Poppy Plaza

[outoftheice]

In regards to the issue of skateboarders at Poppy Plaza, I have to say that since they have planted the trees amongst the benches this week I have not seen any more people skateboarding through the plaza itself. The one feature that I question is the 'curb' that runs along the part of the pathway underneath the bridge. They have installed wood planks along the top of the pathway side of the curb. A large amount of this wood has already been damaged as it seems like the curb is the perfect height for skateboarders to try their tricks on. I'm surprised that they did not make this curb another foot or so higher as doing so probably would have eliminated 99% of the damage from skateboarders and would have also created a proper height to allow the curb to become a comfortable area to sit and allow people to reflect on the quotes written on the steel panels. Right now people just stand randomly on the pathway to read the quotes and force bikers, joggers and roller-bladers to dodge them last minute.

[Spring2008]

^I think even before they installed the trees in the Plaza, the city installed cameras and cracked down on skateboarding in the park. It was packed with boarders a couple months ago. The full plaza, including the west side is set to open June 8 btw.

Poppy Plaza on Memorial Dr officially opens Saturday, [/I]June 8
Poppy Plaza part of The Landscape of Memory to commemorate Canada’s veterans
poppy plaza

Poppy Plaza will be unveiled on June 8. Photo by Benoit Aubry.

On Saturday, June 8, a community celebration will mark the official opening of Poppy Plaza. Poppy Plaza is part of the Landscape of Memory, a redevelopment plan for Memorial Dr that honours Canada’s military and veterans.

The first phase of the project, The Calgary Soldiers Memorial was unveiled in April of 2011. The second phase is the Poppy Plaza.

“We are truly pleased to honour those who made great sacrifices for our country through their contribution to Canada’s armed forces,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Poppy Plaza is where Calgarians can gather to respect and memorialize Canada’s efforts during wartime in a beautiful public gathering space that helps to connect people with the river’s edge.”

Fittingly, Poppy Plaza is located at 1111 Memorial Dr NW. Memorial Dr has been redesigned to honour veterans. It is an area in Calgary designed to specifically focus on remembrance, legacy and history.

“The themes of remembrance, legacy, and history are found throughout the Memorial Drive redevelopment,” says Ward 7 Alderman Druh Farrell. “We are pleased with how the entire vision is coming together and providing important public places for Calgarians to enjoy.”

The ceremony on June 8 is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., and end at 2 p.m., with a ceremonial contingent commencing at 11:30 a.m. members of the military and veterans will be present.

Donations of non-perishable food items for the Calgary Veterans Food Bank will be thankfully accepted at the event.

For anyone hoping to attend, please note that on-site parking is not available.

http://beaconnews.ca/blog/2013/05/poppy-plaza-on-memorial-dr-officially-opens-saturday-june-8/

[Chadillaccc]

So happy to hear that the old building on site is going to be a restaurant and that everything is opening on June 8th! Excellent.

My boyfriend and I kinda snuck down there into the blocked off area on one of the really sunny hot days a couple weeks ago and it is absolutely gorgeous. It is really going to be a great amenity for this city

[Spring2008]

Some pics of Memorial(Poppy) Plaza from this morning. Work close to finishing up, and landscaping continuing along both sides of the plaza and Memorial Drive.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830872356/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830942692/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830958882/sizes/c/in/photostream/

Future Restaurant:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830928376/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830808602/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830909670/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830892894/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830823528/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830688884/sizes/c/in/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830693324/sizes/c/in/photostream/

And why not a shot of Prince's Island??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82866386@N05/8830677098/sizes/c/in/photostream/

[outoftheice]

Does anyone know if part of the Poppy Plaza project involves giving the Louise Bridge the 'Centre Street Bridge' lighting treatment?? I think white lighting highlighting the sides of the bridge with red lights highlighting the arches would have a very dramatic effect at night and be a great way to anchor Poppy Plaza in with the south bank of the river as well....

[Tropics]

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Some pics of Memorial(Poppy) Plaza from this morning. Work close to finishing up, and landscaping continuing along both sides of the plaza and Memorial Drive.

