IanO
Superstar
Given our upcoming budget constraints... I worry about this one.
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- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
So in the updated design, we now have "right sized" the terraces (i.e. made them smaller) and removed one out of the two places where a person could theoretically "touch the water". Oh, and it looks like they removed the water feature for good measure. What a disaster! This is all being done in the name of being more "eco friendly" - I mean, what are we, nihilists? Can we not have at least ONE spot in the centre of the city where there is a proper urban interface with the river. This is simply unacceptable design and City council should reject it, send them back to the drawing board. We aren't going to get the chance to "do over" this space for another 50 years. Highly disappointing.
archited
Senior Member
^^^^ Hear, Hear! "right sized" is one of those stupid phrases from Planning Lexicon that tries to give the profession gravitas and, ironically, only makes the profession look right-sized (i.e. made smaller). I am with @occidentalcapital this whole fiasco is "highly disappointing".
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
I saw this video today from Warsaw Poland. Is this what we should hope to aspire to here in Edmonton?
https://fb.watch/dr7u1lM85r/
https://fb.watch/dr7u1lM85r/
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
That would be more appropriate for an urban interface, in my opinion.
BASE
Active Member
Do exactly that and I would be over the mood happy. I hate to say that I just don’t think we have that in us.
David A
Senior Member
Well, I think the first problem here is the name of the project, as others have pointed out. Touch the Water doesn't really live up to expectations. If the city was to be honest, it should have been called DON'T touch the water, or We DON'T really want you to touch the water, but you can at least get a bit closer to it. I know that would have been terrible marketing, but it would have saved a lot of disappointment as the city backs away from what it never really wanted anyways.
I suppose this location is good for a gathering place, close to the river so yes we should utilize it more. However, I was never a fan of all the expensive concrete - less is better. Actually, touching the water doesn't actually really need tons of concrete. It just needs water (already there) and access. A sandy beach like area might actually be better. At the least have the imagination try something without lots of concrete.
One problem with the city, is they can not do anything simple and elegant. It has to be grandiose millions of dollars and tons of concrete. Of course, they never have the operating budget to properly maintain it and in 5 to 10 years in our climate the concrete will be full of cracks and become an eyesore and either be closed permanently or then they will need to spend millions to repair it.
IanO
Superstar
ION
Active Member
Totally fitting with my ongoing assessment/opinion of Edmonton as the CAPITAL of bait and switch concepts... Or great ideas poorly executed... I.e. Stanley A Milner renovation, touch the water, Century Park, Fort Road, Jasper Avenue, 108 Street, North LRT to nowhere... I could keep going....
Kaizen
Senior Member
^ basically agree except for the bit about the North LRT to nowhere. Eventually, that beautiful bridge over the CN Walker railyard will be a much-loved link to Castle Downs, St Albert.
BASE
Active Member
I really hope they go back to the drawing board. Give people space to enjoy and keep it simple. This area is central and well visited so give people the ability to comfortably enjoy it.
I like the simplicity of a large terraced area that works well regardless of water levels and mix in a winding switchback path for accessibility.
ION
Active Member
I love the design and the idea... Just not for spanning the Walker Yard. It needs a short TBM tunnel at best. A billion dollar bridge? NOPE! There's no way a short tunnel under Yellowhead/CN for max section of tunnel of what 100-200M would cost $1B even in Alberta's hyper-inflated market! That design? CLOVER BAR TRANSIT BRIDGE BABY! Along the CN ROW to Span the North Sask in east Edmonton. That's where a towering imposing iconic structure is needed now more than ever especially if you want to extend any sort of future rail service across the river since even CN's largest bottleneck in Canada is THIS SPOT!
ION
Active Member
BINGO. I just want a wide, shallow terrace of stairs to access the river/sit on and watch the birds/boats go by... It just needs to happen. Nothing fancy. Just a nice open gathering space for people to access. Not that hard!
ION
Active Member
Aka a place to meet your friends at maybe listen to a street performer, take in the view, wait for your electric river taxi... Another thing they could add is a pop up bar/cafe. When I was in NYC for my 30th (many many moons ago) this is how I celebrated the day. Whisky sours and boat/architecture tours of Manhattan... ;-)
fungus_eater
New Member
I can't support it until there is a huge area where I can touch the water everywhere