1966 Downtown Edmonton

Not sure what motel pool starts off this clip, but the rest shows driving through Edmonton's Downtown in 1966 including driving North on the High Level Bridge (which must have been terrifying in a giant, be-finned '60’s Pontiac with similar vehicles as on-coming traffic), past the Legislature on 109th Street, driving down 100th Ave towards the Chateau Lacombe then onto 100th St. towards the CN Tower, passing the Stanley Milner Public Library as it was still under construction. The end of the video shows pulling up to a fantastic low apartment building which still stands in the Grandview neighborhood (those tiny trees are are now huge).
The 8mm film transfer was done by TMTV.NET.

[@hardyboy1959]

This was the Edmonton I grew up in, my dad worked was an instrument fitter during construction of the CN tower and I remember it being a huge deal having a 26 story skyscraper! Thanks for sharing this priceless, precious footage!

[@darrellross1]

Yes, the CN Tower was a big deal! You could see it for miles around!

[@FreedomFighter-cr5xg]

Yes , I too remember when the CN Tower was under construction we kids were amazed how tall it was when completed

[@alexanderstark5192]

Now we have the stantec tower

[@citation9199]

Back when the High Level Bridge was 2 way traffic!

[@Rawd123]

I had no idea. Strange.

[@edmowl]

Almost 20 years before Project Loony, I mean Uni :-) . A roundabout at 105 st and River Road and 2-way traffic on Walterdale Hill to 109 st

[@janis413]

I never knew!!

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

@@edmowl 2 lanes up, and 1 lane down. Much better then.

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

Today's drivers are nervous when entering the Bridge, with both lanes going south, and today's Cars are Small and Narrow compared to the "Normal" sized cars of the mid 70s, which were going in both Directions on the Bridge

[@FreedomFighter-cr5xg]

I remember the CN tower being built in early 1960's if my memory serves me correct we kids were amazed how tall that tower was when completed

[@cijmo]

We came to Canada in 1964 and were processed through an Atco. It wasn't our landing because we landed in Montreal but took the train across to Edmonton but it was just a construction site at the time. Our family waiting to pick us up crashed the gate LOL.

[@nathantaylor7026]

Woah, the Grandview Arms! Pretty wild to see; bet there wasn't much apart from the University Farm around back then. This is awesome footage, thanks!

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

So that was what it looked like by the Reichstag before they made 97ave into a tunnel in the late 70s The Chateau Lacombe under construction, and so was the Centennial Library, and there is Edmonton's first Skyscraper, the CN Tower. I remember when the High Level was two-way traffic. Today's driver, who are scared to enter it at the north end, because there is another lane also going south, would have crapped their pants when it was two way. And todays cars are tiny compared to Normal sized cars from the 60s and 70s

[@lafarms]

And it had a train on top too!

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

@@lafarms The tracks are still up there and are used by the High Level Street Car that runs between 100ave and 109st to 84ave and 103st on the south side

[@SongbirdCollageArts]

@@lafarms 2 trains on top! CN rail and the streetcar, side by side.

[@owellafehr5191]

Thanks for posting! This is Edmonton as my mom and dad would have known it. :)

[@DavidBale-vn4op]

I remember standing next to the fallen stack from the powerplant after CN site demolition .63? Left for Toronto from the old CN station the same year. Returned in 66 to see it completed and have a peek inside. A huge deal back then.

[@DavidBale-vn4op]

Actually the station departures arrivals were being done from temporary terminal next door. The old station had closed. But I do remember the old station. I could visualize the troops leaving there in earlier times. Errie.

[@occultustactical6138]

For those of you who, like me, grew up in 60s we couldn’t wait until they invented sound. It was so quiet back then. Then boom 1970 and Alex Gram Bell invited sound and we’ve ever looked back.

[@lowtierduster-7254]

i was born here in 2001. this is a really cool look into the past for me, i always thought different times would have a super different feeling but it’s oddly the same with different aesthetics. it still feels like real life which is a weird thing to say but i always thought it would feel different looking at the same place 60 years into the past

[@inthebagenterprisesltd8507]

Just saw this, so happy to see this 8mm film on KZbin of the zoo. This was one of my dads, Dennis Mulvaney, projects along with the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

This is so awesome! Wow! I wonder if you have any more old footage of Edmonton? Cheers!

[@Noah1997callahan]

Cruising along listening to the Beatles & The Beach Boys. Good times I imagine

[@dwdeclare1965]

real shame they tore down the old courthouse building where edmonton center now stands.

[@landonlewsaw1762]

Isn't that the Oliver pool?

[@PerAllwin1963]

Edmonton was at its best in the early 1960s to mid-60s. I was a typical businessman wearing nice dark suits, well-shined shoes, and narrow ties back then. In 1976, I switched gears and became a social worker for children at the Youth Development Centre (YDC) in northeast Edmonton. Times had changed for the worst. More divorce, more juvenile delinquency. At the YDC, I dealt with many unruly kids. One boy, who was only 12 years-old, kicked me in the groin really hard when I tried to restrain him, injuring me to the point where I couldn’t walk for two days. The pain of getting kicked in the testicles by an emotionally unstable child was devastating. I thought that was the end of me. I didn’t want to deal with kids anymore. From a well-suited shiny-shoed businessman in the early 1960s to dealing with misfit children in the 1970s and 80s in Edmonton. What a change.

[@kellyp136]

Wonder if my uncle Allan or Bill were swimming in that first section. There were frequent users of the Royal Glenora. 😀😀

[@k364k364]

0:25 so this is what 97 ave coming up to 109 street looked like before the extensive landscaping and tunnel was built in the '70s. 0:44 building the Chateau Lacombe which opened in late 1966. 0:48 On the right you can see the clock tower of the old, old Post Office. A good article is here: edmonton.skyrisecities.com/news/2017/03/look-back-edmontons-first-post-office 0:56 the CN tower is complete (it was finished in 1966) and the Centennial Library is being built. So this is probably in 1966. 1:13 I'm curious to know what this building is.

[@crgeissler]

Thanks Ron, I wasn't sure when this would have been taken. I have updated the title and description.

[@brywasiuk]

I think the building @ 1:13 is 12940 95A Street

[@alberthancock672]

Loved the Revolving Restaurant on the top of it...

[@THESKYFAWNS2024]

Was looking for Cn Tower light roll...This is close as i got

[@ConcernedForCanada]

It looks so much better then, than now.

[@paulietteburnett7270]

Terrica Williams

[@pukalo]

They took this form you.

[@LoserEvie]

No one tell bro what happened in 1987😭😭

[@kham6257]

Ahhh yes. Back when you could afford a one bedroom apt when you had a university degree and a well paying job.