Stanley Park Redevelopment Initiative

The public was invited to review the preferred concept plan at a public open house on November 23, 2013 and was available on Calgary.ca. Additionally, a feedback form on the engagement process was distributed at the open house and available on-line. Generally, those who provided feedback found the engagement process very effective and appreciated the range of opportunities to review the material. View the details of the feedback survey.

The final report for the Stanley Park Redevelopment and Management Plan is currently under review prior to presentation to Council. Over the past few months, additional work was undertaken to review the Plan in conjunction with Water Resources and flood experts on recommendations for greater flood mitigation and resiliency.

The final report will be made available following Council’s review. Requests for funding will be made for the detailed design and implementation of the plan. This work will be undertaken as future projects, pending funding.

Phase 1: Start Up & Background Research, Assessment and Review (Spring 2013)
Phase 2: Strategic Framework and Future Alternatives Concept Options (Current)
Phase 3: Draft and Final Redevelopment and Management Plan (Fall 2013)

Project Background

This phase of the project focussed on existing conditions of the park - what works, what doesn't work and what potential ideas and desires are possible for the park. Various methods were used to gather input from the public including; a public kick-off event, external partner workshops, survey questionnaire, online forum (via PlaceSpeak), and sounding boards (comment sheets) installed in the park.

Below are the summaries of feedback from this phase of the project:

• Project Kick-off Open House
• March 18 Workshop Summary
• March 23 Workshop Summary
• Sounding Board Summary - April 15, 2013
• Updated - Sounding Board Summary - May 21, 2013

An overall vision, goals and guiding principles were drafted based on what we heard during the first phase of engagement. This helped guide the development of two concept design options for the park based on user input. A presentation of "What We Heard", the Draft Vision, Goals and Guiding Principles, and two Preliminary Concept Options were shared during a public open house held in Stanley Park on June 13 & 15, 2013. General comments were collected at these events, along with a secondary survey questionnaire handed out for participants to complete and posted online until early August. June 2013 0pen house presentation boards and Park Design Options have been posted since early June.

View the summaries of the survey results and the emerging themes of the Phase 2 Public and Partner Engagement input that were received between June and early August of 2013.

The final phase of this project will see a preferred concept plan emerge out of the input we received on the concept options. This may resemble one of the two concept options or a combination of both.

The Preferred Redevelopment and Management Plan was presented to the public on November 23 at the public open house.

Once the plans are finalized, it will be presented to Council for approval and used to request funding for future implementation.

Stanley Park has become increasingly popular in recent years, resulting in greater demands placed on the park. The City of Calgary Parks is working towards a redevelopment plan for the park. This plan will take into consideration the increasing number of park visitors, with goals to enhance park visitors’ experience, boost the park’s environmental health, and identify much needed lifecycle upgrades and replacements.

Stanley Park is a popular multi-use park with a long history and a place in the hearts of the communities and users it serves. A comprehensive redevelopment plan is required to ensure all current and future activities can be balanced in a sustainable way. Evolving needs and desires for the park will be addressed by this plan. The goal is to ensure the park remains valuable for park users today and into the future.

The City of Calgary Parks has retained Stantec Consulting as experienced park planners and engagement specialists to assist us with this project. The planning process involves a step by step approach:

• First, community and user input, suggestions and comments are gathered. This helps to inform how people and key user groups use the space. It will also help identify areas for improvement.
• Next, information is analyzed for appropriateness, feasibility, and suitability to determine how it should be incorporated into the redevelopment plan.
• Finally, this information is translated into a concept plan for the redevelopment of the park. The plan will be presented to the public for feedback and refinement