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  #141  
Old Posted Nov 8, 2009, 8:46 AM
bob1954 bob1954 is offline
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I hope there are a few highrises in this project.
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  #142  
Old Posted Nov 8, 2009, 10:03 PM
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^ Im pretty sure they will. Actually i hope there will be a lot to increase density in that area.

It would be nice if we followed suit just like the 2010 athletes village along false creek + coal harbor.
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  #143  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 12:07 AM
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Originally Posted by fusili View Post
As to your question about green roofs, I think it is more of a marketing thing that actual policy. I don't think legislating green roofs would fly. However, a matching fund for green roofs city wide could be a good idea.
Toronto has a Bylaw mandating green roofs.
http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/overview.htm

Perhaps it might be possible here in Calgary too.
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  #144  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 8:29 PM
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Is the land actually cleaned up now? What function does all of the equipment (tanks, etc, near the Pumphouse Theatre) have?
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  #145  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2009, 8:50 PM
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Is the land actually cleaned up now? What function does all of the equipment (tanks, etc, near the Pumphouse Theatre) have?
From how I'm understanding what I've been able to find out, the land was cleaned up to an acceptable level at the time that it was done in the late 80's, however that level was likely no where near what would be currently required today to do anything but pave it over and use it as a parking lot. To do any actual redevelopment of the affected land for residential uses it will need to be analyzed and likely a further cleanup completed using modern cleanup techniques, with a potential cost of tens of millions of dollars.

As for the equipment that is there, I'd suspect its part of the current cleanup system, I know for the creosote cleanup on the former Domtar site in Cochrane they put in a system that pumped groundwater from the affected area up and through a treatment facility then returned it to the ground, so I'd suspect that may be a similar type of system. It does work, but its slow and becomes less effective over time as the contamination becomes less concentrated in the area. The cleanup plan for Cochrane (which is only to commercial uses allowed, not to residential) pretty much involves them digging out all the soil something like 20m down in the worst area, and cleaning it all, replacing some of it that can be cleaned and a lot of the rest will be used either for asphalt or sent to Swan Hills, so I'd suspect we may see something like that as well.
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  #146  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2009, 7:32 PM
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With the site being situated next to the Bow River, I was thinking that as the ground water was removed for treatment, it would be replenished by river water.

However, if a berm was placed along the river's edge during the original cleanup to prevent creosote from leaching into the river, that berm would also prevent water from leaching into the site.

In any case, someone's (Mr. & Ms. Taxpayer) on the hook for the cleanup so it can be upgraded from industrial to residential.

I'm reminded of Vancouver's Expo 86 site. When the site was first cleaned up for Expo, they realised that all the industrial waste that was dumped into False Creek didn't actually get flushed out with the tides, but instead just sloshed around & settled to the bottom of False Creek. It was going to be hugely expensive to dredge the bottom & clean up the sludge, so instead a thick layer of clay was laid over the toxic mess to cap it off. You'll see many 'No Anchorage' signs along False Creek, as you don't want the anchor to drag & peel open the clay layer & reveal the industrial sludge.

When the post-Expo cleanup needed to be done before the sale to Concord Pacific, there were some areas near chinatown that were too expensive to clean up for residential use, so they had minimal treatment - scrape off the top layer of soil that had most of the contamination, lay down a thick layer of clay to cover up the remaining contaminants & turn it into a sports field. You can see this as you zooom by on the Skytrain heading into Stadium Stn.
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  #147  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 5:48 PM
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Has it been mentioned not to just move /re-align westbound Bow Trail between but to tunnel/cover it to create even more green space? Also to bury westbound 4th avenue from 9 street to 11st. We need that surface real estate to broaden the bow valley pathway west of the Louise bridge.
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  #148  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 6:46 AM
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Has it been mentioned not to just move /re-align westbound Bow Trail between but to tunnel/cover it to create even more green space? Also to bury westbound 4th avenue from 9 street to 11st. We need that surface real estate to broaden the bow valley pathway west of the Louise bridge.
Might as well cover up the CPR tracks at the same time, creating a new sliver of a district : Bow Mount.

(that has too many wicked connotations, though)
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  #149  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 7:20 AM
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Question: How long is the city going to continue to do nothing about the CP tracks? It's only going to become a bigger problem the longer they wait. Deck-over, tunnel, whatever.... but get something done.

Last edited by bob1954; Nov 12, 2009 at 7:21 AM. Reason: addition
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  #150  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 7:31 AM
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Question: How long is the city going to continue to do nothing about the CP tracks? It's only going to become a bigger problem the longer they wait. Deck-over, tunnel, whatever.... but get something done.
Simply put there is zero that the city can do about the CPR tracks and right of way. Any proposals to build something spanning over the tracks will need to come from developers and the land owners, however with the ownership being fragmented the way it is (I doubt there are any parcels that have common owners on opposite sides of the right of way) it will require incredible amounts of co-operation to put anything forward. All the city can do is approve any plans, and even then it will require CPR to sign off on them. And any ideas of tunneling or relocating the tracks will have to come from CPR themselves since they do have a unique jurisdiction setup over their land in that its exempt from city policies for the most part.
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  #151  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 7:55 AM
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The areas south of the tracks, IMO, are more important to the overall "Core" than the areas north of the Bow river. But, I also understand the complications dealing with the CP.
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  #152  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 7:27 PM
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The Canadian Creosote cleanup was not done with any particular land-use in mind, just ceasing contamination of the Bow.

The most you can hope for with the CPR is eliminating the track to support what was Palliser Station.
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  #153  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2009, 1:36 PM
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Originally Posted by MichaelS View Post
Toronto has a Bylaw mandating green roofs.
http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/overview.htm

Perhaps it might be possible here in Calgary too.
Green roofs would be un-green in Calgary as they would require massive amounts of irrigations. The SMART Technologies building in the NW was originally planned to have a green roof but that was changed after it was determined that massive amounts of energy and water would be required to keep the very exposed greenery alive in Calgary's climate.
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  #154  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2009, 5:33 PM
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Would not the correct choice of native vegitation change that? Understandably with Calgary's climate, the roof wouldn't necessarily look green in colour, but having a vegitated roof should still be possible, no?
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  #155  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2009, 2:17 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bob1954 View Post
I hope there are a few highrises in this project.
Lets put some good office and residential highrises and call it west downtown. I say expand the downtown core.
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  #156  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2009, 8:22 AM
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"Mr.BigStuff": You are absolutely right!! This nonsense of (office over here, and residential over there), is a pattern a lot of cities got into in the past and hopefully Calgary does'nt fall into that type of DT. Or, the "Near West side".
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  #157  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 9:51 PM
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Would not the correct choice of native vegitation change that? Understandably with Calgary's climate, the roof wouldn't necessarily look green in colour, but having a vegitated roof should still be possible, no?
Maybe, but it would have to be something that can survive being completely exposed to the sun and chinooks. Something like the grasses that grow at the top of Nose Hill could potentially survive.
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  #158  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 9:55 PM
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Maybe, but it would have to be something that can survive being completely exposed to the sun and chinooks. Something like the grasses that grow at the top of Nose Hill could potentially survive.
If I am not mistaken, it is called Fescue. It is the native grass to this area and it is pretty damn resilient.
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  #159  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2009, 7:17 PM
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The most you can hope for with the CPR is eliminating the track to support what was Palliser Station.
Where specifically are these tracks?
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  #160  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2009, 8:51 PM
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^^Behind the Palliser hotel
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