Exploring Calgary’s East Village

Sharon and I spent most of the long weekend down in Calgary, enjoying the beautiful weather and trying a bunch of new restaurants. A trip to our southern neighbour to eat has nearly become an annual tradition for us. This time we visited Cluck n Cleaver, Charbar, Shiki Menya, Pigeonhole, and returned to our favorite, Blue Star Diner. It was a great weekend!

Our visit to Charbar also gave us an excuse to explore the East Village once again, an area we last spent some time in back in 2014.

The East Village ARP notes that redevelopment of the area has “been a long-standing objective of the City of Calgary” and that the General Municipal Plan of 1979 encouraged residential development. From the ARP, here is the vision statement for the East Village:

“East Village will become a vibrant, humanly scaled and sustainable high density downtown neighborhood that respects and enhances its historical, physical and social context and reinforces a high quality of life for its diverse residents.”

The East Village area is 49 acres between Fort Calgary and the downtown and is where Calgary was founded. As development intensified elsewhere, the area was neglected for many years. But not anymore:

“Fast forward to today. East Village is in the midst of an exciting transformation. Since 2007, CMLC’s commitment of $357 million into infrastructure and development programs has so far attracted $2.4 billion of planned development expected to deliver $725 million of Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) for the City of Calgary, our sole shareholder. As developers and retailers have come to see the value of the East Village transformation, our available inventory of land has been snapped up. Today, just three parcels remain.”

You can see the current East Village ARP in PDF here. The City of Calgary is currently in the process of updating the East Village ARP, first approved in 2001 and last updated in 2010. That process has been underway for a couple of years now and is expected to wrap up later this year, with the draft available for public review this spring.

We made the ten minute walk to the East Village from our downtown hotel. We entered via 7 Avenue SE which meant that Celebration Square, or CSquare, was one of the first things we saw. It is meant to “provide a mid-day sunshine break to folks in nearby offices or residents returning home from downtown” and features a curved wooden bench, a small stage, and a striking design. “The Veil’s architectural baffles animate the movement of passing trains,” the website says.

This is the year of music in Calgary as they are hosting the Juno Awards this weekend. Later this year, the brand new National Music Centre will open in the East Village. Just a short walk up from CSquare, you can’t miss the NMC’s unique look. Construction on the project began in 2013:

“Designed by Allied Works Architects of Portland, Oregon, NMC is imagined as a living instrument, a destination and a new kind of cultural institution. The 160,000 square foot, $168 million project is being built around the historic King Edward Hotel – Calgary’s legendary home of the blues – and straddles 4th Avenue SE via an overhead passageway that leads to another vast building.”

A little further away we came across one of the community gardens that has been established in the East Village. Living in the East Village right now would be exciting with all of the changes taking place, but it will be a few more years before the urban village vision is realized.

For instance, a grocery store is yet to appear, but one is coming. “The dream team of RioCan Investment Trust and Embassy BOSA are partnering to develop two new residential towers at 6 Avenue and 3 Street SE which will be anchored by a full-sized Loblaws store, as well as other retail tenants.”

We were perhaps most looking forward to checking out the redeveloped Simmons Building, which just opened last summer and now features Charbar, Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters, and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. Restoration efforts began in 2008 on the historic building:

“Formerly a factory warehouse for a national bedding manufacturer, the Simmons Building snoozed beside the Bow River for decades before CMLC took up the restoration challenge. The occupancy of the Simmons Building by three local food and beverage champions puts in place an important piece of CMLC’s retail strategy for East Village, which calls for approximately 100,000 sq ft of Village Format retail – a ‘boutique’ style of retail that tends to be more intimate and service-oriented than Urban Format retail, which in East Village will add up to about 300,000 sq ft and include such categories as grocery, home improvement and general merchandise.”

On a Friday night, the building was busy, and it just so happened that Edmonton’s own Poppy Barley was hosting a pop-up in the building that weekend! The bike racks were well-used and there were lots of people out enjoying the plaza.

Inside the building, we had a great meal at Charbar! Our favorite dish was probably the picante dry-cured chorizo, served with pickled vegetables, but the entire meal was delicious.

The inside of the building reminded me a lot of the Mercer Warehouse, with the exposed brick, beautiful wooden beams, and hardwood floors. With a Phil & Sebastian’s I could definitely see myself hanging out in the building frequently.

The Simmons Building is located right along the RiverWalk Plaza, part of a beautiful pathway that runs along the river and connects to Calgary’s larger pathway system. Before dinner, we walked along it and made our way to St. Patrick’s Bridge which has been nicknamed the “skipping stone” bridge. It was under construction the last time we had seen it.

The bridge connects to St. Patrick’s Island which is described as “a beautifully revitalized 31-acre backyard.” Among its many features is Bloom, a public art installation on the west side near the bridge.

Our short walk back into downtown after dinner offered a great view of the colorfully lit Calgary Tower. It was a great evening in the East Village! We’ll definitely be back to see more of the area’s evolution.

You can see more photos from our trip to Calgary here.

