[Gronk!]

I asked about the fountain removal and this is the response I got from Anne Stevenson's office:

Just a couple of thought that came to me just now:
1. Why don't they build the fountain away from the pavilion? Hell why don't they put it on the opposite side of the pavilion?
2. If they can't erect the fountain now, why not erect it at a future date?

Maybe I should email the mayor and city council with these ideas. I don't want to contact Anne Stevenson - she is useless.

 

[IanO]

As you have seen in many cities around the globe, a massive central fountain is an attraction onto itself and would have been a reason to visit this park, let alone anything else.

 

[TAS]

Just a couple of thought that came to me just now:
1. Why don't they build the fountain away from the pavilion? Hell why don't they put it on the opposite side of the pavilion?
2. If they can't erect the fountain now, why not erect it at a future date?

Maybe I should email the mayor and city council with these ideas. I don't want to contact Anne Stevenson - she is useless.

I wonder if there was any champion for the water feature among the stakeholder groups like the downtown community league, downtown business association, or the ward councillor?

 

[IanO]

It was pretty high on the list of wants if I recall.

Mind you, the 'fountain' that was proposed was pretty lame and not a real loss to be honest.

I'm still of the opinion a major element of this type is a miss here.

Sadly, the O&M groups do not like them...

 

[erudyk_29]

I love fountains as much as the next guy, but in our climate is it really worth it to put in one when it's only going to be running for 4-5 months a year?

Obviously having them around in the summer time is great, and in general I don't like that they're watering down an already (in my opinion) somewhat underwhelming plan for this new park. Overall though, I'm not sure it's the biggest loss in the world.

I'd be far more disappointed if they got rid of the basketball courts, there is a general lack of active, recreational space downtown (at least that's free for public access), so to lose the basketball courts would be a far bigger blow in my eyes. I wish they had more sporting facilities, such as tennis, pickleball or ball hockey.

 

[davcocom]

Just a couple of thought that came to me just now:
1. Why don't they build the fountain away from the pavilion? Hell why don't they put it on the opposite side of the pavilion?
2. If they can't erect the fountain now, why not erect it at a future date?

Maybe I should email the mayor and city council with these ideas. I don't want to contact Anne Stevenson - she is useless.

Absolutely! The Edmonton website lists the contact email as warehousepark@edmonton.ca and this is City Councillor Anne Stevenson's email: anne.stevenson@edmonton.ca. The city didn't get back to me about the fountain, but I'd still recommend sending emails. Even if it might not help much for this project, making our voices heard can make a difference in future projects.

I just find it super frustrating cuz they made changes last minute and kept it on the low down. It's not like this project hasn't been in the works for years with several stages of consultation, right? All the early designs had some kind of water feature (even if it was a lame one like Ian mentioned). It's ridiculous. Developers do this all the time—they show off cool designs and then, last minute, they change it and cut corners. I just didn't expect it from the city.

Bottom line is I think the park will be a great addition to downtown and definitely an improvement over those parking lots.

 

[Gronk!]

It was pretty high on the list of wants if I recall.

Mind you, the 'fountain' that was proposed was pretty lame and not a real loss to be honest.

I'm still of the opinion a major element of this type is a miss here.

Sadly, the O&M groups do not like them...

Do the O&M groups in other cities like the park fountains in those other cities?
If so, maybe we can blame the local unions?

 

[northlands]

Gotta agree with @Stevey_G here. City had extremely real commendable vision to develop this park and went through painstaking years to gain approvals and spent millions to acquire land to make this come to fruition. Then on the home stretch, they cheap out on a fairly key element like this based upon entirely frivolous reasons.

The excuse of nearby other water features really grinds my gears. Alex Decoteau is a tiny spray park, Beaver Hills no longer will have a water feature, and the Legislature is ~600m walk from this park and Churchill Sq is ~900m away.

As noted, summer is 4-5 months long here. Why not make it as good as you can for those 4-5 months?

Still a great project though looks like Chandos won the construction mgmt contract.

 

[David A]

I love fountains as much as the next guy, but in our climate is it really worth it to put in one when it's only going to be running for 4-5 months a year?

Obviously having them around in the summer time is great, and in general I don't like that they're watering down an already (in my opinion) somewhat underwhelming plan for this new park. Overall though, I'm not sure it's the biggest loss in the world.

I'd be far more disappointed if they got rid of the basketball courts, there is a general lack of active, recreational space downtown (at least that's free for public access), so to lose the basketball courts would be a far bigger blow in my eyes. I wish they had more sporting facilities, such as tennis, pickleball or ball hockey.

Yes, it a cooler climate here, but as you may have noticed lately the trend is towards warmer and even the city acknowledges climate change (although doesn't do much about it).

How long would an out door ice rink operate? I doubt 4-5 months, maybe less and you don't need to buy or rent skates to enjoy it.

 

[IanO]

Urban rinks in any climate really need a refrigeration system. It's hilarious that the rinks in Van and NYC often are open late Oct/early Nov until Feb/March with consistent ice and yet City Hall, Leg, etc. are often late Nov until Feb.

 

[erudyk_29]

Yes, it a cooler climate here, but as you may have noticed lately the trend is towards warmer and even the city acknowledges climate change (although doesn't do much about it).

How long would an out door ice rink operate? I doubt 4-5 months, maybe less and you don't need to buy or rent skates to enjoy it.

This is true, however an unpaved rink can become a dog arena in the summer months, or if it's paved it could be used for either Basketball or Ball Hockey. If it's just a rink over grass and doesn't have any boards, then it just becomes a grassy field for picnics. Whereas a not operating fountain is just a not operating fountain.

A fountain is just a fountain, whereas a sports facility can (and probably should) be multi-purpose and can be used for different activities depending on the season.

 

[BASE]

There were surveys done on different design elements of the park, I should look to the results to see how highly rated a water feature of some sort was. I think it was said well about offering something that draws folks to the park. This park has location going for it absolutely and eating up vacant lots is a win but by the looks of things the children's park structure area won't be massive (i.e. good for when around but not destination) & the basketball courts are something lacking for sure but not as good as they could have been either. A fountain can be running 6 months a year which is much longer than an ice rink with no ice plant.

 

[TAS]

If not a fountain, a water feature of some kind for kids to play in and get wet would have been a winner, too, based on what i see often at the leg grounds and city hall. Water is a pretty big draw for families with younger kids.

There is a water feature at AD Park a block away, but so too is there a dog park, so I think having water at this park isn't unreasonable. A quality kids play area as an alternative is good too - not sure we're getting that at this park though.

 

[EdmTrekker]

I responded to the survey and supported a water feature. I wonder where the survey results for the Edmonton warehouse district park are. The weblink to the schematics and survey on the shows page not available.

Building Edmonton - Capital Projects Explorer

building.edmonton.ca

 

[archited]

Actually with a little forethought (and I am not accusing Edmonton Planners of having any at all) Water Fountains can be quite interesting and sculptural in winter (precautions taken to prevent supply lines from freezing up)...

(NYC Bryant Park)