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Warehouse District Park

"Hardy for Edmonton" is beginning to be readjusted as the winter temperatures for Edmonton on average are beginning to rise substantially.
 
Greenspace said:
For this reason the City does not allow infill builders to plant cedars as one of their coniferous trees as they do not consider them hardy for Edmonton.
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I really don’t understand their reasoning. Just drive around the city and take note of the number of cedars there are and where they are located “common sense “ will prove otherwise.
They don’t consider cedars hardy and yet they are proposing planting honey locust in the new park a tree that has been tried many times and many times it has failed. Maybe they need to update their guidelines.
 
Construction next spring, but 'opening' not until Nov '25, which basically means Summer 2026.

Pavilion is scaled back and is the fountain now just an 'ornamental' feature?

Anything else?
 
Some improvements here and there, certainly lots of amenities. Still feels a tad 'throw everything at the wall' as opposed to having a more focused and distinct theme or identity. The placement of the dog park still bugs me -- could be moved further away from the Alex D. Overall - iconic? No. Needed? Yes. Improvement? Yes. Missed opportunities? Yes. But, I'm excited nonetheless.
 
IanO said:
Construction next spring, but 'opening' not until Nov '25, which basically means Summer 2026.

Pavilion is scaled back and is the fountain now just an 'ornamental' feature?

Anything else?
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Can “ornamental” also mean functional? Is it so hard for this city to have “running water?” I remember when the Joeys South Common had a fountain feature in its patio……but I think it’s gone now…..
 
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I have to say when I first saw the initial designs for the park I was disappointed, but it has grown on me. It's not necessarily going to be a marquee attraction but will be a nice space, replacing a swath of surface parking with something far better. I still wish there was more when it comes to recreational space (maybe basketball courts, tennis courts or a skating rink in the winter). I also agree with the sentiment that it should be bigger, it's more of a neighborhood park, I was hoping for a destination Central Park that would attract visitors from across the city, but I don't think that's going to happen, at least not to any large degree. This would be the perfect place to build an "Edmonton Sign" like the Toronto and Ottawa signs in front of Toronto City hall and in Byward Market as a photo spot.

edit: Speaking on skating rinks, is there any way that "The Clearing" in the design could be converted to one in the Winter time? I think this would be super important to keep the park active as the months get colder, so that it doesn't become a semi-abandoned, sketchy place between November and March.
 
The fountain is gone due to budget pressures. The Pavilion is slightly enlarged to accommodate Parks maintenance but the programming space has been altered and reduced. Tree locations have been tweaked to reduce the need for soil cells in some cases. The rest of the park is the same and finalized, goes to tender early next year. Anticipated construction start May and substantial completion end of 2025.

As Claude Cormier passed away recently this is likely to be his final work.
www.nytimes.com

Claude Cormier, Landscape Architect With a Playful Eye, Dies at 63 (Published 2023)

His archly humorous designs for parks and other public spaces confused officials and delighted the citizens of Montreal and Toronto.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Friendmonton said:
Some improvements here and there, certainly lots of amenities. Still feels a tad 'throw everything at the wall' as opposed to having a more focused and distinct theme or identity. The placement of the dog park still bugs me -- could be moved further away from the Alex D. Overall - iconic? No. Needed? Yes. Improvement? Yes. Missed opportunities? Yes. But, I'm excited nonetheless.
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Sums up my thoughts. You can definitely tell this comes from the school of design by committee where the task of pleasing everyone leads to watered down everything, but it's still a brilliant project and I commend the CoE for taking it on.

Most critical to this project's success: upkeep and maintenance for the next few decades.
 
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