Rogers Place Sneak Peek (January 2016)

Today the City of Edmonton offered a sneak peek at Rogers Place, Edmonton’s new downtown arena slated to open in time for the 2016-2017 NHL season (there are 228 days until project completion according to the website). The $606 million project, which includes the arena, winter garden, community rink, LRT connection, and other amenities, has been under construction since March 2014. Today was the first time the public was allowed inside.

The Oilers flag at centre ice

I live just a few blocks away so have had an upfront view of all of the construction, but it was neat to get a look inside the building today.

I think they were very well prepared to handle a lot of people today, but the cold temperatures probably resulted in a smaller turnout than originally anticipated. I arrived just before 11am and there were a few hundred people in line. When I left about 45 minutes later, there was no line outside.

The project is being constructed on 9.5 acres of land right downtown and today we got to look at two elements of it. First, the community rink which will be home to the MacEwan University hockey teams. The rink will feature 1,000 seats for fans, and will be owned and operated by the City of Edmonton.

And of course, we got to step inside the main arena itself. Here’s a quick video of the view we had:

The building is 141 feet high, and I really felt that sense of scale today. The bowl feels rounder and more intimate than the current one at Rexall Place, even though the square footage inside the arena is 819,200 square feet compared to Rexall’s 497,700 square feet.

The capacity for hockey games is 18,641 but it can stretch to 20,734 in a centre stage concert setup or it can shrink down to about 4,500 for a small concert. Roughly 52% of the seats are in the lower bowl, compared to just 37% at Rexall Place, so more fans will be closer to the action.

There will be 56 suites and 24 mini suites in the new arena, plus 4,100 club seats and 1,116 loge seats. Oh, and those seats are all generally wider than the ones you’ll find at Rexall Place.

Bob Black explaining some of the features of the arena

Rogers Place is being constructed to the LEED Silver standard, as mandated by the City of Edmonton. There’s about 9,000 tonnes of structural steel and 24,000 cubic metres of structural concrete being used to bring it to life.

You can follow the construction at the Rogers Place website, and you can get all the facts on the project here. You can see more photos here.

Poor Jasper Avenue, Rossdale Land Sale, Star Wars in Edmonton

Here’s the latest entry in my Edmonton Etcetera series, in which I share some thoughts on a few topical items in one post. Less than I’d write in a full post on each, but more than I’d include in Edmonton Notes. Have feedback? Let me know!

A new vision for Jasper Avenue

Back in May 2009, I attended the first open house for the Jasper Avenue New Vision project. Then in November of that year, a more in-depth open house was held at Enterprise Square. Six years later, only a tiny portion of that vision has come to life between 100 Street and 102 Street. The original project was meant to cover Jasper Avenue between 97 Street and 111 Street. In theory that work will still get done, but don’t hold your breath! Already the City is conducting public engagement on the rest of Jasper Avenue, west of 109 Street. I guess that makes sense, given how long it has taken them to get to this point, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could finish the original project first?

Cyclist, Jasper Avenue, March 22. 2015, photo by More Bike Lanes Please

Here’s what a recent Edmonton Journal editorial said about our city’s main street:

“Pity poor Jasper Avenue. It has always been the canary in the recessionary coal mine in our city — it can go downhill very quickly when the economy softens. The signs are there already, bringing back echoes of Edmonton’s bad old reputation as Deadmonton.”

In general I agree with Paul who wrote in response that “the sense of doom and gloom is overstated and unhelpful.” Yes there are empty spaces along Jasper Avenue that badly need to be filled, but there are plenty of examples of positive changes to the street too.

Filling those spaces is important but it’s not enough. What Jasper Avenue could really benefit from is a reduction in traffic lanes and wider sidewalks throughout, not just around 101 Street. Here’s what I wrote back in 2009:

“Almost every feature of Jasper Avenue is geared toward vehicle traffic. Any redevelopment needs to shift the focus to pedestrian traffic.”

Sadly, not much has changed.

Rossdale land sale to the Province

Council voted this week to move forward with negotiations to sell a block of land in Rossdale to the Province for about $13 million. The land, located southwest of 96 Avenue and 105 Street, is considered “surplus to municipal requirements” and is currently vacant park land with just four houses. The Province wants the land so that it can “restrict development on these lands to protect the view corridor to the legislature from the bridge crossing.”

The problem is that the City’s West Rossdale Urban Design Plan aims to “create a complete, mixed-use, highly liveable, walkable, and sustainable community” that could be home to 4,500 people. Council feels that the money isn’t the problem anymore (the $13 million is apparently market rate) but they are concerned about fit with the urban design plan. If the Province won’t allow any development on the land, that could be an issue.

The West Rossdale plan does include a recommendation to “reserve and enhance view corridors” so that part is aligned at least.

Star Wars in Edmonton

Forget Christmas, Star Wars is what everyone is talking about right now. And that means the media are looking for local angles to basically tell the same story as every other news organization in the world right now: people are excited for this movie! And why not, the reviews sound incredibly positive.

