Edmonton Notes for 3/6/2010

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Thanks to some fantastically warm weather, all City of Edmonton outdoor rinks and toboggan hills are now closed. Stay off thin ice!
• It is still winter though, so be sure to answer the City’s Snow & Ice Control Survey.
• As you know, the Dawson Bridge is closed for renovations. Here’s a great hyperlocal post on the bridge closure by Adam at the Unknown Studio.
• The Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe was sold this week for $47.8 million.
• Council is looking at ways to enliven Churchill Square, a discussion that led to my favorite quote of the week: “That’s the most expensive door I’ve ever heard of.” – Councillor Kim Krushell on the $500,000 pricetag for a square-facing door for Tix on the Square.
• WestJet now has non-stop service between Edmonton and Maui!
• The City of Edmonton is looking at licensing LRT mezzanine space in the downtown core to local retailers.
• Here’s an update on the Federal Building redevelopment on the legislature grounds.
• Students at the University of Alberta voted with an 89% majority this week to renew the U-Pass agreement for three more years.
• The City will open its first new transit garage in 25 years when the Centennial Garage opens in April.
• MacEwan took the first step this week in a 25-year plan to create a single, sustainable downtown campus.
• Apparently the recent LRT expansion has resulted in the largest spike in ridership since the LRT started operating in 1978.
• Edmonton has a new climbing habitat, called Climb Edmonton.
• Few event recaps: Edmonton’s First Ruby Meetup, Edmonton Foodie Meetup 3, and Launch Party Edmonton 1.
• A hiring freeze and rebound in the economy helped the City of Edmonton to an unexpected surplus in 2009 of $33.7 million.
• The Edmonton International Airport launched a new campaign this week called Stop The Calgary Habit, intended to encourage Edmontonians to fly directly from Edmonton, rather than making a connection in Calgary.
• Coming up on Saturday is TEDxEdmonton (on ShareEdmonton). Here are the speakers on Twitter. If you didn’t get invited, why not attend ALExEdmonton the night before instead?
• Also on Friday is Illuminations, Winter Light’s closing event (on ShareEdmonton).