Above is an award winning photo taken of the Calgary General Hospital implosion. To see a sequence of photos of the implosion, click here.

THE GENERAL SERIES

...And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

From its beginnings as a small “cottage” hospital in 1890 to its closure in 1997, the General Hospital played a vital role in Calgary’s history.

Although the original hospital on the north side of the Bow River was completed in 1910, the first building of the "modern" hospital complex was opened in 1953.

On October 4, 1998, the Calgary General Hospital was completely demolished by implosion in less than 30 seconds. A world record was set for the greatest number of buildings to be leveled at one time.

This sad, but spectacular, event was recorded in a sequence of photographs by Calgary photographer Robert J. Couture. These Images were displayed in the Glenbow Museum from October 1998 - February 1999.

“A little piece of history — gone in the blink of an eye.”