Bev Sandalack, an urban design expert at the University of Calgary, says a plan for street-level businesses and café patios will make for a better streetscape in the Eau Claire district

Six glassy high-rise towers would replace Eau Claire Market in a proposed project that planning experts say is a step towards better urban planning for the city. Some residents, however, fear the development will bring more traffic to the area and erase a popular water park.
    Harvard Developments Inc. plans to tear down Eau Claire Market and build a complex of buildings including high-rise condominiums, offices, shops and restaurants. In its proposed plan, viewed last week by Fast Forward, the developer would extend Riverfront Avenue through the area and build a new north-south street lined with retail space. The development would also include a hotel, rooftop gardens and exteriors faced with glass and metal.
    At the same time, the city plans to redesign the adjacent plaza, removing several buildings that currently house restaurants and making the space more open. On August 9, the city’s planning commission will review the developer’s proposal.
    “It looks like it has the potential to make the area more urban and more vibrant,” says Bev Sandalack, a University of Calgary professor and head of the university’s urban design program. “The area has been under-built for a long time.”
    The plan calls for wide sidewalks lined with café and restaurant patios, and shops that open onto the street, which she says would encourage pedestrian traffic and street culture. Unlike previous developments, including the condo towers to the west of Eau Claire, the new development will create better public space.
    “It’s the way the building meets the street and the opportunities for retail,” she says. “It’s making the focus of the street something for pedestrians rather than just something to move cars.”
    One of the problems with Eau Claire that any new development should fix is the lack of places to live, Sandalack says. “Up to the 1960s, it was a neighbourhood with housing and stores, but it was torn down” she says. “Eau Claire Market went in thinking the area would develop, but it didn’t. The market failed because there wasn’t enough residential around it.”
    Roger Brundrit moved to Eau Claire from Holland 10 years ago and currently lives across the plaza from the market. He agrees that the area needs to be redeveloped, and he’s happy that the plans include a grocery store in the area and hopes the development will attract more amenities. “The current market is pretty well useless,” he says. “I don’t think enough people in the community are using it.”
    However, as president of the community association, he’s encountered a number of concerns over the redevelopment, including the clearing of the plaza. In one plan he saw, the city was considering removing trees from the plaza and tearing up a water park next to the market.
    “The park is fantastically popular with moms and the little kids, and we’d hate to see that go,” he says. He disagrees with any plan that would replace the current plaza with open concrete.
    He’s also worried about some aspects of the redevelopment of the market, including that the high-rises will tower over surrounding areas. The plan to build two streets through the development could also be a problem, he says, because it will bring more traffic to the area. With the streets running through the developer’s property, he’s also unsure whether the police will be able to enforce traffic and parking laws. “They talk about it being pedestrian friendly, but we have concerns over the number of roads,” he says.
    David Down, senior architect in the City of Calgary’s planning office, says extending Riverfront Avenue and building a new road is part of the plan to create more public space and move businesses into the open. “It’s much more street-oriented,” he says. “The current market is a bit of a suburban mall concept.”
    Down says it’s a good plan, and that it tries to create a complete community, rather than simply building more condos or offices. The city will be looking at how well the development fits with the surrounding neighbourhood. “There is a real desire to bring a consistency (to planning). Eau Claire has a desire to have character,” says Down. “We are beginning to develop an overall vision for downtown.”
    While the plan is an improvement over previous developments in the city, such as the west end of downtown, Sandalack says the Eau Claire redevelopment is just doing what’s necessary to create a vibrant inner-city neighbourhood. “Good cities have always been doing this,” she says. “It’s really nothing new. It’s the way cities should’ve been built all along.”