It's game day!
We were delighted to host our Field Trip, presented by B&A, on The New Old Strathcona. With our co-hosts, Cherie K. from the Old Strathcona Business Association and Andrew McLellan from the City of Edmonton, we explored the development projects underway and heard from the city builders behind them. Our special guests (Chris Dulaba, RPP, MCIP and Luke Butterworth) and tour participants also discussed the impact of previous city building investments, and ideas for the area's future.
First stop: Strathcona Town Centre, a parking lot zoned and ready for redevelopment. We talked about the critical ingredients of a main street and neighbourhood, like a full-service grocery store.
Second stop: The Hat. Once a surface parking lot, now under construction to become a 3-tower, 500-residential unit development.
Third stop: Mezzo. McLellan recounted the storied history of Mezzo, admitting, "this was a controversial site." Its past rezoning application was approved by City Council despite non-support from City Administration. Debate was focused on height and density, and ultimately prompted the need for planning studies in the area to contemplate what would be sensitive for this area. Today, a new rezoning application is looking to bring in family-friendly residential units.
Fourth stop: Whyte Avenue parklet, or the Nathan Fillion Civilian Pavilion, funded by Prairies Economic Development Canada I Développement économique Canada pour les Prairies. Cherie K. spoke to the importance of the public realm in creating places for people to connect and gather. She said its also good for business.
Fifth stop: Strathcona Back Street. Business in the front, party in the back? Back lane entrances lead into the Strathcona Hotel and Crawford Block. Activations and programming in a back lane plaza create a hub, a third place, for people who live in the area and those who visit.
Sixth stop: West Ritchie. A "garage district" with an interesting cluster of tenants. This area is considered by some as the "New Whyte Avenue".
Seventh stop: Station Park. Located on the Old Strathcona CP Rail Line, this site boasts a range of commercial tenants, and an interior/exterior space that doubles as event space and a place to gather and linger. Luke Butterworth spoke about how this project has become an incubator of businesses.
Eighth stop: MKT for a celebratory pint. Before we even got there, our guests, of course, gushed over the catch basin and low impact development innovation along the way. Big time nerds.
A big thank you to our guests, and our sponsor B&A, for helping us coordinate events like these! Check out our future Field Trips by visiting bildedmonton.com.
