Calgary's
premier sports arena is home to hockey games, the
Calgary Exhibition, and the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
This last event is important because it was the Olympic
Games that helped shape the building. It had to be
built to accommodate international-sized competition
surfaces. The building's shape makes one think it
could be called an anti-dome, but people who live
here love it and consider it a source of pride. They're
not always as enthusiastic about the teams that play
here, however. 6,000 acoustic tiles were added to
the roof to make it a better venue for concerts, but
the effect was it also absorbed crowd noise. Bad news
for local team who already have a hard time getting
mass support from the locals.