| The Beltline Initiative will be unveiling redevelopment plans for Central Memorial Park on March 3 at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Park Library.
Eileen Stan, executive director of the Victoria Crossing BRZ, says redevelopment is necessary to "address how the park has deteriorated and lost its former grandeur."
"It fails to function as a successful urban space," she says. "The goal is to make it more vibrant and more of a community asset."
Stan says funding for the redevelopment will be sought from various sources and the redevelopment plan is a key component of a draft area redevelopment plan (ARP) for the Beltline.
"This should really be a jewel for Calgary," says Stan. "It was Calgary’s first park. We would like to make it a showcase."
Redevelopment plans could include a restaurant with public washrooms, and temporary market stalls with vendors. Plans also include restoration of the park’s Edwardian public gardens, better lighting, creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment and an emphasis on more community events to attract more people.
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Andre Chabot, a general contractor, was chosen to be the new alderman of Ward 10 in the February 28 byelection.
The byelection was called after former alderman Margot Aftergood resigned in November amidst a controversy over mail-in ballots. Police are still investigating potential voter fraud in the ward, and a provincial inspection is ongoing.
Aftergood didn’t run again, but Chabot beat out former two-term Ward 10 alderman Diane Danielson.
The master plan for the new Bridges development at the site of the former General Hospital has won an international design award through Architectural Review, a British architecture and design journal.
Sturgess Architecture, Carlyle and Associates and urban designer Keith Orlesky for the City of Calgary created the master plan. Calgary was the only North American city to receive an award in any of the categories.
The Bridgeland development, when completed, will be home to 1,575 residential units and a population of about 2,500. Jeremy Sturgess, principal architect and planner at Sturgess Architecture, says the award puts Calgary in the forefront of world cities.
"We are doing something really important in terms of inner-city housing," he says. "I do think (Calgary) will have a model inner city for the 21st Century."
Sturgess says the plan emphasizes a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-income neighbourhood where people can easily walk downtown or to the C-train. As well, there will be a large park where the actual hospital used to sit, extensive retail shops along First Avenue N.W, and what Sturgess describes as a "strolling promenade."
"It becomes very much in a contemporary way a return to traditional living," says Sturgess.
A conference on socioeconomic determinants of health is being held in Calgary March 3 and 4.
The conference, called Reality Check 2005: Inequity and Well-Being in Debt-Free Alberta, will include low-income Albertans, health care professionals and others who work with those living in poverty.
Stasha Donahue, one of the organizers, says the goal is to help groups and individuals build capacity so that they can influence government policy on issues that affect them.
Donahue says participants will also be creating a charter outlining action they want to see in Alberta to help those living in poverty.
Dennis Raphael, a professor in the department of health policy and management at York University, will be speaking at the conference. He says the province has a relatively low rate of poverty compared to other provinces, but there are problems such as a large gap between rich and poor. As well, Alberta has the highest rate of low-weight births in the country and one of the highest rates of infant mortality.
Raphael says the connection between a decent standard of living and good health is well-known and moving people out of poverty requires political action, not more research. He says governments have to do more than promote wellness education – they have to address the socioeconomic factors that negatively influence peoples’ health. For more information, call Lynda Laughlin of the Alberta Social Development Network at 235-4968. |
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