(highrise under construction)
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On the way into Calgary, one of the first buildings I took notice of in the
downtown was a tall apartment under construction. I wanted to roof it the moment
I saw it.
The Mcleod shares a common base (and presumably a parkade) with its partner
high-rise, The Barclay. The two buildings will look nearly the same, although
the Barclay was built first and is already complete. The Mcleod, when finished,
will be 27 stories tall, and probably quite nice; large balconies, excellent
views, with security and locks to keep explorers out.
Upon closer inspection, the construction site seemed to present a couple obstacles-
it was well lit, on a somewhat busy street, and had a temporary fence strung
loosely around it. But more importantly, there was a security guard sitting
in the lobby of the duplicate building next door, which was connected to the
one under construction- they were part of the same complex.
The other guys didn't think it was a good idea, given the presence of security,
and weren't too hot on exploring construction sites. But I couldn't get it out
of my head, and knew I had to at least try to get inside. So, late that night,
Stong, Naos and I parked nearby and ventured around the back.
We were just about to enter the construction site when some guy (who may have
been security) started coming down the alley towards us. We did a quick right
turn and circled the block to kill some time. Cautiously, we returned, and made
our way towards the building, which turned out to be incredibly easy to access.
Then we were inside, amidst the yellow glow of exposed bulbs and inhaling that
dusty smell of concrete and drywall dust. We passed by the door to the parkade
in favor of the stairs, reasoning that the parkade was probably just the usual
concrete tomb. The elevators had not yet been installed, so we began a stair-stepping
trek up 26 flights to reach the roof.
The bottom levels were noticeably more complete- with walls, insulation, drywall,
and electrics having been installed. As we climbed higher, the floors began
to shed layers- floors with no drywall, floors with no walls. Eventually near
the top, the floors were bare concrete, allowing the cold wind to blow through
the building. Continuing upwards, we reached a portion where the stairwell was
supported by metal posts, and had to duck under some 2x4s.
The night sky suddenly became the ceiling as we emerged onto the rooftop. Exposed
rebar jutted from bare concrete in all directions, bathed in a bright wash from
the floodlight hanging off the crane. Although we were 26 stories up, we were
still shorter than a neighbouring (and fully inhabited) apartment across the
way, so we got set up and started shooting photos.
We all wandered around, shooting photos here and there. The roof was square
shaped, with half-circle balconies jutting off each flat side. There were small
wooden railings around the edge, but aside from those we were exposed on the
rooftop. The view was excellent- Calgary's downtown skyscrapers on one side,
the river on the other, with suburbs in the distance. Whoever moves into the
penthouse in The Mcleod will have a fantastic, if expensive, view.
After everyone had gotten a satisfying amount of photos, we headed two floors
down to grab some photos from inside the building. The floor we exited onto
was mostly exposed concrete, and was completely dark. There were no exterior
walls here, so with tripods out again, we shot more photos of the surrounding
city.
By now, we'd spent at least a half hour at the top of the building- a good part
of which we'd been exposed on the rooftop. I think all of us were getting antsy,
so we headed for the stairs. Down and around and down and around, all the way
to our original entrance at the bottom. We stowed our gear, and headed out.
Leaving the building, we thought we were in the clear- but Stong and I caught
sight of a car sitting behind the building, idling with just its running lights
on. We started walking away, but then heard someone say- "Hey Guys"-
with the tone a security guard would use. We were at the edge of the property
by then, and as we rounded the corner, Stong said "RUN!". We sprinted
to the car, tossed in our gear, and peeled out of the parking lot. As the car
sped away, I looked out the back window, and saw someone run around the corner
behind us. But then we were gone, out onto the road and free.
As far as I can tell, we made a clean escape. We did drive by the site a few
nights later though, and there were now two security guards- one
of which, making his rounds outside, stared intently at us as we drove past.
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The white crane, as seen from the top of the building in this stiched-together photo.
Don't know why, but I like this photo. Maybe it's the concrete floor-buffer thing in the lower right hand corner.
A look down the main street in front of the buildling.
Stong looks out over the city.
Pretty bridges across the river.
On the ground outside, looking up.