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The City is inviting Edmontonians to a public engagement session where a preferred concept for the Oleskiw River Valley Park Master Plan will be unveiled. The 193-acre green space, located in west Edmonton south of the Fort Edmonton Footbridge and adjacent to the Edmonton Country Club, has been the subject of an engagement exercise that began in 2016 to understand how the park is currently used and how residents would like to see the park evolve in the future.
The park is currently inaccessible by vehicles but offers a number of formal and informal trails. The completion of the Terwillegar Park Footbridge and West End Trails projects, which together, formalizes a shared-use path through the park, necessitates the development of a cohesive vision and identity for the park and any infrastructure that may be needed.
The City is now in its fourth and final stage of public engagement after beginning in September 2016. Two concept options were presented in November 2017 and a final draft of the park concept that integrates the feedback received during the third stage will now be presented this month. The Master Plan, final concept and budget will then be submitted to council for approval.
The two competing concepts are summarized in unique vision statements that are intended to guide development of the Oleskiw River Valley Park for the next 25 years:
- Concept 1: The Oleskiw River Valley Park provides essential habitat to a diversity of plants and animals and enhances ecological connectivity in the River Valley. As a refuge from the city for Edmontonians, the park provides a setting where visitors can experience how the landscape changes over time and the restoration of ecological systems, enhanced through educational programs and nature interpretation.
- Concept 2: The Oleskiw River Valley Park provides an immersive experience into the natural landscape while educating visitors on the natural and cultural heritage of the site with nature interpretation and ecological learning. The layered history of the park is celebrated through educational elements and passive recreational opportunities. Surrounded by habitat for plants and animals, visitors can learn about the landscape while creating new narratives for Edmonton's future generations.
The public engagement session will be held at 505 Wolf Willow Road (Westridge Wolf Willow Country Club Community League) on Monday, July 9 from 5 to 8 PM.