South Edmonton Common’s Cineplex theatre is one of six across Canada offering a Star Wars movie marathon where fans can watch the original six films before seeing the new one. Good luck getting tickets though, as well over 6000 tickets had already been sold at the southside theatre by Monday. Still, five of the theatre’s sixteen screens will be showing the new Star Wars movie. On Friday, The Force Awakens will play 103 times in Cineplex theatres throughout Edmonton.

So we know it’s going to be a big deal. If you’re going to wait a few days to watch it, then you can read about it in the meantime. Here is 5 ways to “find the Force” from an Edmonton Star Wars superfan, and of course there are interviews with lots of other Star Wars superfans. Here’s a sneak peek at the movie from an official Star Wars artist who lives right here in Edmonton. Even Paula decided to write about Star Wars this week! If you’re looking for a primer on what happened after Return of the Jedi, read this.

May the force be with you!

Goodbye, Hello at the Royal Alberta Museum

More than 35,000 Edmontonians visited the Royal Alberta Museum over the weekend to say goodbye to the building that has seen more than 14 million visits since it opened back on December 6, 1967. The numbers from this weekend speak to the impact the museum has had on the community:

“The museum saw 16,290 people in the first 24-hours alone, eclipsing the previous single-day attendance record of 13,212, which was set in 1974 with gear from the Apollo moon landings on display.”

In addition to one last look at the bug room, visitors had the opportunity to visit the “Goodbye, Hello” exhibit in the feature gallery where they could share a memory or write a message for the new building. They could also see a video overview of the new building that is currently under construction downtown.

The new building will be roughly twice the size, with more than 82,000 square feet of exhibition space. It is being built to the LEED Silver standard at a cost of $375.5 million, $253 million of which is coming from the Province with the rest coming from the Federal government. Construction began on February 7, 2014 and is expected to finish in mid-2016. The goal is to open the new museum to the public in late 2017.

While the new building will certainly be an exciting addition to the downtown arts district, it does raise the question of what will happen to the current building. There’s nothing wrong with it, aside from being too small to share the museum’s growing collection. Here’s what the FAQ says:

“There has been no decision on the future of the Royal Alberta Museum building when the existing museum closes. When determining the future use the general process is to first see if government still has a use for the building/property. If government doesn’t require the property then the municipality is consulted to see if they have a use for it. The building is offered to the public if neither levels of government have a use for the property. Although the museum will be closing its doors in December 2015, the building will still be occupied with staff and collections until likely Fall 2019, as it makes the massive move to its new location.”

So while there’s still time to determine its fate, it’s an issue we’ll have to address as a community soon. To learn more about the history of the museum, have a look at Then & Now feature and check out this article by Janet Vlieg:

“The first two decades of the museum’s existence saw new exhibits added in keeping with the original goals of preserving Alberta history. No admission fees were charged and the museum relied almost completely on provincial funding. Help for extras came in 1982 with a new fundraising support group, now known as Friends of Royal Alberta Museum.”

On Monday evening, the final day the museum was open, Sharon and I were able to attend the RAM: A Moving Tribute event as guests of the Friends of Royal Alberta Museum Society (FRAMS). It was an “evening of fond farewells to a beautiful building.” A well-dressed crowd gathered to hear some speeches, visit the galleries, and reminisce about their previous visits to the building.

Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell, Minister of Culture & Tourism David Eggen, and City Councillor Scott McKeen were among those who brought greetings and reflected on their experiences in the museum. Guests could then explore the museum one last time, stopping perhaps to learn from the experts that were stationed throughout.

I didn’t grow up in Edmonton, so I don’t have the same memories of visiting as a kid. But I have enjoyed visiting in recent years and look forward to spend lots of time at the new building. Sharon does remember visiting as a child and was quite eager to visit the Wild Alberta Gallery one last time! We had fun exploring and adding our own messages to the wall in the feature gallery.

Thanks to FRAMS for having us! We look forward to visting the new museum when it opens on (or around) December 7, 2017. Can’t wait!

Celebrating mediocrity: the new Centennial Plaza wins an Urban Design Award

Edmonton’s 2015 Urban Design Awards recognized “the memorable urban places that make up a great city” on Friday. Among the winners was the new Centennial Plaza¹, the large open square that was built alongside the redeveloped Federal Building. The plaza was recognized for Excellence in the Civic Design Projects category.

You’ve probably spent some time visiting the plaza this year, perhaps to admire the colorfully lit fountains in person. I like the fountains as much as anyone, but there’s no way this project should be winning awards. Here’s why.

Over-promised, under-delivered

I’m sure you’re aware that the Province “saved” $10 million on the Federal Building renovations, a project which ballooned to $375 million anyway. They did that by quietly scrapping a number of planned features, including what was meant to be the primary attraction for the plaza – an outdoor skating rink. They also cancelled the planned Zamboni purchase, but decided to keep the garage as a storage facility. Also removed was planned landscaping, some of the fountains, and other features. This was all decided back in April 2013 without any public consultation or even communication.

As Dave wrote back in January:

“It is a shame the PC Government chose to, more than a year ago and in secret, axe the elements of the renovated Federal Building and the Legislature Grounds that could have become a destination for the general public and an important part of the revitalization that is happening in downtown Edmonton. Hopefully they will see the error of this short-sighted decision and re-introduce the public elements in future renovations. Our Legislature Grounds are beautiful and we should be striving to create new ways to make it a more vibrant gathering spot for Albertans.”

