A plan to redevelop a busy shopping centre in northwest Calgary have been on the table for quite some time and an open house was held on Wednesday to show what the new mall will look like.
Stadium Shopping Centre, located at the corner of 16 Avenue and Uxbridge Drive N.W., currently has 23 stores and three unattached restaurants on the 6.1 acre property.
The master plan for the redesign is a mixed-use centre containing retails, office, residential, and hotel space.
Planners say the buildings in the new centre will encircle an open air plaza, and the community will have tree-lined streets, wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and a pedestrian bridge to connect the facility to the Foothills Hospital.
The centre has been owned and managed by Western Securities since 1962 and the organization says it also wants to buy a piece of municipal land across the street from the mall as part of the process.
Many residents have said that the mall does need a facelift, but worry about the toll it would take on the community.
They’re particularly concerned about the increase in traffic on 16 Avenue.
Others, like Peter Khu of the University Heights Community Association, are concerned that the redevelopment will block future infrastructure improvements. “The potential harm is that you’ve compromised your ability to do future traffic mitigation at a critical intersection in Calgary that would affect all Calgarians’ ability to get to the Foothills Hospital in the future.”
If council approves the project, Western could begin construction in 2016, with an estimated completion date of 2021.
