Iconic ‘Stampede Elm’ gets the axe after more than 120 years

It was a sad day for one of Calgary’s most famous trees.

The American elm tree, known as the ‘Stampede Elm,’ was cut-down Monday to make way for construction work on the new Calgary Event Centre.

City officials believe the tree was planted in the year 1900, and it went on to spend over 120 years in lot 14 at the stampede grounds.

The martini glass shaped tree has survived all these years despite development in the area, but images posted to social media on Monday showed fencing around the circle plot where the tree stood, and crews taking down the large shrub.

The Elm on the site of the new event centre is coming down today
byu/goodndu inCalgary

The large American elm is not the only Calgary icon being removed to make way for the $900 million project — the city announced last month that the 113-year-old Stehenson and Co Grocers building at the corner of Avenue and 5th Street would be dismantled and relocated this spring.

Earlier this year, the City of Calgary and it’s partners released the final agreements for the new event centre and the surrounding entertainment district.

According to the agreement, the Event Centre Block is almost 40 per cent bigger than the previous deal, which the city says was a more “restrained” space and only provided a building and one outdoor plaze.

The block will house the event centre, indoor and outdoor community plazas, and a community rink, among other things.