As it stands, the plaza is little more than an open space to walk through.

Not event friendly

Though I think Edmonton has more than enough large open squares as it is, with one more under construction at Rogers Place and another under consideration with the Galleria project, the Federal Building plaza could have been a great venue for events. We thought it could have been a great location for What the Truck?! but had to settle for the streets adjacent to the square instead. There are two reasons for that.

First, the Province has historically been extremely reluctant to open the Legislature grounds to outside events. You can show up to protest, but not to enjoy the grounds as part of another event. Unless of course the Province organizes it themselves, as with the Canada Day celebrations. There are signs this is changing and we did have some productive conversations this summer that make me optimistic that the rules will change, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Second, whether it’s true or not, I keep hearing repeatedly that the porous granite in the plaza is a problem that prevents vehicles, food trucks, and some other types of activities from taking place in the square. Churchill Square is going to be closed for the summer of 2017 (at least) due to LRT construction, so events like Taste of Edmonton are going to need to find a new home. The new Centennial Plaza seemed like a great location to fill the gap, and to keep those events downtown, but that may not be possible.

It’s like they intentionally designed the plaza so that it couldn’t be used for events. Issues like a surface that is too porous or difficult to clean should have been considered – the City has been dealing with similar issues in Churchill Square ever since it was redesigned into its current form. There’s a lot of experience and knowledge about squares locally that could have been tapped into for the design of the new Centennial Plaza.

On top of all that, the plaza is not even done! The public washrooms remain locked, taunting everyone who walks by.

Edmonton is a Winter City

But the biggest issue I have with the new Centennial Plaza winning an Urban Design Award in Edmonton is that it clearly was not designed with winter in mind. At least not since the skating rink was scrapped. That’s just inexcusable in a Winter City.

The fountains have long since been capped with metal covers, blocking not only the water but also the lights. The large open space offers little shelter from the wind or snow (and if they’re worried about vehicles damaging the surface, are they even going to keep it cleared?). And these are just the basics. Forget “experimentation with innovative, climate-oriented urban design” as Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy calls for. Here’s what the strategy outlines as a possible way to design a winter-friendly space:

wintercity design

Doesn’t that picture look suspiciously similar to the plaza in terms of layout? Yet it’s so different in every other way. There’s such potential in the plaza for some of those winter design elements! Instead, we get pylons.

“It’s as much about attitude as it is about latitude. Winter cities have found ways of embracing and falling in love with winter. They use winter as an inspiration for designing public spaces and buildings, as a motivation for recreation and celebrations; they’re cities that share the wonders of winter with the world.” – Carol Neuman

It’s a shame. Where’s the winter equivalent of the illuminated fountains that caused such a stir over the summer?

Urban Design Awards

The Urban Design Awards take place every two years. As mentioned, the new Centennial Plaza won in the Civic Design Projects category:

“This category of award will recognize a civic improvement project such as a park, a public space, civil engineering or environmental infrastructure, street furniture and lighting elements, etc., which have been implemented as the result of an urban design plan or initiative.”

The “primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan” included:

Compatibility with the urban plan
Positive contribution to the public realm
Design excellence
Demonstration of the value of urban design by showing how the urban design plan/initiative directed and influenced the space or the objects

That’s it. Nothing about how it might be used or importantly, when it might be used. Should there be criteria for winter? In Edmonton, probably yes. Let’s hope this can be considered for 2017.

Better, but still room for improvement

It’s true that Edmonton’s urban design has made great strides in recent years. I’m thrilled that the Borden Park Pavilion and Vaulted Willow both won awards on Friday, for instance. But we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to winter. We shouldn’t be celebrating mediocrity along the way.

Will the real Centennial Plaza please stand up? I guess it’s a small thing, but I’ve always been annoyed that they called the new square Centennial Plaza. We already have a Centennial Plaza – the small square between the Stanley Milner library and the Westin Edmonton. It’s far from perfect and suffers from some poor historical design decisions, but it could soon see a renovation of its own when the Stanley Milner library gets an overhaul. ↩

Recap: Santa’s Parade of Lights and All is Bright

Edmonton once again has an outdoor holiday parade! Santa’s Parade of Lights took place tonight, featuring roughly twenty festively lit entries. An impressive number of Edmontonians packed the sidewalks to watch it all go by. No doubt the great weather helped!

I didn’t realize that only half the street would be closed for the parade. That meant if you were on the west side of 101 Street like we were, there were lots of vehicles passing by obscuring the view. Hopefully next year they can close the entire street!

There were a lot of City of Edmonton entries this year but I’ve heard there are a bunch of organizations that have already signed up for next year. Sharon really liked the CN Rail float. I thought it was smart for Canada Post to have an entry (kids could bring their letter to Santa and Canada Post would collect them for delivery to Santa).

In future years I’d expect more winter festivals to use the parade as an opportunity to promote their events, like The Flying Canoe Adventure did.

