The City of Calgary said that it will postpone construction on the southeast portion of Stephen Avenue after area business owners threatened legal action last week.

The Stephen Avenue redevelopment project was slated to begin on July 14, as soon as the Calgary Stampede ended. But business owners in the area said that was infringing on their ability to operate during a popular time of year on the strip.

The City said Friday that after consulting further with the business community, they will devise a new set of construction options to reduce the impact on area businesses. That plan will be discussed with stakeholders next week, and a revised timeline will be shared with Calgary city council once it’s been confirmed.

The City of Calgary’s Infrastructure Services General Manager, Michael Thompson, provided an update to councillors Friday afternoon.

“While we have worked closely with Stephen Avenue businesses over the last several months to develop a construction plan that mitigates construction impacts, we have continued to hear from business owners in the last week that they remain concerned about how construction will impact their business operations,” the update read.

Work on Stephen Avenue was to consist of upgrades to water infrastructure, storm, power and lighting in the area.

Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong said that this was the right move for the City, ensuring that businesses most impacted by upcoming construction would have the ability to earn during the summer high season.

“I think the businesses will be happy that we’re not doing it right away, especially during the summer time frame,” he said.

“There will be consulting next week with some ideas, alternatives, and the scheduling of starting the construction hopefully will be done after the summer season – in other words, not until September.”

Upgrades needed, but a more business-friendly plan sought

Coun. Wong said that some of the underground water pipes were put in at the turn of the prior century and they do need to be upgraded.

Both he and Coun. Sonya Sharp, who also advocated on behalf of the Stephen Avenue businesses, have been vocal proponents of improved infrastructure in Calgary.

“We need to repair them, no doubt, otherwise, we’ll have a water main break, and businesses and properties in the Stephen Avenue core run the risk of losing service,” Wong said.

“We need to get in there and do it. The critical question is, when do you do it? How do you do it, and how do you ensure that the businesses are informed and impacts with them are mitigated? There’s never a good time, but there’s always a better time or the right time.”

Stephen Deere, owner of Modern Steak, one of the businesses seeking a stop to the construction, said the decision was massive for local shops on Stephen Avenue.

He credited Mayor Jyoti Gondek with convening a meeting Thursday morning to get the ball in motion.

“The mayor showed up in a big way, a lot of stress off our back, the damage of the after-Stampede construction happening wasn’t the ideal thing, and now we’re looking into a better position for everything,” Deere told LWC.

He said they hope to get across to the City that 15 months spent on one block isn’t reasonable. They want that cut down to three months per block. They would also like to see a flex street instead of the proposed high street. They’d also like to see 24/7 construction to limit the length of time it will impact local businesses.

“We brought up a lot of stuff that they were quite receptive to. So, again, the proof will be in the pudding. We’re supposed to be meeting sometime late next week to kind of hash a lot of this stuff out and get some plans going in the right direction,” Deere said.

He believes they will see some progress and it won’t devolve into another stalemate where another threat of legal action is needed.

“I am riding kind of a wave of positivity from the last meeting, because the key people, the decision makers, were in the room with the other decision makers,” Deere said.

“So, as long as we kind of have this level of communication with this level of decision makers, I think we do have hope.”

City said they are committed to balancing need work with minimal disruption

In a brief statement sent to LWC on Friday afternoon, the City of Calgary said that they’ve been committed to minimizing disruption through planning and communication, while balancing the need for the infrastructure replacement work. They also want to be in alignment with other downtown investments like the Glenbow Museum upgrades and the Arts Commons/Olympic Plaza Transformation.

“The City of Calgary continues to work closely with Stephen Avenue businesses to minimize business disruption while balancing the need to complete critical infrastructure work,” their statement read.

“Out of respect for these businesses, we will be able to share more information on the project schedule once we have had the opportunity to connect with them.”

The Calgary Downtown Association (CDA) also provided a brief statement to LWC on the redevelopment work.

“We will continue to support and advocate for our members in mitigating construction impacts on their business and what’s in the best interest of downtown,” read a statement from CDA executive director Mark Garner.

“This planned work is critical to updating utility infrastructure, such as the over 100-year-old water pipes.”