General Construction Updates

[CBBarnett]

If there were a plan to build a nicer, newer rec centre next door, I wouldn't have any issue with this.

The current situation is more equivalent to the Stampede selling the Saddledome site to a residential developer and the Flames moving to a new building in Seton.

My kid didn't want to go to the Eau Claire YMCA because there's no wave pool, no lazy river, none of the fun cool stuff at the Rocky Ridge or Seton YMCAs. So we drive 30 minutes from Sunnyside rather than walking 15 minutes to Eau Claire. Expectations from a city rec centre are higher in 2022 than 1988, for better or worse, and there is a case for a new downtown facility. But I see zero will for it as of yet.

I mean that's really part of the problem right here. Over a few decades, the city allowed an amazing level of scope-creep into what a recreation centre is and offers. On the surface this is fine - why not have super high-quality facilities with top amenities?

The problem is cost and competition. These centres are so large and expensive they compete for share regionally. Forget the condo weight room competing for the YMCA Eau Claire, Rocky Ridge is such a destination it's catchment is 250,000 people and it competes with both private and public facilities within that catchment.

As the facilities bloated, the tension is on the financing model (public cash up front, YMCA operates) to pay for them. You need an enormous catchment to make Rocky Ridge be viable. This helps reinforce the creation of fewer increasingly bloated, amenity-rich mega-centres to capture all the market share to ensure their viability instead of more smaller, more equitably distributed standard amenity facilities.

Forgotten in all this is equitable, affordable access to basic recreation amenities for all citizens as downtown has learned. We won't get one if we still build facilities the way we do.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I get the feeling that the city's public facility planning has also "suburbanized". I may be not be remembering all of them, but beyond the one-off public library and the YMCA at Eau Claire, has the city built an urban-format community facility in the last 30 years? Last 50 years?
It seems the recreation model is really sticking to this wild $200M, 5+ hectare, 200,000+ sqft with a giant surface parking lot format. I don't think we have the institutional knowledge to build a urban-format recreation centre that's appropriate for the city centre.

In all seriousness, how does a city with a $200M downtown strategy not devote a little bit of that to reopening the downtown sports/rec facility?

Sadly that is the case. Public facilities everywhere seemed to be suburban focused. Part of it may be demographics as those facilities are heavily used by children, but still in a city where the core (DT/Beltline/EV/Mission/Kensington/Bridgeland) is close to 50K, you'd think the city could at least build a new urban format YMCA. Could the city not partner with a developer to build a new YMCA with residential on top of it? We're putting millions into a downtown revitalization project, maybe some of that funding could go to a joint project with a developer? A win-win possibility. New facility, plus new residents, plus an empty lot disappearing somewhere.

 

[darwink]

Sadly that is the case. Public facilities everywhere seemed to be suburban focused. Part of it may be demographics as those facilities are heavily used by children, but still in a city where the core (DT/Beltline/EV/Mission/Kensington/Bridgeland) is close to 50K, you'd think the city could at least build a new urban format YMCA. Could the city not partner with a developer to build a new YMCA with residential on top of it? We're putting millions into a downtown revitalization project, maybe some of that funding could go to a joint project with a developer? A win-win possibility. New facility, plus new residents, plus an empty lot disappearing somewhere.

The cost to combine would likely be more than just using more land.

Anyways, future projects will be for the end of the decade. Little outside resources until then.

 

[MissingMiddle]

Almost every residential building that has/will be constructed has a fitness facility in it. Of course it's not going to be as well serviced as a dedicated center, but it covers part of it.

 

[Mountain Man]

How much competition to the DT YMCA is Lindsay Park (or whatever it's called now)?

 

[JonnyCanuck]

How much competition to the DT YMCA is Lindsay Park (or whatever it's called now)?

The Repsol Centre and right on the edge of downtown. With the exception of not having a wave pool, it is probably better equipped than any of the suburban facilities.

 

[IceCreamMan]

As someone who has lived in inner city northwest and now west of downtown for his entire life, and as someone who was involved with the CalgaryNEXT project in its heyday and has been on the Westbrook LAP Working Group since 2019... I'm a firm believer that the West Village is the perfect location for a landmark multi-use recreation centre, even moreso with the closing of the Eau Claire YMCA. Not only is west of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods severely underserved by a facility of this type, it would be a beautiful and highly utilized anchor facility for that location and could spur much-needed investment and development around it. Wouldn't compete with Repsol either, as the distance is far enough away. Plus, with the future push for residential options / conversions in the downtown core, the need for an inner city rec centre on the west side becomes even more strategic.

 

[Urb]

I'd rather see the EV and C & E built out first, then move to the WV.

 

[MissingMiddle]

I like the west end, and I agree that it needs love, but it desperately needs to fix its colossal failures of planning first.

Everything between 11th St W and Crowchild is a spaghetti bowl of car sewers and contaminated land. It boggles my mind how much money we sunk into infrastructure that completely eliminates billions of dollars of developed, dense, and urban, riverfront communities.

One of these days I'll redesign and zone the area purely out of spite.

 

[Mountain Man]

Problem with anything happening in West Village is the creosote. Nothing will get built until it's cleaned up, and I don't think this is on the radar even 5+ years after CalgaryNext.

 

[Alex_YYC]

Bridgeland project on Edmonton Trail underway.

 

[Alex_YYC]

Some kind of project on McLeod Trail.

 

[Cyric]

That's the new centaur subaru showroom/offices. I think the plan is to expand the service centre into the area currently used as the showroom on the south portion of that lot once it is done.

 

[Thrillhou]

The former Mongolie Grill building across the street from Park Central has been fenced off. Wasn't there a Genco proposal there years ago?

 

[ByeByeBaby]

Almost every residential building that has/will be constructed has a fitness facility in it. Of course it's not going to be as well serviced as a dedicated center, but it covers part of it.

Ironic, given your user name. High rise towers generally do have fitness facilities. But missing middle buildings?

Think of Switch|Bloc or the new one at 5th St / 17th ave; four and five stories respectively, brand new, neither have any fitness facility. The Marda Loop area 10 unit infill projects in the infill thread; every townhouse in the city -- none have those amenities. And that's saying nothing of all of the little 3-storey 60s-80s buildings in Sunnyside or Lower Mount Royal, etc. I suspect none of those have fitness facilities.

Here's a 2016 Census map of the inner city by the proportion living in 5+ story buildings:

The downtown and Beltline are majority highrise, but once you move past there, you're very quickly in areas where 95%+ of the people don't have highrise amenities.

There's actually plans to revamp/expand Repsol Centre. The problem with Repsol is it's positioned as a world-class facility for high performance athletes; it may as well have a banner saying "Keep out, tubby". If it can renovate in a way that adds the family and leisure facilities, that's probably the best way forward without the YMCA. I'd particularly like it if the work expanded it to incorporate Lindsay Park (ie the park around it) more; make it an indoor/outdoor fitness/rec facility with some outdoor fitness stuff -- a parkour course, maybe those outdoor workout machines, a basketball court or two -- ideally with access to washrooms/change facilities; perhaps some of this replaces a bit of the ample parking. Might help draw some weekend warriors who don't want to pay $16.50 a visit.