What’s Old Becomes New Again: Heritage Inventory Map Gets a Refresh
When you need information about Calgary’s history, why turn to Google when there’s a tool with over 800 historic sites in one place? An enhanced map for the Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources is now available on Calgary.ca and Heritage Calgary’s website. Together, The City of Calgary and Heritage Calgary combined the Discover Historic Calgary map and the Heritage Inventory into one easy to use map tool.
“The Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources Map is a tool that all Calgarians can use,” says Josh White, Acting Director, Calgary Growth Strategy, The City of Calgary. “With the map enhancements, Calgarians can find and access information about over 800 evaluated historic resources in an easier and more dynamic way.”
The map’s new features include: mobile-friendly; improved search and download capabilities to make finding historic sites easier; the ability to choose aerial photos of different time-periods and visually compare them to see how an area changed over time; and better visual accessibility by identifying historic sites by color codes that can be seen by those experiencing colour-blindness.
The inventory has over 800 evaluated resources of historical significance. Many listings have a Statement of Significance that has a description of the resource, its heritage value, character defining elements, dates of significance and additional heritage value information. You will also find information about occupants and owners of the resource, and new information about the resource name rationale.
“We are very excited to add more historical depth to our inventory resource and add features that improve the use of the inventory,” says Josh Traptow, CEO, Heritage Calgary. “Knowing the historic significance of a location, landscape or building adds to the richness of our understanding of Calgary.”
The map’s enhancements have excited some of our most frequent visitors. “These are features that I didn’t even know I needed,” says Harry Sanders, Alberta-based historian and freelance writer. “To me, telling the stories of our past has to be rooted in facts and details that help us understand the significance of a place. The new features make it that much easier to find and download the best available site-specific research and analysis.”
Developers and potential home buyers can find sites that are identified or designated as historic resources in their neighbourhood of interest. “This inventory is a hidden gem. More people need to visit it,” states Halyna Tataryn, a Calgary Realtor who specializes in marketing and selling heritage and unique homes in Calgary. “It’s a myth that renovating a designated heritage home is impossible. I host seminars about owning and renovating heritage homes for both owners and Realtors, and I use this map throughout my sessions. I also refer to the Inventory to better understand the history of Calgary’s neighbourhoods.”
The upgrades made to the map-based tool stemmed from a City-wide digital infrastructure project that included transitioning its web platform architecture and replacing information servers that reached their end-of-life cycle. The Inventory of Evaluated Historical Resources Map underwent both a server replacement and transitioned to an ArcGIS web platform which made the enhanced features possible.
The Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources Map is found at Calgary.ca/heritageinventory and HeritageCalgary.ca/explore-inventory, and more information about the map’s new features can be seen in this video (also available in Punjabi, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitled versions).
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