2 days ago
White: Downtown West End undergoing transformation to an urban village
The 'in' word in city building these days is 'transformation' or 'transformative.' You will see it being used when it comes to Arts Commons' expansion and renovation plans, and the Glenbow Museum's transformation into the JR Shaw Arts Centre. It has also been associated with the city of Calgary's 'office to residential' conversions, which hopefully will transform downtown Calgary into a more attractive place for Calgarians to live.
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Perhaps the biggest transformation in Calgary these days is what is happening in Downtown West End, the blocks west of 6th Street to 14th Street S.W. and from the Bow River to 9th Avenue S.W. By my count, there are at least 10 major 'community enhancing' projects either under construction or in the works that have the potential to transform it into a vibrant urban village. Let's have a look.
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The majority of Calgary's downtown office conversions are within a few blocks of downtown's 8th Avenue S.W. corridor that is an important pedestrian link for those living in the Beltline to walk into downtown and access the LRT station, Bow River and other downtown amenities. The city has plans to enhance this important pedestrian corridor from the Bow River to 17th Avenue. There are eight conversions to residential and one to a hotel, which will hopefully add 1,500 more people living in downtown's west end. Will this be enough to transform it into an urban village? Only time will tell.
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Contemporary Calgary has major expansion plans for its building (formerly the Centennial Planetarium) as well as plans to create an art park between the gallery and the 4th Avenue freeway. It might even include the relocation of the Family of Man sculpture. The 21-foot tall, thin dancing figures would be a great gateway to the gallery and art park next to the former planetarium building, which coincidentally was also a 1967 Centennial project.
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Backstory: After Expo '67 was over, the piece was auctioned off and Calgary businessman Maxwell Cummings purchased it and gifted it to the city. The city decided to place the figures on the lawn in front of the now empty Calgary Board of Education Building as part of a failed 1960s downtown revitalization scheme. Ironically, the sculptures are part of the Calgary Board of Education's logo even though its head office is now in the Beltline.
