Mountain Man
Senior Member
Is there a plan for the revamp of the Eau Claire area?
Is there a plan for the revamp of the Eau Claire area?
This is entirely related to the city's revitalization of the plaza and riverwalk, not the market redevelopment whatsoever.
I made a comment on Curiosity Calgary's sensationalization of the issue today and corrected every bullshit assertion they made.
Sounds like it.So is the Barley Mill is going to be torn down?
Construction is already getting underway.Is there a plan for the revamp of the Eau Claire area?
Construction is already getting underway.
To haltcatchfire's comment, the new plaza is going to have two playgrounds, a splash pad, and a sand beach, which will then continue to the new path, and down to a pebble beach and concrete pad at the level of the lagoon... so it's definitely going to be well used.
The most active parts of the new plaza are right next to the new pedestrian route, so it will draw people into the space, which is what good plazas also do. It also will be a major secondary pedestrian through-way from the CBD to the river path via 3 Street, as it already is. I'm not sure where you're seeing no placemaking in the redesign, because it's everywhere. It's going to have the first urban sand beach in the city (other than Sikome ), and seems to be quite distinct from other areas and plazas along the river pathway system (RiverWalk Plaza, Delta Garden, etc.)
I'm glad it includes a large grassy area as well as a large paved area, as both will be useful for different types of events.
I'm not saying it's foregone conclusion that the plaza will be an amazing success, but it certainly has the potential to be.
I think a lot of your concerns about the plaza are because you are viewing it as a classic "central plaza"; many of your concerns really come down to wanting a better city built around the edges of it. I don't think it any design could function as a central plaza given the buildings currently around it, although everything around it is transitional, even unfortunately the YMCA apparently. The only land use that seems durable is the rich-people apartments, but those are anti-urban. It's really more of a transition to park space than a traditional plaza to me.
The design for the north end has a lot of potential; it's also something that could appeal to all ages; a wading pool is great for young kids and nobody else. I like that the through connection is prominent; to me that's actually the most important function along with festival space.
A central green doesn't make a ton of sense to me as a core element of a plaza that's right next to Prince's Island, which has all the lawn you can handle; it's not really filling a need. Even adding a central fountain; the river is a few feet away, so what would that add?
It's kind of a minimal design (the southern 2/3 at least), but I think with all of the question marks around the mall and so on, that might not be a bad thing; the main attempt to engage with the surrounding uses was the playground to serve as a front porch to the Y and support their outdoor programming, and look where that got us.
I see what you are getting at I think. It's a fair point, the busiest place 24/7/365 is the node between the pathways, Jaipur Bridge and riverfront, if plan was reversed and the plaza was that node, while the other activities were further away from the pathway you'd certainly create a different pattern of use.Viewing it as not a central plaza is why I have concerns that a massive precast surface just set there, won't get as much usage outside of programming/events as it needs to, to warrant it being there. On off days it's going to feel dead, which reduces desire to go to the area. A cycle of a self fulfilling prophecy or reducing action at the "market" buildings.
Who's going to say, let's go grab a coffee and hang out on that barren flat spot that doesn't have anything special about it when it's surrounded by areas to go to that have a signifier?
I'm torn. While it's nice to keep something from the 1988 Olympics, it's also a structure that doesn't have a lot of character or do much.