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  #1  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 12:24 PM
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Edworthy Club | ? | ? | Proposed

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...06585-sun.html

Good to see the private sector getting involved in projects we are commonly used to seeing government take care of. Should be an exciting project.
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  #2  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 2:20 PM
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The article says it is called Edworthy Club, yet makes mention that people would come and stay in a hotel downtown? I'm confused

Is this the club that we have seen rendering of in the construction thread that is on the south side of the bow near Edworthy park? The one with a 'wavy' roof? Because I really don't think that a project of that scope is going to fly with the environmentalists and most people in general if it is taking a giant bite out of some nice green space.

Why does the Sun suck so much and not tell us where this bloody thing is proposed?

Edit: Thank you Calgary Herald for some decent reporting!

$1B health club for members only
Massive facility planned along Bow River

Eva Ferguson
Calgary Herald

Tuesday, December 04, 2007


CREDIT: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
Martin Dolemo of Dolemo Developments wants to build a "Dubai-type" $1-billion health club and condo hotel.


CREDIT: Herald Graphics Department
Critics say a sprawling "sporting and social club" near the Bow River would interfere with wildlife.

A $1-billion private health club, complete with a spa, squash courts, hockey rinks, a movie theatre and a 22-storey condo hotel, is being proposed for the city's west side by a local developer calling it the "largest sporting and social club in North America."

The upscale Edworthy Club would be built just south of the Trans-Canada Highway, between Sarcee Trail and the Bow River. Its developer is seeking approval for land-use changes within the next five months.

"It's a Dubai type of project. We want the biggest and the best in the world," said Martin Dolemo, whose Dolemo Developments has built projects in several Calgary communities.

Dolemo proposes a two-million-square-foot facility to be built on about five hectares of a 19-hectare site, featuring 16 squash courts, two hockey rinks, an auditorium, a conference centre, a spa and wellness centre, a 400-unit condo hotel and some 130,000 square feet of workout space, including three gyms, a running track, tennis courts (10 indoor and seven rooftop) as well as five swimming pools.

The facility will be private, with a goal of up to 10,000 members.

Other amenities are to include six restaurants, stores, an art gallery, music and computer training rooms, a car wash, a nursery and an 11,000-square-foot indoor playground.

"This will be a place where everyone in the family can enjoy themselves . . . but stay together under one roof.

It keeps the family together," Dolemo said.

"And even though it's private, it will free up public space. People from Springbank, for instance, may no longer want to go to the Westside Rec Centre."

But surrounding communities and conservationists fear the project's scale and location are inappropriate for a wildlife corridor adjacent to the Bow River.

David Baker, planning director for the Montgomery Community Association, says the project takes away from the public realm, from the view of the river valley, which is something he says belongs to everyone.

"It's tall, it's massive, it's quite out of context for a river valley . . . a rather mundane piece of glass-and-concrete architecture, which is quite oversized and inappropriate."

Niki Smyth, a member of the society of Bowness Residents, says she opposes the project simply because of its location along the river.

"It's a huge footprint -- 20-plus storeys on top of a private club, inside of a wildlife corridor . . . where there's all kinds of wildlife, flora and fauna."

Mac Hickley, manager of the Parks Foundation's river valleys committee, says he'd rather see the 19 hectares be dedicated to open public park space with an improved pathway system.

"Even though the area they plan to develop is flatter, open space, it's still an important part of the habitat, the habitat area of Edworthy Park continues to this site.

"Animals need that meadow and flatter land, too."

But Dolemo argues his company is doing everything possible to ensure minimal impact on the site, proposing to use only 28 per cent and leaving vegetation undisturbed.

Mike Gavan, a project consultant for Dolemo, adds that environmental assessment studies have been done by the developer showing the lands are a brownfield site, formerly housing a brick factory and an auto-wrecker.

"When we build, we will exceed all regulations placed on us," Gavan said.

Hickley adds that increased traffic to and from the site may pose problems, particularly for neighbouring communities who may get shortcutting.

Other groups are also concerned the recreational features won't be available to the public.

Perry Cavanaugh, president of the Calgary Minor Hockey Association, said he wouldn't want the two hockey arenas closed off to public groups such as minor hockey leagues that need more ice.

"There's a huge demand for ice in this city. For us, it's all about getting as much as we can as quickly as we can."

Dolemo confirmed he wouldn't provide public access to his rinks, explaining that use of those facilities would free up other arenas.

"I'm well aware there is an ice shortage . . . but I'm not here to solve all of the city's problems for them."

No date has yet been set for Dolemo's application to redesignate the land from an urban reserve to a direct control district, but it is expected to go before the Calgary Planning Commission within five months.

Once the planning commission debates the proposal, it will go before a public hearing of city council, allowing communities, environmentalists and any other parties to speak to it.

eferguson@theherald.canwest.com

© The Calgary Herald 2007
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  #3  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 2:50 PM
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How do we fare compared to other cities in "maintaining wildlife"? Seems to me that as a city we already have a large amount of wildlife with areas such as Fish Creek, the river valley's, Nose Hill, etc. (heck, I get angry because we have too many darn rabbits running around my community) Assuming it will be providing a service that a lot of people would use, I don't see the problem.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 3:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NumberFive View Post
How do we fare compared to other cities in "maintaining wildlife"? Seems to me that as a city we already have a large amount of wildlife with areas such as Fish Creek, the river valley's, Nose Hill, etc. (heck, I get angry because we have too many darn rabbits running around my community) Assuming it will be providing a service that a lot of people would use, I don't see the problem.
Exactly, the river valleys, where this thing is proposed. We don't need anything of this scale getting put into a natural area. Yes it may have been brownfield beforehand but nature has taken over since that time and using that as a reason to be able to build is just a bad form of spin if you ask me.

