Valley of Dreams - an article about the River Valley Alliance plans

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Wednesday's Editorial: A beach that's within our reach
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opini...385/story.html

What we do have, however, is Hawrelak Park Lake — an idyllic little body of water in the midst of one of Alberta’s finest parks. There is parking aplenty, washrooms, picnic sites and an amphitheatre. What the park needs, and what the city needs, is a public place to swim.

Sure, there are outdoor pools aplenty. And it’s awesome what the city’s done with swimming at the Legislature and Sir Winston Churchill Square. Watching families and daycare groups filling those wading pools all summer is totally charming.

But there’s nothing quite like laying your towel on the sand and dipping your toes into a lake or a river. That is the stuff that Canadian summer memories are made of.

On Sunday, Dr. Chris Sikora, medical officer of health for the Edmonton Zone of Alberta Health Services, announced that Hawrelak Park Lake would, in fact, be ready and safe for the upcoming ITU World Triathlon event this weekend. The discovery of blue-green algae — something that causes skin rash and can make anyone who swallows the water sick — resulted in the lake being closed last week, putting the event in jeopardy.

The ITU event, which Edmonton hosted last year as well, is the only time anyone swims there. The fact that it was at risk of being unusable is embarrassing. With no backup swim location, they would have had to turn the event into a duathlon.

The ITU World Triathlon Series is the sport’s most elite. It comprises 10 events across the world in such places as Cape Town, Yokohama, Japan, and Australia’s Gold Coast. Athletes compete in bodies of water such as the South Atlantic Ocean, Tokyo Bay and the South Pacific. Having it in Edmonton is a coup and an honour, and we should not be fretting about blue-green algae in our lake.

It also doesn’t seem fair that the only Edmontonians allowed to swim in Hawrelak Park Lake are Paula Findlay and the other competing triathletes. Why not make it swimmable year-round?

The man-make Lake Summerside in the city’s south end is fantastic. With a sandy beach, and clean and cool swimming, it’s also one of the only great open-water swimming locations for long-distance swimmers. The problem is that it’s private, open only to those few thousand residents who actually live in Summerside, and it’s also funded by the upscale neighbourhood.

What about the rest of us? The city is interested in making an urban beach at Louise McKinney Riverside Park. Great, but the plan stipulates that people wouldn’t actually get to swim in the water. Which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

Making Hawrelak’s lake a viable beach option wouldn’t be without complications. The lake is home to wildlife, and as Edmonton’s wetlands and natural areas have been greatly depleted over the last two decades, geese and ducks aren’t exactly spoiled for choice.

Then again, the lake was man-made in the first place. Is it such a stretch to make it as swimmable in summer as it is skatable in winter?

If it’s possible for world-class athletes, then it’s possible year-round. A lifetime of real Canadian summer memories makes it a worthwhile investment.

I agree with everything in this.

[Rocket252]

Makes too much sense - that's why it will never happen.

[oiler-dude]

It was explored back in 2011, came in to the tune of $60M.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...-lake-1.978424

I'd still like to see it done, honestly. I think a re-visit wouldn't see the same price tag, and it would be such an asset for Edmonton.

[EdmTrekker]

Add the weir that was talked about and almost happened in the 80's...it would have increased the river height for recreational use. Now we might need it for survival - we need to maintain a decent water level for human consumption as well. We just need to put up a mid size dam - to impede all of the water getting out to quickly and to raise the level in the city. With KLM here - lets farm the work (and project management oversight) out to the Dutch !! They would have her built lickty split.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/201...the-weir-idea/

[Coldrsx]

https://transformingedmonton.ca

[240glt]

Forgot to mention, the new wayfinding plinths are up in Gold Bar park. They look great. Will be nice to see them throughout the valley

[Coldrsx]

^really? Photos?

I am very confused if so, for as far as we were told Downtown LRT is rolling out first.... but that is AFTER they choose one of the 3 options. The design, fonts, symbols etc. were all in the works, but not ready to roll.

[240glt]

Gold Bar was the pilot, or so I understood

I'll grab a photo when I take the dog out for a walk after work

[Coldrsx]

Makes sense, but odd that it was never mentioned to my knowledge.

Thanks.

[Coldrsx]

Paula Simons: Urban balcony vs slim tower: Edmonton needs a vision for its view

PAULA SIMONS, EDMONTON JOURNAL
More from Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal

The little triangle of land wedged between Jasper Avenue and 101st Avenue on 96th Street is one of downtown’s ugliest eyesores.

The .2-hectare parcel is home to two boarded-up little buildings, one pink, one blue, surrounded by a fraying chain-link fence. The garbage-strewn land, halfway between the Shaw Conference Centre and the majestic St. Barbara’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral, is a bleak pocket of urban blight.

It also commands one of the most spectacular views of the North Saskatchewan River valley, a panoramic vista that includes Louise McKinney Park, the Muttart Conservatory, and everything in between and beyond.

The city has been negotiating for years to buy the parcel as part of The Quarters redevelopment. The plan was to turn the site into an “urban balcony.” It sounds like someplace a hipster Juliet might await her hip-hop Romeo. But the city’s plan is to create a public green space and lookout point, and to ensure that the view belongs to everyone.

City council’s executive committee is supposed to vote Tuesday on a city report, recommending the city expropriate the site, over the wishes of the owners of the land, Suncor and the Alldritt Land Corporation. Expropriation would require the city to pay the fair market value of the land, which is currently accessed by the city’s tax department at $1.07 million.

http://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/c...n-for-its-view

[Landlocked]

This is an old link, but given the area being discussed, hopefully someone here knows of any new developments regarding Grierson Complex.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/14...grierson-clink

I really hope this property use evolves to something more appropriate, given the location and view.

[240glt]

Sorry did not get that photo, dog walk was pre-empted by an unscheduled trip to the hospital, again

Will try again tonight

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton funicular construction to start March 7

ELISE STOLTE
More from Elise Stolte

Construction on the new river valley funicular will start March 7, despite ongoing misgivings from some city councillors.

“If we had more flexibility around these funds, if it were up to me I might be doing something different,” Mayor Don Iveson said Tuesday. “We were kind of pushed by the federal funding into a series of decisions … but it could be an amazing public space, a post card place for the City of Edmonton.”

More than two thirds $24-million budget was previously committed from Ottawa and the province, funnelled through the regional arm’s-length organization, the River Valley Alliance.

On Tuesday, councillors approved the environmental impact study, removing the last hurdle to construction. City officials don’t yet know the exact costs for running and maintaining the facility, but estimate it will cost $500,000 and $1 million annually. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2017.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loca...-start-march-7

[SHOFEAR]

A white elephant that street rats will use to get their shopping cart up and down the valley.

[rapid_business]

Is there any more 'top of bank' trail development that is tied to this project? The proposed pedestrian bridge over McDougall Hill road E/W is as important I would think.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

How about Rossdale plant restoration and site development first before building this thing?

[Xelebes]

Here comes the funkyskunk. Yay. =/

[GreenSPACE]

Originally Posted by rapid_business

Is there any more 'top of bank' trail development that is tied to this project? The proposed pedestrian bridge over McDougall Hill road E/W is as important I would think.

It's in the CRL but not sure what the timeline is.

[itom 987]

We should name this stupid project after Stephen Harper.

[itom 987]

...and install portraits in memory of the snubbed national portrait gallery competition.