Jasper Avenue

All posts tagged Jasper Avenue

Uncommon Perspectives

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2017/10/20

Posted in: autumn, parks, photo, River Valley. Tagged: 50th Street bridge, autumn, Capilano Bridge, colors, Dawson Park, fall, island, Jasper Avenue, mud, North Saskatchewan, photography, rapids, river bank, river valley. 2 Comments

Yesterday I was out for a walk in the Edmonton river valley. That in itself is pretty common but on this day, I strayed from the usual path and discovered views of my City which were refreshingly different.

These photos were taken from the south side of the river (North Saskatchewan), west of the Capilano Bridge. While I walk the path/ bike trails frequently, this day I made an effort to get right down to the water’s edge. Here, beside the little island near the south bank I discovered what may be the only rapids on the North Saskatchewan River as it winds its way through Edmonton as a big, slow waterway.

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From the water’s edge I was also able to see the layers of mud making up the lower river bank.

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Looking across the island and gravel bar, and across the river to the east end of Dawson Park on the north bank.

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A bit of subtle but striking, color from the few leaves that remain on the trees and shrubs in mid-October:

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I’d never before noticed this view of the 50th Street footbridge, under and beyond the Capilano Bridge.

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Bonus image:

Looking up at the east end of Jasper Avenue from down beside the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River

Another Side of Main Street

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/04/09

Posted in: architecture, downtown, photo, Uncategorized. Tagged: 97th Street, architecture, boarded, Brighton Block, doorway, Edmonton, Ernest Brown Block, Goodridge Building, Hardware Grill, historic, homeless, Jasper Avenue, Lodge Hotel, main street, photography, posters, seedy, tavern, UCAMA, Ukrainian Canadian, W. W. Arcade, yellow. Leave a comment

The Goodridge Building (with the Hardware Grill on the ground floor)

In recent posts I’ve featured images of various parts of downtown Edmonton – Jasper Avenue, Churchill Square, the convention center and Canada Place, all with their own beauty and architectural beauty.

In this post, we will look at another side of Edmonton, another part of downtown Jasper Avenue. This part is much less modern, classy and comfortable, but perhaps with a beauty of its own (if you will allow your mind to see things in that light).

I’m talking about a part of downtown that is across the street from Canada Place, kitty-corner from the convention center and right on the mighty and historic Jasper Avenue, but the block east of 97th street is in another world. The actual northeast corner of 97th Street and Jasper Avenue is home of one of Edmonton’s most renowned restaurants, the Hardware Grill (the name coming from the fact that the building was once home to the bustling old-time W.W. Arcade hardware store).

The attractive brick and yellow trim of the Hardware Grill

At the top right of the above photo is Jasper Avenue; turning the corner you enter another world:

The old tavern

This old bar, just east of the Goodridge Building is the last of the seedy old bars in Edmonton’s east end. Next to it, a vacant lot:

An empty lot on Jasper Avenue in downtown Edmonton

It has long bewildered me why this section of Jasper Avenue, with its proximity to the central core and with great views over the river valley, has not been redeveloped. It does however still retain some historic old buildings so I’d not like to see them lost.

Next to the east, is one of those historic old buildings, the Brighton (Ernest Brown) Block. This three story brick building and the one next to it are beautiful but have definitely seen better days. Fortunately, this property has been recognized as a Municipal Historic Resource:

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The building seems to have been vacant for many years now – the doors and many windows boarded up:

A “home” on Jasper Avenue

Don’t Give Up

Boarded-up and Postered

Next to (east of) the Brighton Block is the old Lodge Hotel. This building has been undergoing some exciting renovation to turn it into the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum (UCAMA). Unfortunately,the project ran out of money so is currently on hold.

Historic Doorway

An edge of renewal (steelwork for the UCAMA renovation at top)

A stark contrast between the two ends of this half block of Jasper Avenue but coincidentally both bookends feature yellow.

Yellow Brick

Addendum: After posting this blog I took a photo (below) from across the river showing the Brighton (Ernest Brown) Block and Lodge Hotel / UCAMA renovation – quite a different look from the shots that were all taken from the sidewalk next to the buildings.

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Focus on Jasper

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/04/01

Posted in: architecture, downtown, photo, spring. Tagged: ATB Place, black and white, CIBC, CKUA, Corona Station, Edmonton, Enbridge Tower, Energy Square, Gibson Block, Goodridge Building, Jasper Avenue, MacLean Block, Telus. Leave a comment

Jasper Avenue that is – Edmonton’s historical main street.

Last Saturday afternoon (2016 March 26) I took my camera (with wide angle lens) and focused on some of the buildings. How many times have I been up and down that street without slowing down to look. Here is some of what I saw between 109th and 96th Streets:

North-side, east of 109 Street

MacLean Block on the northwest corner of Jasper and 107th

Corona Station Entrance (Jasper and 107th, southeast corner)

Energy Square (Jasper and 106, northeast)

Old CKUA Building (northside of Jasper Avenue between 106 and 107th Streets)

Enbridge Edge (southwest corner of Jasper and 102nd St.)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada building (northwest corner of Jasper and 101st St.)

ATB Place and Telus Tower (southside of Jasper Avenue, west of 100 Street)

Goodridge Building (northeast corner of Jasper and 97th Street)

Gibson Block (northwest corner of Jasper and 96th Street)

Wandering Jasper Avenue

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/02/28

Posted in: architecture, downtown, photo. Tagged: brick, construction, Corona, downtown, Edmonton, Energy Square, glass, Jasper Avenue, LRT entrance, MacLean Block, photo, sidewalk, tunnel. Leave a comment

Sometimes I like to just walk in my city and see what I can see (and with my camera in-hand, to capture and share images of what is to be seen). So it was on Saturday afternoon (2016 February 27). I walked Jasper Avenue from 96 Street to 116 Street, but in this blog post I will focus on a short section of that trek.

It was on the few blocks east of 109 Street that my eye was particularly active, seeing things of interest in some of the buildings old and new:

Sidewalk tunnel on the south side of Jasper Avenue, east of 109 Street

and peeking into the ground floor of the construction site to the south of this tunnel (left in the above photo):

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Peering through the Corona LRT Entrance on Jasper Avenue

The decorative brickwork on the MacLean Block (above Audrey’s Books)

Energy Square at the northeast corner of Jasper Avenue and 106 Street

YEGmonton

Musing on My City