The golden anniversary of the Foothills Medical Centre in northwest Calgary saw hundreds of people revisit the site of their respective debuts.
Party organizers invited anyone who was born at the northwest hospital to return on Saturday for a big family photo.
The Foothills Medical Centre ‘babies’ at the photo shoot ranged in age from several weeks old to 49-year-old Don Detomasi, the first baby born at the hospital.
“I always knew that, mom kept telling me that was my one claim to fame,” said Detomasi. “It’s nice to have that history and to be part of this celebration.”
Kaye Detomasi remembers feeling shy and embarrassed by the attention her family received nearly half a century ago.
“There were about 20 people in the delivery room,” recalls Kaye. “Everybody wanted to be there for the first baby.”
“It was an exciting time because we did set all these precedents.”
When the hospital opened in 1966, it was the largest of its kind in North America and cost an estimated $21 million. The South Health Campus, which recently opened at a cost of $1.3 billion, has approximately a third of the number of the beds of the Foothills Medical Centre.
The hospital's $21 million price tag in 1966 would equal more than $155 million in 2016 dollars according to the Bank of Canada's inflation caculator.
The Foothills Medical Centre’s week of birthday celebrations will conclude on Wednesday with a parade and closing ceremony.
With files from CTV’s Kevin Green