The kids were all pretty excited when Elsa and Olaf went by, but of course the main attraction was Santa himself! Everyone had the opportunity to meet Santa at the end of the parade in Churchill Square.

There were food trucks, warming bonfires, and family-friendly activities. It was great to see so many people in the square!

Overall it was a solid first year for Santa’s Parade of Lights. I think they have a great foundation to build upon in the years ahead!

After the parade was over, Sharon and I took the bus over to 124 Street for All is Bright. We started up at Barking Buffalo Coffee and walked back toward High Street. It would have been nice to have more businesses participating along the way, but we did run into a pack of Krampus figures!

Closer to High Street there were lots of activities for families to enjoy, including sleigh rides, street hockey, smores around the fire, and a dance party. The short official program took place at 6:30pm, with Mayor Iveson, Councillor McKeen, Councillor Henderson, and MLA Sarah Hoffman all bringing greetings.

Finally the countdown began and the lights came on! This year there was also a short fireworks show to accompany the light up.

WinterCity had a tent at High Street where Edmontonians could learn more about all of the upcoming activities throughout the winter season. They just released the Winter Excitement Guide this week.

There was lots to see and do throughout the evening, like these impressive fire performers. Inside Prettiest Present, kids could get their picture taken with Santa!

Sharon and I look forward to All is Bright every year and even without any snow we still had a great time taking in the lights and energy of the 124 Street area. Great job to all involved!

For more exciting holiday & winter events, be sure to check out my guide!

Downtown’s missing E, Welcoming Syrian refugees, Progressing big city issues

I’m trying something new, where I share some thoughts on a few topical items in one post. Less than I’d write in a full post on each, but more than I’d include in Edmonton Notes. I’ll organize them here. Have feedback? Let me know!

What happened to the colorful downtown E?

Back in May I wrote about the new “downtown for everyone” visual identity which features the E-shaped window. I didn’t really like the “E” itself, because “it doesn’t say anything about downtown nor does it say anything about construction.” I liked the color and the idea of tying the various downtown construction projects together. But as I noted at the time, “that only works if it is widely adopted.”

Now more than six months later, I think it’s pretty clear that adoption is not happening. Despite planning to incorporate the “E” window, the Oilers have not installed it or any of the design elements around Rogers Place. The Royal Alberta Museum used to have great construction hoarding of its own, but it never adopted the window and now the chainlink fence lacks the “E”‘s visual cues. Even the City’s own office tower lacks the “E” window and colors. If they aren’t even going to use it, why would anyone else? Yes there was the big metallic E around town this summer, but the only other place it has shown up is on the website.

New civic tower construction

The only construction site that has really adoped the “E” is NorQuest’s new expansion. If there were awards for construction hoarding, I think NorQuest would win hands down. It’s bright, colorful, informative, and safe.

Welcoming Syrian refugees to Edmonton

Estimates suggest that roughly 2,500 to 3,000 Syrian refugees will be coming to Alberta, part of the federal government’s pledge to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. Most of the refugees that come to Alberta will settle in Calgary and Edmonton, of course. According to Stephen Carattini, CEO of Catholic Social Services (the agency with the federal contract to settle refugees here in Edmonton), roughly 400-500 refugees would normally be settled in a year. Settling three times that many in just over a month and a half will not be easy.

There have been some horrible things written and said about refugees since the deadly attacks in Paris, but Premier Notley said we must stick to the plan to welcome Syrian refugees into Canada.

“We need to do that carefully and cautiously but we need to definitely move forward. We cannot have our decisions being driven by fear.”

The Canadian Council for Refugees issued an excellent statement in response to the attacks in Paris and Beirut. Here’s an excerpt:

“The CCR joins in the global outrage at the recent mass murders in Paris and Beirut. The loss of life and shattering of our sense of security connects us to the daily death and destruction in Syria and in other countries at war. We hope that Canadians will remember that Syrian refugees are victims of this violence and will redouble their commitment to welcome them in Canada.”

It’s too bad this unnecessary fear has impacted the United States, where the House today voted to tighten screen procedures on refugees from Syria.

Progressing big city issues

Yesterday afternoon Mayors Iveson & Nenshi met with Premier Notley at the Legislature to discuss the big city charter, policing costs, poverty reduction, and more.

“We want to have an increasingly collaborative relationship and we know that the cities do incredibly important work for the citizens of their cities and, frankly, the province in many ways,” Notley said.

Who knows how productive their meeting really was, but Premier Notley invited both mayors to present their wishlists to the Alberta NDP cabinet in January, so that’s interesting. Mayor Iveson sounded upbeat about the meeting, tweeting “appreciated the chance to explore value-enhancing partnerships around transit, housing, policing & poverty.” Mayor Nenshi tweeted simply, “thanks for the time and continuing our partnership.” For her part, Premier Notley tweeted “a very productive meeting with @DanielleLarivee, @doniveson & @nenshi as we strengthen our partnerships.”

Photo by Premier of Alberta

Iveson and Nenshi spent the lunch hour yesterday on Alberta at Noon, taking calls from listeners. Best thing to come out of that? Probably this GIF. At least we know Nenshi liked it!

