| City council approved land use changes in Victoria Park that will allow the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede to move forward with its expansion plans on 91 hectares of land.
The first phase of the expansion will include a hotel development, a new casino to replace the current one and a larger Roundup Centre at 12th Avenue S.E. and Olympic Way. The Stampede plans to break ground for the new casino this spring. Construction on the new Roundup Centre will likely begin in 2007, says Stampede spokesperson Lindsey Galloway. He also says the Stampede is working with a third party on the hotel, which will be "a major chain."
But the Stampede is meeting resistance from the Ramsay Community Association over part of its expansion plan. The Stampede plans to create a new heritage zone on the east bank of the Elbow River. The plan involves relocating Indian Village, Rotary House and two small historic buildings, and building a new heritage museum at that location, which is just below the Ramsay escarpment.
Catherine Cartmill, external vice-president for the association, says residents are worried about the increase in traffic through their community and the environmental impacts of the new development.
"We still have concerns about the riverbank environment and I think the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede is well aware that our community will be keeping an eye on the riverbank development," she says.
Cartmill adds that the Stampede has been promising to "re-green" the riverbank.
"We did not understand the full implications of the Stampede’s idea of re-greening, which means putting Indian Village, buildings from Weadickville and special function tents, Rotary House, etc. onto the riverbank. That wasn’t our concept of re-greening," she says.
However, Galloway says the area where the new buildings would go is currently a parking lot and the change would be an improvement.
"We’re going to increase green space by 40 per cent," he says. "Right now it’s a parking lot. We’re going to turn it back into a park. That’s a really positive thing for the neighbourhood and for Calgary. Primarily, it’s going to be a park-like setting, so potentially it could be used for small festivals."
City council passed a motion on Monday, January 23 prohibiting the Calgary Stampede from developing within 30 metres of the Elbow River. City administration was also directed to consult with Ramsay on its traffic concerns. The Stampede is still required to get development permits for all its buildings in the expansion zone. |
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