Another jam-packed ‘notes’ for you today! Our downtown and city is ever evolving, hopefully we are able to capture much of the issues and buzz!
- Renovations to DECL’s new space on 103 Street are finally underway! We will be moving in sometime in April and hope to have an open house shortly after for members and residents to come check it out!
- City Council approved a report March 5 that recommends going ahead with asking the province for a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) (with slightly smaller boundaries) for the downtown arena project. Revenues are projected at $612m on the low side and $1.1B on the high side over 20 years.
Proposed CRL Boundaries
- Will the Rossdale Power Plant be saved from demolition? Will McKay Avenue School have its roof repaired? We really, really hope so. Look for comments from DECL in the next week or so on both issues.
- Annexation? Urban sprawl? Apparently this was in the works for almost a year, the direct result of regional planning talks. Edmonton will take the west side of QEII and the airport (EIA), in turn County of Leduc gets to keep the Nisku tax base. This is more about taxation than urban sprawl. A complex issue that requires some historical and political context.
- ‘9Triple8 Jasper‘ (formerly ATB Place) at Jasper Avenue and 99 Street is leasing and will be Gold LEED certified. The building features a renovated podium and three new retail bays. We’re excited for this potential increase in street-level activity at that intersection.
- Development Committee Chair Ian O’donnell reports that the Kelly-Ramsay 29-storey office/hotel tower may be happening sooner rather than later. The one-storey building at 101 St & Rice Howard Way is now empty and signs on the building say demolition is ‘imminent’.
- Martyshuk Housing’s ‘Dwayne’s Home’ opened on March 1 in the former ‘Go Backpacker’s Hostel’ space.
- Ontario Prime Pubs chain ‘Fionn MacCool’s‘ will be taking over the Elephant & Castle space in Edmonton City Centre.
- ‘The Cavern‘ cheese shop on 4th Street Promenade will be opening Spring 2013, “a retail cheese store and casual café/bar.”
- Downtown is again well represented in this year’s ‘Edmonton’s Best Restaurants 2013‘ issue of Avenue Magazine. Congrats to Corso 32 for being selected overall ‘Best Restaurant’, and other category winners downtown Wildflower, Drift Food Truck, and Tres Carnales (plus all the honorable mentions!)
- Continuing with the downtown food theme, Tracy let us know about a cool little video Travel Alberta posted last fall featuring some of Edmonton’s downtown restaurants.
W.W. Arcade Hardware store at Jasper Avenue & 97 Street (now Hardware Grill)
Photo courtesy of Vintage Edmonton
- A reminder that Oliver Community League’s next edition of ‘Board Game Night‘ is this Friday, March 8 at 7:30 pm at Oliver Hall.
- Todd Babiak’s ‘Make Something Edmonton‘ campaign is starting to catch on and now includes an initiative to improve Edmonton’s image. The first brainstorming meeting is on March 21 where participants will be asked for ideas on making ‘a richer, stranger, stronger Edmonton: the city we already live in and love, only more so?”
- Another amazing Latitude 53 ‘Parka Patio Party’ occurred on February 23. Lots of photos of the event have been posted to their Facebook page.
- We’re excited that Spacing Magazine is launching Spacing Edmonton soon! “Urbanism uncovered in Edmonton. Part of the Spacing Canadian blog network.”
- Lastly, some interesting reading from the Australian Heart Foundation finds that making streets more walking and cycling friendly may actually be good for business.
If you see anything missing that you think should be on these notes, send us an email at my_decl@telus.net.