The “in” word in city building these days is “transformation” or “transformative.” You will see it being used when it comes to Arts Commons’ expansion and renovation plans, and the Glenbow’s transformation into the JR Shaw Arts Centre. It has also been associated with the City of Calgary’s “office to residential” conversions, which hopefully will transform downtown Calgary into a more attractive place for Calgarians to live.

Perhaps the biggest transformation in Calgary these days is what is happening at the west end of the downtown i.e. the blocks west of 6th Street to 14th Street SW and from the Bow River to 9th Avenue SW.

By my count, there are at least 10 major “community enhancing” projects either under construction or in the works that have the potential to transform it into a vibrant urban village. Let’s have a look.

A view of downtown from the top of West Village Towers.

Office to Residential Conversions

The majority of Calgary’s downtown office conversions are within a few blocks of downtown’s 8th Avenue SW corridor that is an important pedestrian link for those living in the Beltline to walk into downtown and access the LRT station, Bow River and other downtown amenities. The City has plans to enhance this important pedestrian corridor from the Bow River to 17th Avenue. There are eight conversions to residential and one to a hotel, which will hopefully add 1,500+ more people living in downtown’s west end.

Will this be enough to transform it into an urban village? Only time will tell.

Note 9 of the 13 approved office conversion are on the west side of downtown. The office to hotel conversion is also on the west side. And there are 9 more buildings being considered for conversion. (City of Calgary website)

Here are some of the office conversions that have been completed or will soon be completed in the west end of downtown.

Shaw Millenium Park Transformation

Cowboy Park (formerly Shaw Millenium Park) is currently getting a controversial makeover to allow for more festivals and special events especially in the shoulder seasons. Though not everyone is happy about converting the grass to asphalt, if done right it should allow more events and recreational activities like pickle ball or tennis to happen, when there are no events. It will be the new home for many of the events that took place at Olympic Plaza, which won’t reopen for several years.

Note: Inexplicably, there was no community or user consultation in making this huge change to the park. One must wonder why?

Cowboy Park redevelopment (City of Calgary website)

Planetarium Transformation

Contemporary Calgary has major expansion plans for its building (formerly the Centennial Planetarium) as well as plans to create an art park between the gallery and the 4th Ave freeway. It might even include the relocation of the “Family of Man” sculpture. The 21-foot tall, thin dancing figures would be a great gateway to the gallery and art park next to the former Planetarium Building, which coincidentally was also a 1967 Centennial project.

Backstory: After Expo ’67 was over, the piece was auctioned off and Calgary businessman Maxwell Cummings purchased them and gifted them to the city. The city decided to place the figures on the lawn in front of the now empty Calgary Board of Education Building as part of a failed ‘60s downtown revitalization scheme. Ironically the sculptures are part of the Calgary Board of Education’s logo even though its head office is now in the Beltline.

Contemporary Calgary expansion and sculpture Park (from Contemporary Calgary website)

Riverwalk West

And not far from Contemporary Calgary, the City has plans to enhance the Bow River pathway from the Peace Bridge to 14th Street thereby enhancing Downtown West resident’s connectivity to the river. The plans for “RiverWalk West” call for an expanded pathway, a boardwalk viewing area, an outdoor swimming pool and an outdoor concert/ceremony space along the edge of the Bow River.

The City also has plans for an underpass at 11th Street SW that would remove the current at-grade railway crossing, enhancing access to the Midtown Calgary Co-op grocery store for those living in Downtown West and create another pedestrian-friendly link for those living on the south side of the tracks to access the LRT and Bow River.

RiverWalk West (from City of Calgary website)

8th Avenue & 8th Street

West Village Towers (three 41-storey residential towers with commercial space at street level), recently opened a NoFrills grocery store at the corner of 9th Ave and 11th St SW; this will help make Downtown West a complete community. Look for the third tower, which has been revised to be the same height as the other two to start construction soon. It will have more commercial space on the southwest corner of 8th Ave and 10thStreet SW.

The City of Calgary has plans to extend 8th Avenue’s (aka Stephen Avenue Walk) pedestrian friendly landscape (wider sidewalks, more seating, trees, bike racks) from the new Olympic Plaza to Mewata Armoury. (Note: There is no intention of converting the roadway to a pedestrian mall all the way to 11th Street SW.

There are similar plans for 8th Street SW – to make it a pedestrian-friendly walkway for those living on the south side of the tracks to get to the LRT and Bow River. In the future, 8th and 8th could become a vibrant urban hub, especially if the University of Calgary continues to expand its downtown campus. Currently, it leases the former 8th and 8th medical building, now rebranded as the University of Calgary’s Downtown Campus building. Recently, the University signed a lease for the first seven floors of the formerly Nexen Tower a block away at 8th Ave and 7th Street SW for its School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.

8th Street Improvements (from City of Calgary website)

Stephen Avenue Enhancements (City of Calgary website)

Future Development Opportunities

Ripe for redevelopment are the old Metro Ford and Stampede Pontiac sites on 9th Avenue, next to West Village Towers, as is the Staples store site. This could well become the highest residential hub in Alberta, maybe even in western Canada. The west end of downtown includes the best remaining mixed-use development site on Bow River – Louise Crossing on the southeast corner of the Louise Bridge.

Downtown’s West End Urban Village Elements

The West End of Calgary’s Downtown already has many of the elements you would find in vibrant urban village from parks to pathways, from restaurants to cafes, from office to hotels and yes residential towers of all shapes an sizes. It even has its own pubic art gallery.

Downtown’s West End from the 14th Street Brigdge

Downtown’s West End and no Main Street but it home to several hidden gems like this cafe, bookstore on 10th Street.

One of the most recent improvements along 8th Street was the installation of this outdoor basketball court that has added a new dimension to the recently redeveloped Century Gardens.

Downtown’s West End has two grocery stores, this new No Frills and Kay’s Food Market.

The University of Calgary’s existing downtown building will be joined by a second space across the street in the old Nexen/Nova tower. There are several other small colleges located nearby that could result in the West End becoming a funky post secondary campus.

Downtown’s West End has two LRT Stations on at 11th street and one at 8th Street.

Downtown is home of fun public art and murals

While most people think this is a sculpture but in reality it is a “Pandorl Clip” and is used to fasten LRT rail track to cement ties.

Last Word

All of this is happening within an area of just 25 blocks. While no one project is transformational, when you have this many projects, you would hope that they would transform the west end of downtown from a random collection of residential, old office buildings and post-secondary schools into a vibrant urban village with a mix of students, office workers and residents of all ages and backgrounds, as well as festival goers. Let’s hope it works.

Downtown Calgary West End's Amazing Transformation!