| Proposed Eau Claire Plaza brings dimension to outdoor cityscape
The City of Calgary revealed a glimpse of its plans for a world-class, outdoor attraction at the Eau Claire Plaza where Calgarians and tourists can gather.
Local, national and international urban design experts are currently developing an Eau Claire Plaza Concept Plan.The design team includes the Landplan Associates and Marc Boutin Architects as well as award-winning architect Andreu Arriola from Barcelona, Spain and world-renowned Canadian artist Noel Harding.
The goal is to strengthen the plaza’s connection to surrounding buildings, improve the interface of the plaza with the Bow River, and develop a "magnet" that will be a unique landmark for the plaza.
Kyle Ripley, leader of planning and development for Calgary’s parks, says it’s a great pleasure to be working on a project that accepts nothing short of urban-designed excellence. "Eau Claire is prime real-estate, it’s in the heart of downtown Calgary, it’s on the riverfront promenade, it’s the gateway to Princess Island Park, and in its current form it isn’t quite reaching its potential," he adds.
Ald. Druh Farrell agrees, saying that Calgarians and tourists will be very impressed with the plans. "They (Calgarians and tourists) want a space that is beautiful, a space that is theirs, a space that is year-round," says Farrell. "And currently, there isn’t much space that is year-round."
The public can share their views on the proposed designs at consultation sessions on March 23 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and March 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Drawing Room of Eau Claire Plaza.
Grizzly hunt suspended
Alberta environmentalists are celebrating the Alberta government’s decision to suspend the annual grizzly hunt for three years.
Environmentalists have been lobbying hard for years for the grizzly hunt to be suspended, arguing that grizzly numbers are too low for the hunt to be allowed.
Sustainable Resource and Development Minister Dave Coutts called the government decision "precautionary" and said the hunt will be suspended until 2009 in order to allow the province to collect grizzly population data.
Nigel Douglas, spokesperson for the Alberta Wilderness Association, says the suspension of the grizzly hunt is a "relief."
"We’ve been working on this for years and each time we’ve come around to spring, the evidence is so clear we don’t have enough grizzlies. People don’t want the grizzly hunt in Alberta," says Douglas. "The good news is we’ve taken the first little step…. This certainly isn’t the end."
Douglas says now the government has to focus on protecting prime grizzly habitat, which could include reducing road access in some areas of the province.
NDP member wants his party to put more focus on drug legalization
Dana Larsen, a member of the federal NDP, wants to see the party become more vocal on marijuana legalization.
Larsen has set up a website, www.endprohibition.ca, and is paying for ads in various publications to draw attention to what he calls the anti-prohibition wing of the NDP. Larsen was formerly a member of the B.C. Marijuana Party before joining the NDP. He points out that marijuana legalization has long been a federal NDP policy and leader Jack Layton "has been very outspoken on the cannabis issue."
However, Larsen says provincial NDP parties haven’t necessarily supported marijuana legalization and some have even called for a crackdown on the drug trade. He says he wants that to change.
"The NDP is supposed to be all… one big movement, so I created this group to help push the provincial parties to adopt the same policies as the federal party," he says.
Larsen says the drug war has not worked up to now and that isn’t going to change.
"The whole U.S.-style drug war is not a Canadian solution," he says. "The war on drugs is incredibly harmful to our society. It costs billions of dollars and wastes money and doesn’t accomplish any of the goals it set out to accomplish…. Throwing people in jail and using the very blunt instrument of the police does not work at all."
Inn From the Cold has to find new office space
Inn From the Cold, which houses homeless families in churches around the city, has to move out of its current headquarters at 117 - 7th Avenue S.W. by March 15 because the building is undergoing renovations.
The organization has been looking for new office space for the last year and a half with no success, due to the hot real estate situation in downtown Calgary. The organization says it needs to stay downtown in order to help its clients.
However, since the organization’s plight become public last week, it has received more than 20 offers of potential office space. Inn From the Cold is still reviewing its options and is hopeful it will have a new space by March 15. |
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