They both spoke about refugees, of course. Mayor Nenshi said:

“We have a moment now…a moment to define ourselves as a people, as who we are, and what we do, and to show the world what we are capable of. And I know that we’re going to do a great job.”

Mayor Iveson said:

“This can be another example that we look back on as Canada doing what it does best, which is being a light to the world in terms of multiculturalism, in terms of inclusion, and in terms of humanitarianism.”

Isn’t it great to have our province’s big city mayors displaying such leadership?

Uber decision deferred, $41 million for Edmonton City Centre, have your say on the budget

Uber Decision Deferred

Today was the big Council meeting to discuss the proposed Vehicle for Hire Bylaw. Last week the City informed the media they’d need to pickup a press badge in order to be present today, and security was increased at City Hall in anticipation of heated protests. But despite a few minor outbursts during the meeting, it all felt a little underwhelming. Many Councillors used the opportunity to get on their respective soapboxes to complain about whatever – some ripped into Uber, some expressed anger at Administration, and one or two questioned why we regulate taxis at all. But that was the only drama, because in the end Council asked for more information and deferred a decision on the bylaw until late January.

Make no mistake, Uber is going to walk away from this whole situation happy. Why? Because there’s a lot more Edmontonians that want to see Uber here as an option than there are Edmontonians willing to speak up for the taxis. Council is hearing loud and clear from constituents that they want Uber in Edmonton, and that’s the most effective way to get Council to budge on something. And even if the rules that do eventually get passed aren’t ideal for Uber, they may be good enough as Councillor Walters points out. They’re threatening to leave now because it helps them secure a better negotiating position. But once there are rules to play by, it’s a simple business decision – can they make money following those rules or not?

$41 million for Edmonton City Centre

Today via Ted Bauer I saw that Oxford Property Group is planning to invest $41.3 million to “revitalize the entire retail experience” of Edmonton City Centre. A big part of the plan is to “relocate and significantly upgrade” the food courts. Currently located on the lowest level of the mall, one on the west and one on the east, the existing food courts will be consolidated centrally on the top level (as is now common in other malls and shopping centres).

Edmonton City Centre, photo by IQRemix

The news release mentions that “over 23,000 new residents are expected to be living downtown by 2019.” It’s great to see that Edmonton City Centre is looking at this as an opportunity and that they’re willing to invest in order to compete with Ice District. There are already a lot of empty spaces in the mall, including many that have been empty for months or even years. With a new hotel, new theatre, and lots of other retail moving just a block or two away into new buildings in Ice District, it was starting to look like Edmonton City Centre would be even emptier in just a few years.

I would suggest this investment is the minimum necessary in order for Edmonton City Centre to compete. And their relative silence on all the development happening downtown was not inspiring much confidence, so this is a nice surprise. But let’s keep it real, ok? Here’s what the Oxford site currently says:

“There’s a huge buzz coming out of downtown Edmonton—and it’s resonating entirely from Edmonton City Centre.”

That’s a bit of a stretch! Still, good to see them willing to make a play for a piece of the pie.

Have your say on the 2016-2018 Operating Budget

We’re in the middle of budget season, as you are probably aware. On Monday, November 23 a non-statutory public hearing will be held at City Hall from 1:30pm to 9:30pm. It’s an opportunity for you to speak directly to City Council about the proposed budget before a decision is made in early December. If you’d like to register to speak, you can do so here.

The full budget is available at edmonton.ca/budget2016. If you’d like a friendly introduction and overview to the budget, check out yegcitybudget.ca. And finally, if you’re a geek like me and want to dig into the data, budget.edmonton.ca is the best place to start.

The final budget discussions get underway starting November 27.

NorQuest’s downtown expansion rises

Two more cranes joined the downtown skyline recently as construction on NorQuest’s new Singhmar Centre for Learning heats up. The new facility will be located immediately north of the current NorQuest campus along 103 Avenue between 107 Street and 108 Street (Capital Boulevard). It’s the first major project for NorQuest in roughly 50 years, and when it opens in 2017 it will bring enrollment in the college to over 12,500 students with the goal of doubling the current student population to 20,000 by 2025.

The Province is contributing $170 million to the project, with another $15 million coming through NorQuest’s Maximizing Opportunities campaign. That campaign received a major boost in November when Dr. Prem Singhmar and Dr. Saroj Singhmar contributed $2.5 million to the project, which is where the name came from.

The details are subject to change of course, but current plans would see 24 classrooms, 24 labs, and 3 “flex” classrooms built in the new facility. It would become the college’s main academic building and will serve students studying in a variety of subjects, everything from health care to English as a second language. The Singhmar Centre will also feature a daycare, a new library, food services, and plenty of meeting and activity space. Underground you’ll find parking for about 100 vehicles and 75 bicycles.

The existing main building isn’t going anywhere but will be receiving significant renovations, slated to be complete in 2018. The smaller Health Education Centre building on the corner of 102 Avenue and 107 Street will be demolished at some point after the expansion opens. When the entire project is done, it’ll offer not only important new learning space for NorQuest students, but also plenty of publicly accessible green space too. It’s great to see another giant downtown parking lot disappear!

