I was wandering through downtown Edmonton at noon one day this past week, just getting some fresh air and capturing images of a few things that caught my eye:
Narrow Alley
architecture
Here are some more images from Edmonton’s inaugural Nuit Blanche on 2015 September 26:
Moon Rise over Canada Place
Inside Edmonton’s City Hall – The Art and Architecture
City Hall Roof with Projector
Bikes in the Night
Art Gallery of Alberta
“The World We Want (outside the Winspear)
Citadel Theatre
Edmonton Public (Stanley Milner) Library
The Balloon-filled Pedway
and back to my favorite:
Ouroboros in City Hall
A early afternoon stroll in downtown Edmonton revealed a lot of natural and man-made beauty.
City Hall
Colorful Library Parkade Entrance
One of the things that most caught my eye was the progress on the Kelly Ramsay Tower construction. Especially impressive was seeing the unveiling of the historic facade at the base of the building.It seems they have done a great job in cleaning up the brickwork and restoring it to its former glory.
“Looking Way Up” – construction on the Kelly Ramsay Tower
the historical facade on the Kelly Ramsay Tower
planters outside the library
Falling Leaves beside City Hall
A few months back I posted Revitalizing 96th about the status of the project which is completely updating Edmonton’s 96th Street between Jasper Avenue and 103A Avenue, dubbed “The Armature” and anchoring the Quarters Districts.
Work has continued through the summer and it appears that most of the paving, with the black,white and grey paving stones is complete.
96th Street Looking South
The area is still a construction zone, the street is not open but the sidewalks on both sides have been opened up for a few weeks.
Sidewalks Open
The remaining work seems to be the landscaping details – new trees have recently been planted, there are beds of perennial grasses and installation of some street lighting appears to be next.
Final Landscaping on 96th Street (looking north)
While the street paving appears to be done, pallets of bricks suggest that more work remains. Hopefully it can all be finished up before the snow falls.
Paving Stones Remain
At the south end of the street, the new Hyatt hotel is looking good – appearing nearly complete from the exterior.
New Hyatt Hotel Nearing Completion
Hopefully this brilliant hotel will soon spur on other developments on this about-to-be-beautiful street which is currently very barren in terms of any commercial buildings.
Last summer I noticed that 96 Street (between Jasper Avenue and 103A Avenue) in east downtown Edmonton, disappeared! It was blocked off, dug up and even no longer appeared on Google Maps. I found the construction annoying as a pedestrian and a driver and especially last autumn when construction activity stopped, the roads remained closed and the sidewalks and were largely in-accessible. Construction resumed this spring but it was still not clear to me what was going on.
Yesterday afternoon I walked a bit out of my usual path to check out what might be happening. When I got to 96 Street and 102 Avenue, I saw, I understood and I was impressed.
A block worth of black, white and grey paving stones could be seen through the construction fence and on one section of sidewalk that is open.
Patchwork Paving – on 96 St. in downtown Edmonton
Snipped Light Poles
Fortunately there are not many businesses along this stretch of 96St. that will be affected by this long and disruptive project but the venerable Double Greeting Wonton House is one that will no doubt be glad when the work is done and appreciate the extra traffic that should then be attracted to the area.
Double Greeting, waiting
Work is still ongoing and I would guess it will take most of the summer but by its completion I am finally going to believe that this downtown revitalization east of 97 Street, is more than just a plan. I say that having listened with anticipation to a number of announced plans going back to the early-90’s.
Cutting and Laying
Capping off 96 Street at Jasper Avenue is the new Hyatt hotel, that is nearing completion. There is a lot of construction in the downtown area, many building certainly larger than this one and arguably better situated but this Gene Dub design may be the most architecturally interesting and attractive building going up in the City.
Hyatt Hotel construction (June 2015)
Work Still to Be Done
Circles
One of Edmonton’s iconic pyramids is atop Edmonton City Hall – but not today!
Well no, the pyramid is still there but here are a few photos which feature other aspects of the building (but you can see the pyramid in the first image):
Edmonton City Hall looking southwest
Clock Tower and Flags at Edmonton City Hall
Being late April we are between seasons as shown in the previous picture. The blue at the bottom is neither a skating rink now a fountain/wading pool.
Up The Clock/Bell Tower
Edmonton City Hall – east side
YEGmonton 