Extended patios, fieldhouse up for discussion Monday at City Hall
Posted Sep 13, 2021 7:48 am.
Last Updated Sep 13, 2021 8:10 am.
CALGARY – Calgary’s city councillors are expected to discuss extended patios, as well as a potential fieldhouse, at a council meeting Monday.
Extended patios were thrown together last year as a way to help restaurants and pubs accommodate business in the pandemic era.
Dine-in seating was extended from storefronts into sidewalks, with a temporary pedestrian path laid out in the curb lane of the street.
Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley has said previously he’s hoping to continue seeing them in the long term.
READ MORE: Patio extensions brought on during pandemic could become permanent: Woolley
“We live in a winter city in a lot of ways, and in the summertime, we want to enjoy our outdoors,” Woolley previously told CityNews.
There have been concerns from the disabled community that extended patios can be difficult to pass through with a wheelchair, but Woolley says if they become permanent, they will be on roadways, not sidewalks.
WATCH: Councillor raises concerns over accessibility issues
“We had significant challenges around the ramps getting on and off the street, but given any new permanent setup for them would leave the sidewalks open we just wouldn’t have the challenges we had,” Woolley said.
“When we do them, let’s do them right, and let’s ensure that everyone can enjoy, not just the street which is a requirement, but also, these are potential customers who aren’t able to access these businesses, so, we can do better,” Ward 7 Councillor Druh Farrell echoed in a previous interview.
READ MORE: Council looking at accessibility concerns around extended patios downtown
Making them permanent means more investment, and the fluorescent orange may be a thing of the past.
“They weren’t very attractive with the bright orange barriers, but those won’t be a part of any future patios,” said Woolley. “They’d be on the street, we’d have some specs for the business community, they would look a lot nicer.”
The proposed fieldhouse project
Calgary has been eyeing a fieldhouse in the northwest for a couple of years, but there hasn’t been much movement on the idea.
The city approved $20 million in May 2019 to proceed with the proposed project, which will redevelop Foothills Athletic Park around McMahon Stadium and boost year-round recreation options in the city.
A rough road map for development was approved by a committee at City Hall in December 2019.
The plan sets the stage for the next year of development, mainly focusing on communications, studies, and public engagement.
READ MORE: Calgary committee approves road map for fieldhouse project
Sport Calgary’s Executive Advisor Murray Sigler said at the time that this had been a long time coming.
“It’s way overdue. Not just 10 years overdue, but more than 20 years overdue. We have a really good chance to go from having nothing, really, to having a state-of-the-art facility that we can be proud of and we can afford to do it,” said Sigler.
“We really believe Calgary has fallen behind all other major cities, and even smaller cities in Canada, in terms of not having the appropriate indoor recreation sport event facility of this ilk.”
The long-range plan also calls for renovations to the aging McMahon Stadium itself, nearby entertainment facilities, and mixed-use residential buildings.
RELATED: City eyes redeveloping area around McMahon Stadium
More recently, Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said the city has used similar plans to redevelop other inner-city neighborhoods.
“I think it’s exactly the model for how we should be moving forward,” Carra said this past June.
“It’s definitely what built the East Village successfully, it’s definitely what built the bridges successfully.”
The plans are still on paper at this point and could take 10 years or more to build.
-with files from Tom Ross, Josh Ritchie, Taylor Braat, Saif Kaisar, Lisa Grant