Expectations for a modern college

The existing downtown campus opened in 1971, when both educators and students had very different expectations than they do today. The new campus should help NorQuest to keep up-to-speed with the changing technology requirements (and knowledge) of its students and staff.

About 89% of students have a smartphone, 52% use a tablet, and 95% have access to high speed Internet, and those numbers are only going up. Lots of students choose NorQuest in order to prepare for their careers, which these days always involves technology. I’m looking forward to learning more about what technology features the building will have.

A diverse student population

Based on the 2013-2014 academic year, about 75% of NorQuest students are from the Edmonton region, but 60% were born outside of Canada, representing around 90 countries. There are nearly 70 languages spoken on the NorQuest campus!

Approximately 11% of NorQuest’s student population are Aboriginal (First Nations, Metis, or Inuit ancestry). That’s one of the reasons why the college is so excited about the Aboriginal ceremonial room that the new campus will feature. The centrally-located and inviting room will be overseen by one of NorQuest’s elders-in-residence.

As Edmonton’s Aboriginal population continues to grow, NorQuest is looking forward to contributing to the success of that community. They recently launched a two-year pilot project in conjunction with Bow Valley College to help more than 600 Aboriginal people train for careers in the construction industry.

Connected to the LRT

With the Valley Line LRT slated to run right up 107 Street beside the campus with a stop just south of 104 Avenue, NorQuest will become connected by train to MacEwan, NAIT, and the University of Alberta.

As mentioned, NorQuest’s student population is very diverse. With a large number of newcomers, who NorQuest says typically rely on transit, being so close to the LRT will be key for remaining competitive in the future. In fact, 69% of NorQuest students cited “location” as an important factor in their decision making, and having the LRT there will make the decision that much easier.

A window into the construction

I believe the Singhmar Centre for Learning is one of the first downtown construction projects to feature the “E” window that was unveiled back in May. As you walk around the construction site under the scaffolding, you’ll find a series of E-shaped windows that let you peek into the construction activity happening on-site.

You can follow along as construction of the Singhmar Centre for Learning progresses at the microsite. They’ve got a blog and are also on Twitter as @nqexpansion. As is the trend these days, NorQuest is working to create a timelapse of the construction so you can revisit the transformation once it is all done.

NorQuest is also celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015 “with a year-long series of events and activities.”

UPDATE: Corrected to clarify that the Health Education Centre building will not remain as originally stated and will in fact be demolished.
UPDATE2: NorQuest has updated their microsite to say that the Province is providing $170 million, not $154 million as originally stated. I have updated the post accordingly.

City Council endorses phased approach to Edmonton Galleria project, but many questions remain

The long-discussed Galleria project received a fresh injection of life today after Council threw its support behind a phased approach that would see the $1 billion project constructed through 2020. The item was up at Executive Committee again after last year’s request by Council to find a way to lower the risk to the City.

Galleria

The Galleria project consists of the same components today as it did then: four performing arts theatres (1600 seat theatre, 650 seat theatre/concert hall, 200 seat theatre, 200 seat recital hall); the relocation of the University of Alberta’s School of Music, Department of Art & Design, and one other department; construction of an office tower; development of a covered public galleria; and commercial and retail opportunities. The difference is that now it’s not an all or nothing proposition.

Today’s decision by Council to endorse a phased approach means the project backers can seek funding from the other orders of government. It also means in theory that certain triggers must be met before the City needs to spend any money, the first of which is agreeing to a memorandum of understanding in September and giving final approval to the City’s financial contribution.

So how much would the City be on the hook for?

“The total project costs outlined in this report that would be the responsibility of the City total $58.3 million. When factoring in interest charges on the amounts that are eligible to be borrowed for, the total expected cash expenditure for the City is estimated at $75.2 million.”

It sounds like any City money would come with strings attached too: “The release of city funds would be dependent on EDAC achieving certain milestones including the securing of a tenant in commercial/residential development with income sufficient to cover the capital and operating commitments of the Foundation.” That’s a much better approach than they took with the arena. For now they’ve approved $7.5 million for the pedway between Churchill LRT Station and the Royal Alberta Museum.

As I mentioned last year, I’m fine with the land acquisitions the City would be making. That’s probably a wise investment whether the Galleria project goes ahead or not. But there are still too many questions outstanding for me to support this project.

Provincial or Federal funding

The Galleria project is only going to move forward if funding from the other orders of government can be secured, and that’s far from guaranteed.

We saw absolutely zero interest from the PCs in supporting the project, even with Irv & Dianne Kipnes as donors, so I don’t see why the NDP would be any more likely to support it. The Provincial government has stuck to its hard line against funding the downtown arena, and I’d be surprised to see them all of a sudden come to the table on the Galleria.

On the federal side, Mayor Iveson has said that Council has received “mixed signals” and that he’d be surprised if the project could secure any federal funding at all. It has not been easy to get money out of Ottawa. Council had to agree to a P3 in order to get federal funding for the LRT, for instance.

