M2 Block | ?m | 4s | XYC | Riddell Kurczaba

CBBarnett said:
Wasn't the thought that this section of the plaza would be for seasonal events and concerts etc.? I thought that was the idea of keeping it sparse so you could fit a sizable crowd or set of tents on occasion.
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Yes. Pre-Covid CMLC was hosting Opera in the Village with a large tent set up in this space.

I think the conversation highlights a trap we tend to fall into a lot though in Calgary... so many of our downtown public spaces are designed to be "programmable" but we rarely follow through with the funding for the programming so for much of the year they sit as open, empty concrete spaces. If instead we designed our downtown public spaces for more passive interactions they would be a lot better.

A perfect example was Olympic Plaza this summer. The plaza space was kept open for events and so the park was empty except for a contingent of homeless people. Finally in late August someone got around to turning on the fountains and almost overnight the space transformed and was filled with families playing in the fountains and splashing in the water. They turned all the water features off for a weekend event at the beginning of September and guess what? It's back to being a big empty concrete space devoid of life awaiting it's next bit of programming....
 
I've been by M2 a few times over the past few weeks and feel like only a few minor touches are need to make it quite a nice plaza. Right now people don't like to site out there. It's out in open hot dry sun. A restaurant would help of course, but even some greenery would make a difference. Apologies for my crappy Photoshop job, this gives the gist of what it could look like.

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Image1.jpg
 
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gsunnyg said:
This reminds me, what's going on with EV606? Wasn't construction suppose to start this summer?
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They still haven’t submitted their DP I think. Or it just hasn’t been reviewed? I forget, but no news in a while.
 
The DP has been submitted, but is still shown as under review, which means the applicant is probably just really taking their time:

There is a concurrent land use application that is slated for a public hearing, so hopefully in September it will go to Council. Maybe when that occurs, it will speed up the DP process:
 
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