While the Green Line’s downtown trajectory is still in flux, the City of Calgary is making use of space meant for the future mass transit line.
Construction is scheduled to start this month on a temporary green space for the area next to the newly refurbished Eau Claire Plaza, with the space tentatively set to open next spring.
It’s an expanded natural turf area that the City of Calgary said can support informal sports, picnics and casual recreation.
The space has been made available while they wait for plans to advance on a downtown Green Line. Previously, there were plans to have a downtown terminus in Eau Claire—and there still are, tentatively—but that’s been sidetracked by the need to review the downtown alignment at the behest of the Government of Alberta.
“As the Functional Plan for the Green Line LRT is developed and plans are advanced, and being considerate of a desire for increased green space in the downtown core, a temporary use in this location was determined to be the best interim outcome,” read an emailed statement from the City of Calgary.
“The temporary green space will remain available for public use until The City is ready to move forward with the site’s ultimate use. While there is no set timeline for this, the space offers a valuable interim benefit to Calgarians.”
The City said that building any new features now would ultimately have to be removed once the downtown Green Line construction plans are activated. They said that wouldn’t be a responsible use of taxpayers’ dollars.
The City of Calgary opened the new $47 million plaza in June with features such a playground, water misting area, and a sandy beach for visitors.
According to the project’s webpage, eight trees will be removed based on health and future use of the site. The city said it would replace the trees in other locations.
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Peg oneil, president of the Eau Claire Community Association, wasn’t shy about their organization taking much of the credit for the new space. She said they’ve been pushing for a use at the site for the past six months. Now, they’re thrilled to have it.
“We’ve been asking them to please not just dump another load of gravel somewhere. They own that land, and can they please make it… we were hoping for anything like lawn bowling or bocce,” she said.
“We came up with a bazillion different suggestions for what it could be used for, and we’re really, really happy that they’re actually going to do it for us.”
It’s an ongoing conversation to ensure there are outdoor spaces for the folks living in Eau Claire, oneil said. The temporary nature of it isn’t a concern either.
“We’ve got the River Walk. We’ve got the Prince’s Island Park. We are very, very spoiled for choice in our entire community, with beautiful green spaces,” oneil said.
“We just didn’t want a gravel parking lot. So, we’re thrilled that we’re getting another green space, even if it’s just temporary.”
Ward 7 councillor-elect Myke Atkinson said having these spaces in the downtown area is critical.
“We’ve got a project that is currently stalled out to get the Green Line through downtown and to have a vacant hole in the center of our city that is just sitting there waiting for the project to get back on the rails, it’s a detriment to the people that live there, or that live around there,” he told LWC.
He said it’s important, as Calgary continues to invite people to live in the downtown area, that they have places to go outside of the high-density living.
“By coming to the table and trying to propose a temporary solution, it shows an administration that is trying to take care of the downtown and make sure that the in-between time matters and is taken care of,” Atkinson said.
The City of Calgary said that new space is difficult to come by in the downtown area, but they are always looking for new potential spots for greenery as they improve or renovate the core.
