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I was a Fort Calgary Preservation Society board member for 14 years, from 2004 to 2018, and chair of the board for five years (2013 to 2018).
Fort Calgary is a civic, provincial and national historic site, not because it is the confluence of two rivers, not because Indigenous peoples wandered here and set up temporary camps. It is designated as the place where the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) “F Troop” crossed the Bow River in 1875 to establish their post.
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That place is considered the birthplace and hallowed ground of our beautiful, modern city called Calgary.
It is also a significant historic site because of its importance to the history of Canada. Canada as a country today exists mainly because of the building of the railway that united this broad country, and the march west that established a NWMP presence in the area, which stopped the Americans from incorporating these territories into their country.
Since I left Fort Calgary in 2018, its brand has been purposely eroded. The logo was changed in 2019 to remove any presence of the Mounties. The new logo did not refer to anything historic.
Recently, a new brand — and another logo — renamed Fort Calgary as The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland. While I am not even sure what that means, I am even more confused by the apparent elimination of Fort Calgary from the public conscience.
You can still do everything they say they want to do under the Fort Calgary banner. No matter how hard you try to erase the Fort Calgary history, it will never go away. Fort Calgary is a fact and a big part of who we are as Calgarians. It is how the city got its name.
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I wonder also who was consulted. It appears that anyone with a passion for Fort Calgary was excluded from this process. For example, past board chairs and board members, donors and volunteers knew nothing about the Confluence rebrand.
I am a supporter of reconciliation; I think it is high time. In fact, while I was board chair, the board felt strongly that Fort Calgary was the perfect place to begin the reconciliation process in Calgary, because you cannot talk about the present without an understanding of the past.
“The Confluence” does not inform you of where you are. There is a rich and important history under your feet when you are at Fort Calgary. Branding is about promises and creating identity.
I wonder what promises are being made at The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland.
Cecilia Gossen was chair of the Fort Calgary Preservation Society board from 2013 to 2018.
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