Furthermore, the reality is that the City and specifically Council is going to have to go to bat for the project if the Province or the Feds are going to pony up anything at all. And that begs the question, is this really the project you want to burn important political capital on? Is this more important than the City Charter, LRT, poverty elimination, or any of the other significant priorities Edmonton has?

Lack of support from the Arts Community

Crickets. That’s what we’ve heard from most arts organizations about the Galleria project, at least publicly. Privately many have argued against the project, but the Kipnes are powerful enemies to attract.

A purpose-built opera house would undoubtedly be a good thing for the Edmonton Opera. It’s probably the most expensive art form in the world. For example, the Jubilee is effectively dark for about 90 nights a year to stage just 3 or 4 opera performances because of the construction and rehearsal time that each one takes. That’s a lot of lost revenue when you consider that events like “The Book of Mormon” can arrive and be setup in a day and will nearly always sell out.

Without hearing from other organizations, how can we be sure the proposed four theatres would meet the need that exists in the arts community? How much of the new Galleria space would be open and available to other arts organizations? How often would it be unavailable thanks to either opera or University of Alberta use? What costs or other requirements would go along with use?

Perhaps those details are yet to be finalized and that’s why it is difficult for arts organizations to decide whether or not to support the project. But it’s not a good sign that the arts community at large has been so quiet on the project.

Breaking up the University of Alberta

With MacEwan and NorQuest consolidating their campuses downtown, I can understand that perhaps the University of Alberta feels a little left out, but breaking up its own campus doesn’t seem like a wise move. For years it was pretty clear in all U of A long range plans that a downtown campus was not in the best interests of the university or its students. The South Campus vision was the preferred approach, allowing for a more connected campus.

There has been some vague lip service paid to the fact that being connected via the LRT to all other post secondary institutions would be a beneficial thing, but as soon as the Metro Line opens we’ll already have that. No need for a new campus.

Innovation doesn’t seem to be happening by segregation. The most interesting and powerful ideas that are changing the world are coming from interdisciplinary efforts. Why separate the arts from the science and engineering part of the university?

Furthermore, what impact would a downtown arts campus for the U of A have on MacEwan’s new Centre for Arts and Culture? Does it make sense to have two arts campuses so close to one another?

More empty space left behind

Look up and you see cranes. Look around on ground level and you’ll see a bunch of empty space.

We’re coming up on four years since the EPCOR Tower opened, the first new office tower built downtown since 1990. Originally known as “Station Lands Tower A”, the building still to this day has empty, unused space (such as the entire 16th floor where the recent downtown event was held). The other buildings that were slated to be part of the Station Lands development have never materialized.

The old EPCOR tower, rebranded First & Jasper, still has plenty of empty space, such as most of the ground level commercial. Even Edmonton’s premier downtown street, 104 Street, is home to its share of vacancies. The old Carbon space near 102 Avenue remains empty as does the old Sobey’s on the corner of Jasper Avenue, one of the most visible – and in theory attractive – locations in all of Edmonton.

All of this space is empty today, before development has really gotten underway. What will happen when the City of Edmonton offices consolidate into the new tower? Scotia Place, HSBC, Century Place, and other buildings are going to have a lot of vacancies. What about when Stantec consolidates into its new tower? All of its existing offices will need new tenants. What happens to City Centre when the new hotel and theatre open in the arena district? It’s already struggling to keep retailers.

In fact, a Cushman and Wakefield report suggests that by the end of 2017, Edmonton’s office vacancy rate could reach 17%, the highest in the country.

I’m all for getting rid of additional parking lots, but where’s the demand for yet another office tower? Especially one that needs to generate revenue to help fund the project.

Competition with the Edmonton Arena District

So far the Katz Group has been publicly supportive of the Galleria but I have no doubt that would change if their significant real estate investments came under threat. There’s simply too much money at stake.

The arena deal is done and for better or worse the Downtown CRL depends on it. So as taxpayers, we need that project to be successful. Does it really make sense to build a competitive project right next door? Another office tower to fill, with additional retail spaces that need to attract patrons? Proponents of the Galleria would argue that the project will drive significant additional traffic to the area but I find their estimates unrealistic and I’ve not see any new data that would change my mind.

Plus we’d have yet another big, open public space to program or have sit empty. Is there really a need for Churchill Square, the EAD square, and a public galleria?

A holistic decision needs to be made

I completely understand that when someone comes forward with $50 million as the philanthropists behind the Galleria project have, there’s a desire on the part of Council to leverage that money. Acquiring funding for projects is hard and having private money brought to the table is a huge help and doesn’t happen every day. But just because you come to the table with money doesn’t mean that your project should go ahead.

Galleria

Council needs to decide not only if the Galleria itself is a good project, but whether it is going to bring a positive, net benefit to downtown and to Edmonton as a whole. Does Edmonton need the Galleria right now? Will it have a positive impact, without negatively impacting the other major projects we have underway?

With so many big questions still unanswered, I remain unconvinced that Edmonton should support the Galleria project.

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Expectations for a modern college

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A window into the construction

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Provincial or Federal funding

Lack of support from the Arts Community

Breaking up the University of Alberta

More empty space left behind

Competition with the Edmonton Arena District

A holistic decision needs to be made

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