Calgary’s Mission neighbourhood commemorative plaques stolen

Notes from community members expressing sorrow hang where stolen plaques used to be in Calgary’s neighbourhood of Mission.

The commemorative plaques detailed the past of Mission and Cliff Bungalow, two Calgary neighbourhoods with a rich history.

Josh Traptow, CEO of Heritage Calgary, says the thieves were likely after the materials in the plaques.

“They’re cast out of bronze, so from a scrap metal point of view, they can be turned in and turned into scrap and either be melted down by whoever is nicking them or by the metal dealer of where they’re being turned in,” Traptow said. “It’s always frustrating to see this because it just means more time, more money to get these plaques re-done.”

The Cliff Bungalow-Mission History Promenade team is working to replace the plaques with materials that are less valuable. Until they do, pieces of paper explaining the history of the community will remain in their place.

The commemorative plaques detailed the past of both the Mission and Cliff-Bungalow neighbourhoods. Mission, one of Calgary’s first settlements, was founded by the French and formerly called Rouleauville in 1899 before being annexed and named Mission in 1907. In 1990, Cliff Bungalow and Mission were combined as one community to preserve the character of the area, which was under pressure for redevelopment.

“I think for a lot of Calgarians when you tell them Rouleauvillve was a French settlement, they say ‘oh I had no idea about that,'” Traptow said.

Traptow adds this isn’t the first community to have historic materials stolen.

“Plaques have been growing feet for the last little while and walking off,” Traptow said. “Both in parks, memorial benches, I believe Reader Rock Garden had their plaque stolen last year, so it’s being more and more of a common occurrence.”

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Traptow says the money people would receive for selling the materials in the plaques doesn’t come close to the actual value of the plaques themselves.

“My guess is that the money they’re getting is pennies on the dollar versus the production value and the installation costs.”

Traptow says the plaques were commissioned by the Cliff-Bungalow Community Association, and were installed through the hard work of volunteers.

“It would be nice to have this signage back because especially with summer and people enjoying the pathway and wanting to just get out and learn about their community and parts of the city they may not have explored before,” Traptow said.