The Pulse: April 14, 2023

Warehouse Park offers Edmonton an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past when it comes to designing for winter, says an industrial designer who is studying how to make it inviting year-round.

"It's about creating a space that's just as interesting in the winter as it is in the summer," Danielle Soneff told Episode 63 of Let's Find Out, a podcast that explores Edmonton's history through listener questions (and recently joined the Taproot family).

The podcast explores a question from producer Trevor Chow-Fraser: What does being a winter city mean for Edmonton's parks?

Soneff, a master of arts student studying winter city design and governance, has been thinking about such matters for a long time. During her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta, she started designing warming huts, some of which were piloted in Edmonton parks.

Such structures need to capture the sun and block the wind, but it's not just about design specifications, Soneff learned. It's also about making the entire park a place you want to be in the winter.

"When I had those warming huts in Victoria Park, in my opinion, they failed. And I wanted to know why," she said. "I realized how much context matters in design, especially in social design."

Warehouse Park, a 1.47-hectare site north of Jasper Avenue between 106 Street and 108 Street could be an opportunity to get it right from the get-go. Amenities like a toboggan hill, a skating rink, or firepits could help, but it also the little details, like lighting it to draw people in when the sun is low and planting the right kind of trees.

"It's really just using winter as an asset instead of a deterrent," Soneff said. "So if you're using frost as a way to design a space, how does frost sit on foliage when it is sitting in a winter space? How does that look?"

• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi spoke to Global News on April 12 about the need for more provincial funding to support Edmontonians experiencing homelessness. "We are stepping up and stepping in as much as we can," said Sohi, "but we will not be able to find permanent sustainable solutions to this crisis until the province recognizes that it's their lack of investment in these areas that is causing disorder in Edmonton." A spokesperson for the province said the government is "focused on housing as a critical support" and "providing over $1 billion over three years to invest in affordable housing." The NDP's affordable housing plan calls for $1.6 billion in provincial funding to leverage $3 billion in available funding from all levels of government and housing providers, which it says will house an additional 40,000 Albertans within five years.
• Coun. Anne Stevenson appeared on the CBC Radio program Alberta at Noon on April 12 alongside Patricia Jones, president and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, to discuss encampments, homelessness, and affordable housing in their cities.
• University of Alberta sociology professor Marta-Marika Urbanik and colleagues from other post-secondary schools interviewed 45 people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton's downtown and Chinatown areas as part of a research project on violence, social disorder, and drug use. Urbanik told CBC the interviewees feel less safe downtown than before the pandemic and identified rising rates of homelessness, gang activity, deterioration of the "street code," and drug supply toxicity as the main drivers of safety issues among people living on the streets. The research has not yet been published, but Urbanik said they are sharing preliminary information with the city and interested organizations.
• The Capital Line South LRT extension to Ellerslie Road, originally estimated to cost $1 billion in a 2020 business case, is over budget due to inflation and other market disruptions. The city did not provide an updated budget, but in a report going to executive committee on April 14 has identified three ways to cut project costs: building the Heritage Valley station and the Ellerslie Road crossing at grade instead of elevated and deferring the expansion of the existing Heritage Valley Park and Ride, reducing the size of the operations and maintenance facility that comes with the extension, and reducing the number of trains ordered as part of the project. Coun. Jennifer Rice said she requested the discussion be pushed ahead to give the public the opportunity to review the changes. Construction on the extension is expected to start in late 2023 and take five years.
• In a piece for The Walrus titled "Why Alberta Is Bullying Its Cities" Edmonton-based writer Tim Querengesser chronicled the UCP government's relationship with Edmonton and Calgary, focusing on tensions in recent years between the province and the cities' progressive mayors over transit, policing, and housing.
• The 2023 provincial budget's post-secondary investments include $13.7 million toward creating 517 new seats in health, technology, and business programs across Concordia University of Edmonton, MacEwan University, NAIT, NorQuest College, The King's University, and the University of Alberta. According to a release, the province is putting a total of $193 million toward creating 8,000 new seats in high-demand post-secondary programs across Alberta. NDP health critic David Shepherd suggested the investments are not enough to "undo the profound damage the UCP has done to our post-secondary schools and our healthcare system," adding the NDP is committed to freezing tuition.

This weekend offers a one-act play festival and a reading of new plays in the works, as well as an exhibition of printmakers' pieces, a creation of musical memories, and a jazz show from an emerging guitarist and composer.

• April 14-15: Stage Struck One-Act Play Festival at Gateway Theatre
• April 15, 7pm: Opening Reception for After Thought at SNAP Gallery
• April 15-16: Thrill of a Lifetime: A Special Concert for the Future at the Winspear Centre
• April 16, 7:30pm: Script Salon: 9th Anniversary Playwright Readings at the Upper Arts Space at Holy Trinity Anglican Church
• April 16, 8pm: Emerging Artist Series featuring Ryan Simmons at Yardbird Suite

Find even more things to do in the Arts Roundup.

Photo: After Thought features the work of the University of Alberta's 2023 senior printmaking class, including "Mess" by Grace McLean. The show runs until April 29. (SNAP Gallery)