Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
Headlines
- Thursday was budget day here in Alberta. Here’s my look at what Budget 2015 means for Edmonton.
- Here is the latest update on the 102 Avenue Bridge Project: “Through a series of gradual, orchestrated movements, five cranes are being used to shift the weight of the girders from the bridge onto the cranes.” The City is preparing to install a 7th girder, which should allow Groat Road to re-open on or before April 7.
- The latest on the Metro Line Signalling System is that the City has received handover materials from Thales, and “remains cautiously optimistic for a spring 2015 opening” of the line. So I guess that means the handover is still ongoing and there’s at least six weeks of work left.
- The Rogers Place Winter Garden will feature artwork by Alex Janvier. His painting will appear on a 150 m2 tile mosaic to be inset into the Winter Garden floor. It was commissioned for $700,000 and “is one of the largest to date in Edmonton.”
- Yesterday was Earth Hour and during the one hour event Edmonton’s energy usage dropped by 6.3% over the same time the week prior.
- This is really neat, from Spacing Edmonton: where else in the world can you find Edmonton?
- Here’s an update on the Centre for Arts and Culture at MacEwan University. The project is on schedule with roughly 70% of the foundation poured. The new look features a piano motif. The building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.
- Roughly 17,000 of Edmonton’s 100,000 street lights have been converted to LED technology so far, and the goal is to replace all of them within five years. The City says there are plenty of ‘LED-vantages’ to the new lights.
- Hold up Toronto, you’re not the only ones with a mysterious tunnel! Edmonton also has one, under The Hat Resto Pub, site of Edmonton’s oldest restaurant.
- It seems like everyone is talking about Little Brick, the newest member of the Elm family located in Riverdale. Even OilersNation! Here’s the Metro article.
- The March “big ticket event” saw Edmonton Police hand out 2,300 traffic tickets, 1,799 of which were for speeding violations.
- Will anyone else do a better job as head coach of the Oilers than Todd Nelson?
- It sounds like ticket sales are going well for the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer! The opening game takes place on June 6.
- Here is Karen’s blog roundup from last week.
- Future Shop is closing 66 stores across Canada, and converting 65 others into Best Buy stores. So the Future Shop brand is no more. The Edmonton North, Edmonton West, and South Edmonton Common stores will be closed while the Downtown, Northeast Edmonton, and St. Albert locations will remain as Best Buy stores. Here’s what I wrote about the 2008 launch of the South Edmonton Common location.
- For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.
This was just one week ago, photo by More Bike Lanes Please
Upcoming Events
- There’s still another week to go for Western Canada Fashion Week!
- The next Green Drinks takes place on Wednesday evening, with a “Greening Your Closet” theme.
- The Culture Collective’s Spring Arts Market takes place on Thursday at Yellowhead Brewery.
- The Edmonton Rush host the Vancouver Stealth at Rexall Place on Friday.
- The Oilers host the Flames on Saturday night.
- Head down to High Street on Saturday for Edmonton’s eleventh Cash Mob! “Remember when Bender got a little crafty with the Groat Road girders?” Support the local businesses in the area!
- The Northern Lights Music Festival takes place on Friday and Saturday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
- Good Friday is coming up on the 3rd and Easter Monday makes it an extra long weekend for many of you. Enjoy!
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
Western Canada Fashion Week
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