Stu Hart Memorial Bridge renamed on Highway 8 near Calgary

The westbound Highway 8 bridge over the Elbow River just west of Calgary was officially renamed the Stu Hart Memorial Bridge on Wednesday, provincial officials and members of the Hart family announced at a ceremony held beneath the structure. The renaming recognizes Stu Hart, the Calgary promoter and trainer who founded Stampede Wrestling in 1948 and helped launch Canadian professional wrestling into the mainstream.

The westbound bridge, completed in 2021 as part of Alberta’s Highway 8 twinning and bridge replacement project at a reported cost of about $28 million, will carry the new name immediately. Work on the adjacent eastbound bridge is underway and is expected to be finished by fall 2026. Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen said the crossing sits a short distance from the Hart family home and training facility known as Hart House, and called the naming a fitting permanent reminder of the family’s contributions to the province.

Officials and family members described Stu Hart’s influence as extending beyond the ring. Hart trained hundreds of aspiring wrestlers in the basement gym of the Hart mansion, a facility famously known as The Dungeon, and Stampede Wrestling ran on...