Calgary Tower to honour engineer behind many city landmarks

The Calgary Tower is being lit blue and yellow to honour the lead engineer of the city’s main skyline highlight who died in late April.

Cliff Osbourne was born on Nov. 6, 1936, and died on April 21, 2026. He went to Western Canada High School and met his late sweetheart, Joan Osborne. They were married for 59 years.

Osborne moved back to Calgary in 1960 after completing his engineering degree at the University of Michigan, where he received a hockey scholarship.

“He was a second-generation and super proud of being a Calgarian, as I am,” Doug Osborne said of his father.

The formerly named Husky Tower, built in 1967-1968 for $3 million, is being lit with the colours of the University of Michigan’s hockey team, one of a couple of sports he excelled at in his youth.

“He was the star running back for his high school,” Doug said. “He was a really good hockey player.”

He thought of the colours right away when Calgary Tower reps reached out and asked.

“I don’t know if Dad had a favourite colour. I mean, he wore Michigan stuff. I got pictures of him in a Michigan tuque, et cetera,” Doug said.

“He was a big, big, big hockey guy.”

Osborne, described as a “do-it-yourselfer” by his son, built a home in Elbow Park when he moved back to the city.

“He built the family, like we called the triplex, so three houses on my grandpa’s 75-foot property,” Doug said.

“So he’s very, I mean … he worked his butt off his whole life.”

Doug says his father was always proud of his work on the tower and in Calgary, even as his mobility started to waver in his later years.

“If you Google Cliff Osborne or who was the engineer on the Calgary Tower, you’ll find Ricketts Engineering, you’ll find a little bit about Adale and Associates, but it also mentions Cliff Osborne.

“I told my dad about being on the internet and you can Google, and he would be there for the tower … he was super proud about that.

“It’s a pretty big deal.”

The 50th anniversary of the tower’s construction in 2018 brought Doug and Cliff back to see the sights and to partake in an interview about the achievement.

Osborne, working for Albert Dale and Associates and Chandler Kennedy, saw him contribute to many Calgary landmarks, including the Princess Island Bridge to Memorial Drive, the Harry Hayes Building, and Lindsay Park.

“Anything that was involved with Chandler Kennedy or Albert Dale, Dad was the engineer for that,” Doug said.

Osborne also took on other creative endeavours. He made clay sculptures of tradesmen and construction workers, and he plucked the strings of a banjo, playing tunes for many.

The Calgary Tower is being lit on Wednesday, April 29. Doug says he’ll be watching from Western Canada High School and from Scotsman Hill.

With files from Lisa Grant