Heritage Park woes a sign of our tough times

For a place that’s supposed to remind us of our past, Heritage Park is unwittingly doing a superb job of holding a mirror to the present, here in Calgary.

As a result, reality might finally be dawning, as we hunker down for winter in our cosy city by the Bow.

Less than a month ago, all the chatter was whether we should bid on the 2026 Olympics, but now the discussion has moved closer to home: should we help keep the lights on at the historical village that’s been delighting Calgary families for more than half a century?

Welcome to the real world: one where the results of blithely allowing our oil industry to be systematically decimated, wasting taxpayers’ money on pet projects such as bike lanes and colour-coded garbage bins, continually jacking up the minimum wage while imposing a carbon tax on virtually everything that moves, eventually has serious consequences.

So Heritage Park is going cap in hand to city hall after suffering a perfect storm of setbacks, hoping to get another $1 million in annual operating cash to replenish coffers that have taken a beating these last few years. So far, it seems the best they can hope for is slightly less than half that, as our cash-strapped city considers several options.

Meanwhile, Councillor Jeromy Farkas suggests taking the money from the public arts program, because preserving a longtime family attraction that honours the city’s past is more deserving than paying for what he calls “weird stuff by the side of the highway.”

Many Calgarians will agree, but given Farkas’s bad boy reputation among his colleagues, it’s doubtful they’ll line up in support, regardless of whatever merit the suggestion might have. Yep, it can be a lonely business taking on the established order.

Civic politics and bruised egos aside, the plight of the park provides a telling glimpse into the dreadful last five years Calgary has endured.

Such bad times were always part of prairie life — this is “next year country” for a reason — but this bust feels more self-inflicted than the usual economic downturns that have been part of being Albertan since 1905.

For example, Park CEO Alida Visbach says, since 2015, the carbon tax and minimum wage hikes have added $1.8 million in costs. Ouch. Though there aren’t many staff making the minimum, this is the real world, one where a ripple effect is natural.

“When a 15-year-old is hired as a seasonal position to sell popcorn in the plaza that we have to pay $15, (it) means the line cook, who has that much more skill, experience and responsibility now has to be paid $23,” was Visbach’s explanation to council.

But increasing costs are only half the equation. Declining revenue is the other.

Heritage Park used to be much cheaper to visit 25 years ago — I know because our family virtually lived there as the kids grew up. I still love it.

They expanded and admission prices rose, much like the zoo, science centre and other popular attractions. Paid parking didn’t make things cheaper, either. But they thought — heck, we all thought — Calgary would keep growing, getting richer and people would still arrive in droves.

Then, five years ago, it stopped. And it doesn’t look like it will improve anytime soon.

And it wasn’t just the subsequent hit to attendance. It was also the support Calgary’s energy industry provides to a host of attractions like the park, along with local charities: ask the Mustard Seed how getting only pennies on the dollar for our oil affects them and the homeless which they do such a great job of helping.

Heritage Park needs support. It does, after all, celebrate the place we call home. And, in a bizarre way, it is living through its own moment in Calgary history. Let’s hope the outcome is a happy one.

This bust feels more self-inflicted than the usual economic downturns that have been part of being Albertan since 1905.