Take a walk in Mission and the first that comes to mind likely wouldn’t be a lack of seating.

Yet for Mission Resident and landscape architect Julian Warring, that is precisely what comes to mind.

“There’s really nowhere to sit in Mission along 4 Street. There’s a few benches here and there, but they’re mostly bus benches,” said Warring.

What he has proposed is a pilot program to begin adding seating to the district. Thanks to grant funding from the Calgary Foundation in partnership with the Federation of Calgary Communities, and the Cliff Bungalow-Mission Community Association.

Movable tables and chairs, along with a splash of colour, are planned for the empty public space at the corner of 4 Street SW and 20 Avenue.

“For this specific site, we’re going to look at doing nine chairs and three tables. We’re going to reach out to the community to get input on different colours that they would want to see on those tables and chairs,” he said.

There will be a public engagement session set for April 28, from 6–8 p.m. at the Cliff Bungalow-Mission Community Association at 2201 Cliff Street SW.

Proposed costs for the project range from between $1,000 to more than $10,000. That’s depending on the number of furniture pieces sought by community members. The tables and chairs used at the proposed pilot site could also be re-used at other locations in Mission.

Adding space to the public realm

It was not having anywhere to sit outside last year that sparked the idea to improve access to public spaces in Mission.

“This whole project kind of came about, because I was going to get a coffee last year in March, and it was a nice day and I wanted to sit outside, and we still weren’t able to eat inside and the patio was full,” said Warring.

“I realized that I just had to go home.”

He said after that he began noticing a number of locations that seating could be added to along 4 Street SW.

The initial pilot program location is going to be done in a partnership with the City of Calgary roads department. Other proposed sites would require partnerships with local businesses and land owners.

In a walk of the district with LiveWire Calgary, Warring pointed out several different locations that could be further enhanced by greater public accessibility. Although, said Warring, the ideal would be to start off with three or four locations.