That looks outstanding, thanks for the pics Spring2008.

Hope Fort McMurray takes some cues from this with their Waterfront Redevelopment.

[Spring2008]

^Thanks!

Yeah, overall I think it's a nice addition to the river path system plus a unique design. Just have to finish the landscaping within the plaza and neighboring pathways.

Seems like there's been a lot of improvements across Memorial drive and the river path system in general recently. Even within Prince's island, I've noticed a lot of newly planted trees/plants.

Also, on the east side of downtown you have the new riverwalk, and crews are currently working on another new pedestrian bridge/St. Patrick's island, which really to me has the most potential out of all of the new projects. I'd still like to see the Sien Lok Park re-development get going soon too, as it would make for a solid connection between the western and eastern sections of the river paths.

@Outoftheice: the bridge lighting idea sounds promising. Might have to write a letter to city council or the CDA....

[Calgarian]

Poppy plaza looks great, loving the improvements to Memorial.

[kw5150]

Finally people are really starting to see that Calgary can have a bit of a "harbour" feel to it. The Bow is a great river because of the solid, low banks and how easy it is the access the shore. Other cities have very muddy, steep and slippery riverbanks; mind you, they also have lakes everywhere....... I was counting down the days until the area around kensington became a nice river district and now we're getting there. Now, if they can just fix up the area in front of the kensington bottle house.

But that's not all! As a bonus we also get a whole bunch of other river districts:

26th ave promenade
The Wier
The east village a river walk pathway system
St andrews island.

Next on the list should be edworthy park for a nice urban beach or other similar areas.

Finally Calgary, finally! I love that I live in a city that, if I have nothing else to do, I can always go for a walk and find something going on somewhere. Lots of urban life as of late.

[Calgarian]

I'd love to see them do some major improvements to the river pathways along memorial. It doesn't have to be on par with Riverwalk (which would be awesome) but that area deserves something better than the asphalt pathway that currently exists.

A proper beach along the river would be tough because any decent sand or anything like that would just get washed away in the spring runoff. Something like a bigger version of Sicome would be good, but not the temporary lake type, that "lake" gets kinda nasty by the end of summer.

[kw5150]

Ive started to realize that if you wait long enough in Calgary, it will happen. The inner city is very urban minded and if a project makes sense it is not a matter or "if it will happen" but when.

So many great changes around here.

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I'd love to see them do some major improvements to the river pathways along memorial. It doesn't have to be on par with Riverwalk (which would be awesome) but that area deserves something better than the asphalt pathway that currently exists.

[kw5150]

Has anyone been to poppy plaza at night yet? Its a gem. The red uplights on the white birch tree trunks are amazing.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I'd love to see them do some major improvements to the river pathways along memorial. It doesn't have to be on par with Riverwalk (which would be awesome) but that area deserves something better than the asphalt pathway that currently exists.

A proper beach along the river would be tough because any decent sand or anything like that would just get washed away in the spring runoff. Something like a bigger version of Sicome would be good, but not the temporary lake type, that "lake" gets kinda nasty by the end of summer.

We could also go with the Toronto model of urban beaches. Not directly connected with the water, but right on the shore. That one little island just to the west of Poppy Plaza, I was thinking of ways we could just kinda hoard it off, probably a concrete or stone wall around it, raise it 3 or 4 feet, and fill it with sand! Also have steps down to a concrete or stone ledge that sits right at/under the average water level. Would be pretty cool to have that right in Kensington.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

We could also go with the Toronto model of urban beaches. Not directly connected with the water, but right on the shore. That one little island just to the west of Poppy Plaza, I was thinking of ways we could just kinda hoard it off, probably a concrete or stone wall around it, raise it 3 or 4 feet, and fill it with sand! Also have steps down to a concrete or stone ledge that sits right at/under the average water level. Would be pretty cool to have that right in Kensington.

How much does the bow river go up or down over the year, what to do about fast water periods, and what would happen over the ice-logged winter?

[kw5150]

Who cares.

Originally Posted by suburbia

How much does the bow river go up or down over the year, what to do about fast water periods, and what would happen over the ice-logged winter?

