Edmonton Notes for 7/27/2014

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Great news for downtown: Stantec is keeping their global headquarters in the heart of Edmonton, with a new building in the Edmonton Arena District.
• For a bunch of other exciting downtown news, see my post from Wednesday. And if you haven’t already done so, be sure to fill out the DBA’s downtown perception survey.
• Are you handy and willing to lend a hand? The Drawing Room is looking for people to help with the renovations at their new location between now and October.
• The City is conducting a survey on potential changes to the zoning bylaw to enable urban agriculture. You have until August 31 to fill it out!
• The new Prairie Urban Farm on the University of Alberta’s South Campus is “teaching urbanites that a solution to food insecurity lies in their own backyards.”
• The Reuse Centre has a new home, located at Argyll Road and 83 Street. Looks like a great building!
• Congratulations to Earth’s General Store on the successful launch of your new 104 Street location!
• Here are the latest urbanism headlines from Spacing Edmonton.
• In case you missed it, here is Karen’s latest blog roundup. Watch for another entry on Monday!
• The Edmonton Police Service Victim Services Unit celebrated 35 years of service to the community on Wednesday, July 23. Last year, volunteers donated 25,643 hours of service.
• Clifton G. Purvis, Q.C., has been appointed to the Edmonton Region Provincial Court, effective July 23.
• Design option 2 is narrowly in the lead in the Province’s new license plate design poll. Remember you have until August 19 to cast your vote. If you just can’t wait for a new plate, you now have the option to purchase a new “Support Our Troops” design.
• As expected, City Council will consider a pilot project on backyard hens next month. It’ll be similar to the urban beekeeping pilot in approach.
• Love meerkats? The Valley Zoo welcomed a family of eight this week.
• Festivals could be in for a rough couple of years when construction on the Valley Line LRT gets underway, impacting the use of Churchill Square. Hopefully a short-term solution can be found, because the long-term benefits are going to be huge.

Solar powered home in Larch Park, photo by David Dodge, you can learn more here

Upcoming Events

• The 2014 U15 & U17 National Basketball Championships continue at the Saville Sports Centre through Wednesday.
• The Edmonton Go Meetup takes place at Startup Edmonton on Monday evening. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the open source programming language.
• A fourth Rally for Palestine is being held in Churchill Square on Wednesday evening.
• As usual, there are great events to choose from on Thursday! For instance, you can check out the 124 Street Grand Market or Latitude 53’s patio series.
• If you’re downtown on Friday, check out Night Market Edmonton in Beaver Hills House Park.
• The annual Servus Heritage Festival gets underway on Saturday at Hawrelak Park and runs through Monday (long weekend!).
• FC Edmonton hosts San Antonio at Clarke Stadium on Sunday.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

K-Days, photo by IQRemix