Edmonton’s first downtown park in 30 years officially opens
Downtown Edmonton’s first new park in 30 years officially opened Saturday morning, honouring Canada’s first Indigenous police officer.
The $4.3 million
Alex Decoteau Park was transformed from an old parking lot at 105 Street and 102 Avenue.
“It’s a really big deal,” said Martina Gardiner, director of open space infrastructure for the city. “I think what this is- is a catalyst project. We haven’t seen something happen in downtown of this magnitude, scope and scale in thirty years.”
“When you look at downtown it’s very grey. There’s a lot of asphalt, a lot of concrete, a lot of buildings.”
“As soon as a green space pops up it really brings life into the area.”
The park is named after
Alex Decoteau, the first Indigenous police officer in the country. The former Edmontonian represented Canada at the 1912 Olympics and served in the First World War. Decoteau was killed in 1917 during the Second Battle of Passchendaele.
