The Eau Claire Plaza is being redesigned as part of the refresh of the Eau Claire area to allow for more flexible year around uses and improved accessibility for all residents and visitors. Its new design will embrace everyday community gatherings in addition to spaces for hosting larger events and festivals.  Once fully completed, the plaza will become an iconic gateway to the area and a vibrant destination that compliments the newly constructed Eau Claire Promenade and Jaipur Bridge.

The Plaza is also being reconstructed to align with flood protection work happening in Eau Claire – the Eau Claire Promenade/Downtown Flood Barrier. The Plaza needs to be re-graded as part of The City’s Flood Resilience Plan in order to protect Eau Claire and Calgary’s downtown from future flooding. The City’s Flood Resilience Plan manages flood risk in Calgary.

The creation of the Downtown Flood Barrier and re-grading the Plaza will make downtown resilient to at least a future 2013-level flood and significantly reduce the flood risk to Calgary’s economic, social and cultural centre.

In order for flood protection grading to occur, the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Co. building must be moved from its current location to a new location at the northeast corner of Eau Claire Plaza. Moving the building to a new location during construction and as part of a new design for the Plaza ensures that it is protected and maintained as a historical resource into the future.

The City is committed to ensuring that the building and its historic value will be protected during its move and Plaza construction. The City is also committed to elevating the building’s prominence and historical ties to the area as part of a newly designed Eau Claire Plaza.

The move strengthens the building’s heritage factor as it moves it closer to the central operational area of the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Co. The building’s potential permanent location increases its visibility and presence in the area, while also increasing its historical prominence at a location closer to Prince’s Island and the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Co.’s saw mill log delivery river channel.

The City believes that the building’s current location is not a character-defining element and that its current location limits the building’s prominence and accessibility to visitors to Eau Claire. Moving the building to the interface of the Plaza and the Eau Claire Promenade will tie the building’s heritage more tightly to Eau Claire’s history, while making it more prominent and accessible to visitors.

At The City of Calgary, we pride ourselves on building a great place to live and a great place to make a life. We know that construction can be disruptive and can feel counter to those goals. Our project managers and contractors have extensive experience in this area. They use lessons learned from previous projects to find new, alternative, and better ways to mitigate the direct impact on Calgarians.

The safety and wellbeing of staff, contractors and the community is an utmost priority for The City.

As a community, we continue to work through the impacts of COVID19. We will continue to monitor and adjust to ensure the safety of those working on the Eau Claire Area Improvement projects.

Enabling works for the project has started, and construction is set to start in spring 2021. It is important you know what to expect. We are committed to keeping business access open throughout construction.

When construction is underway, here’s what you can expect:

• An increase in on-site construction activity, including construction crews, vehicles and heavy equipment.
• Pathway and sidewalk closures and detours along the Bow River Pathway Network and surrounding areas ensure pedestrians and cyclists can travel safely through the area and still access their destinations.
• The temporary removal of some parking, road closures and potential road detours.
• Fencing around construction areas and on-site signage.
• An increase in noise and vibrations throughout construction. For example, demolition, pile driving, motorized equipment, ground compaction and vehicle back-up alarms.
• Installation of steel sheet piles that will generate ground vibrations in localized areas.
• Soil disturbance and dust emissions.
• An increase in truck and equipment traffic accessing the construction site(s) and surrounding areas.
• Material removal and delivery, as well as on-site flaggers to help direct traffic and pathway users.
• Temporary utility shut-downs may be required.
• Temporary transit stop relocations and detours.
• Construction activity on weekends, weekdays, and overnight as required.

The City's project team will work directly with any affected business owner to minimize construction impact to their business operation prior to the start of the construction activities.​

To maintain safe access to the pathways and cycle network within the city, detours will connect people walking and wheeling along the Bow River Pathway from the West Eau Claire area to RiverWalk in Chinatown and East Village, and the downtown cycle track. To learn more about detours please visit Eau Claire Area Improvements construction and detours.

If the safety concern is a medical emergency, call 911. For all other questions or concerns, please call 311.​​