The conflict between the need for parking and a desire for green space has raised its head in Old Strathcona.
The Old Strathcona Foundation wants to build a multi-use park in the gravel parking lot on the east side of Gateway Boulevard north of Whyte Avenue.
The concept would incorporate space for festivals and allow the High Level Bridge Streetcar to travel all the way to Whyte Avenue.
However, the site currently provides parking for 285 vehicles, something the Strathcona Farmer’s Market doesn’t want to give up. The market also earns revenue from the lot which is filled only one day a week.
Karen Tabor, executive director of the Old Strathcona Foundation, said the park plan does incorporate some space for parking spaces.
She says the majority of people who visit the area don’t take their cars.
“Only about 30 per cent of the people that come overall access the community by driving,” Tabor said.
But operators of the farmers market say 87 per cent of their customers drive to the market so the space is needed.
“We get 20,000 people on a busy Saturday, so all those people need somewhere to park,” said market executive director Stephanie Szakacs-St. Louis.
The project is still in its initial stages. The issue is not expected to come before city council until next year.
