'A beautiful thing': In 1967, Sparks Street Mall reopened to almost surreal optimism

Buckets of ink, and more than a few web pages, havebeen dedicated to the demise of Ottawa's Sparks Street pedestrian mall in the decades since its inception.And it's precisely thiscontext that makes this 1967 archival footage of the grand reopening of the Sparks Street Mall so entertaining to watch.

The optimismis downright remarkable, even on the part of the CBC reporter who put the black-and-white piece together.

"For seven years there had been experiments with temporary mallsbut now it was permanent, poured in concrete," the reporter says.

"And almost everyone who saw the mall thought it was wonderful."

A square of sidewalk with diamond chips inside?

The tape then cuts to the mayor ofBaltimore at the time,Theodore McKeldin, who was one of 17 planners and officials from the Maryland city who travelled to Ottawa to get a glimpse of the shiny new pedestrian walkway and take notes.

"It is a beautiful thing, and we are going back to Baltimore and we are going to start immediately to duplicate what you have up here in Ottawa," McKeldinsays.

One thing I really need to know: is theWorld's Most Expensive Square of Sidewalkwith 1,000 diamond chipsapparently "seeded" insideby then jeweller Jack Snow still kicking around? Anyone know precisely where it is?

Now that's something on the mall I mightactually stop to take a selfie with.

Find Kristy Nease on Twitter @kristynease.