[kw5150]

......funny enough, I thought of a project for the very same island....haha; but, I actually thought you could do this a little differently and more simple

Late July or August.......

20 dump trucks pull up and dump load of sand onto a section of the island......
A DJ rolls in..........
20 cabana beds get set up.......
Drinks served and all glasses and cans recycled........

Beach Flash Mob!! It could happen once a year at an un-announced time just for the surprise.

I really wish the city of Calgary had this kind of energy and element of coolness.

The sand would just wash down stream in the flood season. It wouldnt really have to be 'real' sand either. It could be that pea gravel stuff that you see along the edge of the bow anyway.

I like that the weir is kind of adding a beach to the city. Cant wait for the St Andrews island beach as well!

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

We could also go with the Toronto model of urban beaches. Not directly connected with the water, but right on the shore. That one little island just to the west of Poppy Plaza, I was thinking of ways we could just kinda hoard it off, probably a concrete or stone wall around it, raise it 3 or 4 feet, and fill it with sand! Also have steps down to a concrete or stone ledge that sits right at/under the average water level. Would be pretty cool to have that right in Kensington.

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Who cares.

It's a perfectly reasonable question given the suggestion that was made for a beach. As an avid canoeist and not too infrequent swimmer of Bow I can tell you that the flow variation and ice jams in winter would make any attempt at a beach pretty well useless. You can check out the high water mark pretty soon as this rain and the snowmelt start to take effect. The tiers that step down to the water in the east village are probably as close as we could ever come to a functional Bow beach and maintain a reasonably natural river edge.

The most unique thing about the Bow is how "real" a river it is for something flowing right through the centre of a major city. The fishery and wildlife are fantastic and the city has done a great job of controlling it (levees, weir, retention ponds, etc.) without making it into a huge canal. Look at any other major city's river, especially in Europe, and you'll see something else entirely. I love the fact that the new developments like Poppy Plaza and Riverwalk are urbanizing the edge without denaturalizing the river. We've got a great going. A beach doesn't really fit with that gestalt.

Now if only we could improve the stretch of river between 14th and Crowchild.

[nick.flood]

Originally Posted by McMurph

...I love the fact that the new developments like Poppy Plaza and Riverwalk are urbanizing the edge without denaturalizing the river...

Was thinking this exact thing last night while walking from Riverwalk to Poppy Plaza.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by kw5150

......funny enough, I thought of a project for the very same island....haha; but, I actually thought you could do this a little differently and more simple

Late July or August.......

20 dump trucks pull up and dump load of sand onto a section of the island......
A DJ rolls in..........
20 cabana beds get set up.......
Drinks served and all glasses and cans recycled........

Beach Flash Mob!! It could happen once a year at an un-announced time just for the surprise.

I really wish the city of Calgary had this kind of energy and element of coolness.

The sand would just wash down stream in the flood season. It wouldnt really have to be 'real' sand either. It could be that pea gravel stuff that you see along the edge of the bow anyway.

I like that the weir is kind of adding a beach to the city. Cant wait for the St Andrews island beach as well!

I’m for keeping it natural, but if you like beach like places Edworthy Park by the bridge and Sandy Beach on the Elbow are two more.

[kw5150]

Um, my beach would look natural. Just a sandbar on the edge of an island so you dont have to sit on cobble and broken twigs.

The cabana beds and DJ would go away after the beach flash mob. The sandbar willows would poke their little heads through the sand in a couple weeks.

It would still be natural, and dare I say.....FUN. So many summer days I have wanted to be down by the river and put my feet in. The rock and mud and broken sticks arent the best things to sit on!

Anyway, I dont care because we are getting something like this at multiple points along the river edge.

City need urban, Calgary has enough natural.

Im a landscape architect so I think you can trust my decisions and that I could produce something meaningful.....or I would hope so anyway.

Sandy beach is great! But, it could use some refreshing and modernization. I am just dying for a beach that can fit hundreds of people. The ones in Calgary fit about 50 before you start to feel "in peoples space"

Anyway, cant wait for the sun to break through!