The city is investing $150 million over the next 20 years to make key improvements in east Victoria Park and the plans include a new culture and entertainment district along the Elbow River.
Officials say the Rivers District Master Plan has been in the works for the last year and that it will complement the concept plan for Stampede Park.
The plan calls for over 300,000 square metres of new development and includes an event centre/arena facility and additional convention space.
“If we’re successful, we’re going to see hotels pop up in this area. We’re going to see residential towers, we’re going to see expanded BMO convention centre, we think that will be a valuable piece of the centre we’re trying to do. And we’ll see, whether it’s building off the existing arena, which is the Saddledome, or building a new arena, we think that’s a huge part of this community and we have to look at, not just plop it in but pull that all together,” said Michael Brown, CMLC President.
Planners will also integrate several heritage buildings into the plan to create the mixed-use community.
“Our goal is for it to be an arts and entertainment district,” said Brown. “The Stampede, many years ago they started talking about the need for retail and actually bringing more life to the area than just the ten days of the year and so we’re going to continue to move that along.”
The project will also improve connections for pedestrians and vehicles in and out of the area and the hope is that it will one day be home to 8000 residents.
“One of the biggest challenges Victoria Park has is connectivity to the rest of Calgary so we’ve looked at the need for additional underpasses, just like 4th Street underpasses connect East Village, Victoria Park, we think we need another. We look at the role that the LRT, south LRT line plays in regards to connection to the Stampede. 17th Avenue kind of hits it square on and stops, we think that we should be punching that and carrying that through the community,” said Brown.
The CMLC is asking Calgarians for feedback on the plan and is hosting an open house at the St. Louis Hotel on Wednesday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
“The phase we’re at today is reaching out to the community. We go to the average, everyday Calgarian and we say, okay, this is what we’re thinking, is this a good idea or a bad idea and what are some of the other things that you want to see within this district?” said Brown.
Additional public engagement sessions will be announced in the coming weeks and the results will be used to create the final master plan, which will be released in December.
Calgarians can also submit their thoughts on the project through a public, online survey HERE.
