Calgary city officials are looking to bring together three major revitalization projects in the city’s downtown core as part of ongoing efforts to bring vibrancy back to the area.
The city’s plan is to bundle together the Arts Commons Transformation, improvements to Stephen Avenue and upgrades to Olympic Plaza in what a city report describes as an aligned investment approach.
Thom Mahler, the City of Calgary’s Downtown Strategy director, said the move would help transform the area into a major downtown destination for public gatherings, as well as arts and culture.
“This area represents one of the greatest collections of civic assets including open spaces,” Mahler told reporters.
“It’s an area where we can significantly increase the overall activity levels and make it more accessible to all Calgarians.”
The proposal was approved unanimously by the city’s Executive Committee on Thursday, but will still need approval from city council as a whole.
If council agrees to move forward with the plan, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation’s purview would be expanded to include Olympic Plaza and a portion of Stephen Avenue, as part of its role as development manager of the Arts Commons project.
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City officials said bringing the projects together would create a more coordinated approach to the area’s design, and mitigate the impact to local business and traffic during construction.
“There’s an opportunity to figure out the best way of phasing it so that you coordinate one construction site as much as possible,” Mahler said. “We can also minimize disruptions to adjacent businesses and street closures.”
Calgary’s mayor said the “holistic approach” could also help with costs and speed up timelines, with construction on the Arts Commons expansion slated to begin sometime next year.
“There are economies of scale that can be achieved when you’re working on things at the same time,” Jyoti Gondek said. “There are teams that can be deployed to make sure that one project is linking with the other; so I think it’s an incredibly efficient way to go.”
Calgary’s Downtown Association (CDA) applauded the proposal, citing the importance of arts and culture in improving vibrancy in the core.
“In order to get back to where we need to be, arts and culture needs to be the recovery mechanism for the economics of downtown,” CDA executive director Mark Garner told Global News. “It’s a key component to elevate Calgary’s brand and compete internationally as a major destination for not only tourism but for those who are here.”
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation declined to comment on the new approach Thursday, withholding comment until Tuesday when the matter and more details will be in front of city council.
Glenbow cost overruns
City administration’s proposal also includes a funding request to help cover cost overruns for another downtown project.
If approved, $12 million from the city’s Cultural Municipal Sustainability Initiative fund would be diverted to the Glenbow ReImagined project.
That funding was intended for now cancelled projects at the Calgary Opera and Fort Calgary.
“The project’s initial budget of $115 million was developed from estimates that no longer align with the current economic realities in the post-pandemic environment,” a report to committee said.
All three levels of government including private donations went to funding the project, which is expected to be complete late next year.
A city report cited materials and labour, hazardous materials abatement, conserving and moving art, and additional code upgrades as reasons for the cost escalation.
“We all recognize that the cost for a piece of steel today is far more than the cost of a piece of steel in 2018,” Glenbow president & CEO Nicholas Bell said Thursday. “We’re dealing with that escalation in the same way everybody is, but we’re managing it very carefully and we’ve been able to keep that escalation below 10 per cent.”
Glenbow’s request was for $18.5 million, and Bell said museum officials would continue to search for the remaining $6.5 million.
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