Monday, November 11, 2019, is Remembrance Day. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at the history of Memorial Drive for the November edition of #InstagrammingHistory. The road is considered a City-Wide Historic Resource, and has experienced continual evolution since its construction in 1922. Perhaps the most recognizable memorial along the road is the Field of Crosses, which appears for the 11 days in November that lead up to Remembrance Day. For this article, however, we’re going to look at two permanent fixtures along the road that provide points of reflection and remembrance one can appreciate all year long.
Memorial Drive was created as a Road of Remembrance, which was suggested after World War One. Victoria, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Montreal, as well as several sites in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia have these Roads of Remembrance. The goal was to create a lasting, individualized memorial that could honour the soldiers. These parameters prompted organizers to implement a tree-based memorial initiative. Trees would be assigned to a specific fallen soldier using a small metal plaque in front of the tree, and next-of-kin would be involved in the purchasing and planting of said trees. By creating something living, the memorial became a symbol of the triumph of life over death. In 1922, the first year of the project, there were over 900 memorial trees planted, and by 1927, 1699 trees had been planted, the majority of which were poplars. In 2001, the city began taking clippings from the trees to ensure the memorial could be kept in perpetuity, and in 2007, a ceremony was held to celebrate the first clone trees that were available for planting.
The second and final location on our brief tour of Memorial Drive is Poppy Plaza. Located in Kensington at the intersection of Memorial Drive and 10th Street, 
Poppy Plaza is one of the newest additions to the Memorial Drive landscape, and features aspen trees, a wooden deck, and strong steel architecture that is both eye-catching and humbling. Poppy Plaza was part of a multi-phase plan developed by the City of Calgary to explore new and traditional ideas about memorialization, with their key themes being remembrance, legacy, and history, and what these ideas mean to Calgarians. Additionally, the project aims to create points of remembrance that can remain past the life of individual trees, and provide a permanent location for remembrance and reflection.
I chose this location for two reasons; firstly, my grandfather served in the Canadian Military during the Second World War, so Remembrance Day is important to my family and me. Secondly, Memorial Drive as a whole, but Poppy Plaza specifically, succeeds in creating a sense of remembrance and gratitude for those who have fought for our freedoms, which was the goal of the project. Walking through the aspen trees with their poppy-red lighting creates the atmosphere for sombre reflection. The background captures the downtown skyline, framed by large iron statues mirroring Canadian National Vimy Memorial, and provides a sense of all that has been possible due to the sacrifices of those who came before us. The surrounding area contains steel architecture with engraved quotes from individuals with diverse backgrounds, which discuss views on honour, hope, and sacrifice. I hope you have a chance to visit, whether it be near Remembrance Day or not, as it is truly a beautiful spot that provides visitors with the perfect chance for introspection, while honoring the legacy of the past.
Information Courtesy of the City of Calgary Inventory of Historic Resources
