The Calgary Tower will recognize its 50th anniversary this year and officials are encouraging everyone with memories of the building to share their photos and stories as part of the celebrations.
While many Calgarians and tourists alike have a personal attachment to the iconic fixture of Calgary’s evolving skyline, few have left their mark on the building in the same way that John Graham Hulme and the other members of his team did.
Hulme, a retired welder, was part of a team of Canadian Western Natural Gas workers with a unique tie to the building. The sight of the Calgary Tower cauldron continues to put a smile on the face of the 80-year-old.
In 1987, Canadian Western Natural Gas was awarded the contract to place a gas-fueled torch atop the tower ahead of the start of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
“Pole Systems made the big pole and we put all the goods around it – the ladders, the hooks, the light thing – and it was a good job,” said Hulme. “It was built in the shop, put together in the shop and welded. Taken into the back 40 and it was all assembled there and they ran the gas line into it, tried everything and everything worked perfect.”
“It involved a lot of people, a helluva lot of people, and it all went together like a Swiss watch.”
Hulme believed his contributions to the project had ended after testing but soon discovered he would be spending weeks atop the Calgary Tower.
“I went to work on the Monday morning and they said you’re going up on the tower and I said ‘No way, I don’t like heights!’,” chuckled Hulme. “He says ‘You helped build it, you’re going’ and I said ‘Do you supply parachutes?’.”
Following the removal of the tower’s original spike and the lifting of the Canadian Western Natural Gas built structure to the roof by helicopter, Hulme found himself tethered to the building hundreds of metres above 9 Avenue.
“It was an eerie feeling because it was so quiet after the hustle-and-bustle of the cars downtown in the streets and then you go up 650 feet, it was quite something. I was scared but I soon got used to it.”
Hulme says he spent 15 or 16 days on the installation but was caught off guard when it was time to test the torch in the fall of 1987.
“When they (came) to test it, it was just like a 747 taking off,” said Hulme. “There’s six two-inch pipes going in so you can imagine the amount of gas it’s burning.”
Hulme says he and two contractors rushed for safety while his fellow welder stayed atop capturing the first moments of the flame with Hulme’s camera.
“As soon as the noise came, three of us made it to the hatch. The two guys went down first and I followed them and I tread on a guy’s fingers. We were scrambling down because it was so noisy, even scary.”
In the weeks to follow, the welder had the opportunity to see the fruits of his team’s labour from the ground. “I was on Scotsman’s Hill. It was great to do something and see that and it working. It was exhilarating.”
More than 30 years after his work atop the Calgary Tower, Hulme has no doubts that the torch that his granddaughter affectionately refers to as ‘granddad’s torch’ is capable of lasting for decades to come. “Good welds, really good welds,” laughed Hulme.
Officials with the Calgary Tower say additional details regarding their anniversary celebrations will be announced later this year. To share your Calgary Tower photographs or stories, visit Calgary Tower - 50th Anniversary
With files from CTV's Bill Macfarlane and Shaun Frenette
