The City of Edmonton is moving forward with its plan to make the Boyle Street neighbourhood a more vibrant space for residents.
Community members gathered at Boyle Street Plaza Thursday evening to discuss revitalization plans for the area bounded by 95th and 96th streets and 103A Avenue north to the LRT tracks.
Concept plans include a community garden and a shared-use path on the south side of the tracks. If approved by council, the development could also see the relocation of the old Graphic Arts Building.
The redevelopment is the third and final phase of the Boyle Renaissance plan, which dates back to 2010. The plan saw the creation of Boyle Street Plaza and the Melcor YMCA Village and Renaissance Tower, which are affordable housing spaces.
“There’s a ton of opportunity here and I think people are excited to see some progress,” said Claire St. Aubin, principal planner with the city’s urban renewal department.
People who attended Thursday’s information session had two concepts to review. The key differences are placements of green space, residential space and the Graphic Arts Building, which could end up facing either 104th Avenue or 96th Street.
The Edmonton Graphic Arts building is set to be demolished to make way for a laydown yard for the Valley LRT. (Google Street View)
“Many people still hold a torch for the Graphic Arts Building,” St. Aubin said about the 1938 structure that isn’t on the city’s historical resources list but has been described as “a rare example in Edmonton of Art Deco design.”
Questions about the cost of relocation and a possible tenant are still up in the air, St. Aubin added.
In addition to the community gardens, the city is proposing a food forest — a series of fruit-bearing trees that people can eat from — along the shared-use path.
“We all know what parks and open space do for a community — gives you space to breathe and play and relax,” St. Aubin said. “And maybe we’ll catalyze some other private development and there will be room for more residences or offices or arts space or any other kind of use.”
(City of Edmonton)
(City of Edmonton)
Eilysh Zurock, who works for a non-profit organization in the area, hopes the project makes the neighbourhood more livable for residents.
“Like having more opportunity for them, more investments in a positive way, maybe more services or bringing more businesses in. I think that would be exciting,” Zurock said.
The concept plans also identify land that could be used for residential space.
Stephen Wilson has been living in the neighbourhood for two-and-a-half years. He said he’s a fan of the plans for green space but hopes potential housing developments are affordable.
“My biggest concern is with the residential, if some of the units in there [will] be available either subsidized through the government or available for people on low income that are finding it hard to find a place to rent,” he said.
St. Aubin said the Boyle Renaissance Advisory Committee could encourage the development of a particular type of housing, including low-income.
Once the master plan is updated, she said the community gardens and Graphic Arts Building components could be completed within five years. The residential and private development portions of the plan would follow.