Friday.

She had three bricks: one with her and her husband's name on it, one with her son's name on it and one with her daughter's name on it.

Her husband has since died. Ennis said her son has moved to Australia and her daughter went on to work with the Special Olympics, so each of the bricks have great meaning to her.

"I thought it would be great to contribute to the Olympics," said Ennis, who actually ran with the torch during the '88 Olympics.

"I'm very pleased that we got all three bricks… it's wonderful."

Olympic Plaza is now closed to the public for the redevelopment project.

The city says the remaining bricks will not be repurposed or preserved as part of the new Olympic Plaza transformation project.

The design for the newly revitalized Olympic Plaza is expected to be unveiled by the end of March.