What happened to DARP? According to the City of St. Albert website it was adopted by the city in August 2010 and an Implementation Plan was received for information in May 2011. I know a lot of citizens would like to deep-six the plan but now it appears that the mayor has obliged and created his own plan for the redevelopment of the Downtown Civic Plaza.
Personally, I have always felt that the best plan for a new civic administration building and development of the parking lot across from St. Albert Place was to build a semi-circular “public square” opposite St. Albert Place, creating a closed space almost totally sheltered from the wind and the elements. This Civic Square could have restaurants and cafes with outdoor tables in the traditional European patio style and become a real people place in the heart of downtown. It would fit in with the summer farmers’ market and would be a lovely asset on summer evenings.
The DARP plan matches my vision in this regard to a “T” even though it does not specify that the ground floor would be dedicated to commercial enterprises. An administration building (when it is needed) would fit in well with ground floor commercial space reserved for restaurants, cafes and other people friendly activities. It could have a walkway from the third floor of St. Albert Place, which is currently an administrative area, as opposed to the mayor’s proposal of a walkway from the Arden Theatre.
I have expressed concerns on the need for a civic administration building in past in order to bring all of our civic functions together. I have however consistently qualified that need with the caveat that the existing St. Albert Place should be utilized fully as a city administration building. The original concept of St. Albert Place as a community centre to house the civic administration, city council, library, museum and arts and cultural guilds was qualified on the premise that as the need for more administrative space was required it may be necessary to relocate the arts and crafts and/or the museum to other venues. The Profiles Gallery was relocated from the west end of the second floor years ago to accommodate an expanding civic administration.
Now, 25 years later, the time has come to find other space for these facilities rather than finding offsite space for civic offices. There is no reason that the arts and crafts facilities need to be in the centre of the city. In fact, it would be better for all if they were in an area where there was better parking and easier access for volunteer and youth groups. This may not be popular with some people but it is a necessary first step. The same applies to the museum – it would be better off adjacent to the Grain Elevator Park or some other location.
The library and Arden Theatre are somewhat different in that they are not readily convertible to civic space and need to remain where they are. The library however cannot and should not expand in its present location – it makes more sense to have a branch facility that might cater to folks in other parts of the community, let’s decentralize some of these facilities that cater to the residential population rather than centring everything in the city core.
I’m sure Mayor Nolan Crouse is just throwing this model out to generate ideas and hopefully it will, but let’s capture the imagination of the original DARP vision for a unique civic plaza that the community can enjoy and be proud of.
Ken Allred is a former St. Albert alderman and MLA.