Also I hardly think the fact that you have too many rabbits around means that we should greenlight this project.

A service that a lot of people will use, just the 10,000 members and their families. How about a service that everyone of ALL income levels can use? This is just another "look at me I'm a member of the Glencoe Club" facility that is trying to get started.

One doesn't have to look hard beneath the words of that article to see that the developer really doesn't give a shit about the asthetics or environemntal impact or even the context of this facility with its surroundings.
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  #5  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 3:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NumberFive View Post
How do we fare compared to other cities in "maintaining wildlife"? Seems to me that as a city we already have a large amount of wildlife with areas such as Fish Creek, the river valley's, Nose Hill, etc. (heck, I get angry because we have too many darn rabbits running around my community) Assuming it will be providing a service that a lot of people would use, I don't see the problem.
Most cities of our size have virtually eradicated their wildlife. Tell someone that you often see deer or coyotes (or hell, MOOSE) in your neighbourhood in Calgary and they think you live in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.

Calgary's in a bit of a unique place. Our proximity to the mountains means we get a lot more wildlife than the average city, and the fact that there's virtually nothing built up between us and them just adds to it - compare to either of the coasts, or southern Ontario, or heck, any built-up metro area. Also, the Bow River valley is a major wildlife corridor, moreso than most river valleys. The semi-arid nature of Calgary's climate (plus the geography) means a lot of wildlife funnels right into it, as opposed to spreading out across the surrounding prairie.

While the areas you mention do hold their share of wildlife, the river valley is particularly important as a complete system. Wildlife doesn't exactly thrive when it's broken up into tiny, isolated pockets - populations of large animals need long, unbroken stretches of habitat. It's the same controversy that Banff faces every year, as the highway and other roads (and even hiking trails) continue to segregate natural areas.

Oh, and incidentally, rabbits aren't really wildlife anymore. They're more like Calgary's rats (or Toronto's infamous raccoons), and won't be going anywhere no matter how much greenspace is destroyed. In fact, the more we take out the larger animals (in this case, coyotes mostly), the more bunnies we're going to see. Personally, I like seeing them run around all the time. Makes the city feel just a tiny bit less sterile.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 3:07 PM
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deer in the intersection is not uncommom where i live.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 3:42 PM
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Quote:
A service that a lot of people will use, just the 10,000 members and their families. How about a service that everyone of ALL income levels can use? This is just another "look at me I'm a member of the Glencoe Club" facility that is trying to get started.
I tend to agree.

A $1 billion dollar health club ? I doubt this will see the light of day.
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  #8  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 3:51 PM
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Originally Posted by freeweed View Post
compare to either of the coasts, or southern Ontario, or heck, any built-up metro area.
While living in Vancouver (and Victoria before that) there was plenty of wildlife within the city (both cities actually).

There seemed to be more in Victoria than Vancouver but I can't say I've seen more in Calgary than either of those two places.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 4:05 PM
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I would expect the final version of this project, should it go ahead, to look substantially different from the proposal - as in, scaled down. For one, I can't see a 22-storey building being allowed on that site. For another, community associations plus some really militant organizations such as River Valleys Committee will have a lot to say about it. There are also some significant access challenges. And finally, it is in Hodges' ward, and he hates everything.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 7:19 PM
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While living in Vancouver (and Victoria before that) there was plenty of wildlife within the city (both cities actually).

There seemed to be more in Victoria than Vancouver but I can't say I've seen more in Calgary than either of those two places.
Fair enough, BC's cities do see this as well. They've also done a heck of a lot better job preserving natural areas than most places. I was more thinking the US west coast. Tell me you've ever seen a coyote running through downtown Seattle.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 7:54 PM
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Fair enough, BC's cities do see this as well. They've also done a heck of a lot better job preserving natural areas than most places. I was more thinking the US west coast. Tell me you've ever seen a coyote running through downtown Seattle.
I think lot of Canadian cities do a pretty good job maintaining wildlife corridors actually... even Toronto. I live right accross False Creek from downtown Vancouver and I've seen Coyotes. But I agree, Seattle would be less likely.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 8:50 PM
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Fair enough, BC's cities do see this as well. They've also done a heck of a lot better job preserving natural areas than most places. I was more thinking the US west coast. Tell me you've ever seen a coyote running through downtown Seattle.
Can't say I've seen any wildlife in Seattle.

Its funny (or I find it funny anyway) that I grew up in Vernon which is also close to the wilderness and never saw wild animals in the city the whole time I lived there. It was not until I moved to Victoria that I saw large wild animals in the city.

In Victoria there were cougars removed from the city fairly often. Once from my neighbourhood. Another time from the Empress Hotel parkade. I guess it was looking for a decent restaurant.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 8:54 PM
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^ Hey I grew up in Vernon too! Up in the BX there were lots of Coyotes, and we'd get a black bear every once in a while. Deer were fairly common, but I don't think any of these animals would venture down into town.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 8:56 PM
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Maybe they can combine it with a monstrosity bridge from 16th and Shaganappi to Sarcee and Bow trail..that would cut 15 minutes off of my commute.

It could offer a place for birds and other nature things to nest or whatever, for those nature types Shelter from the rain, that sort of thing.. .
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 9:03 PM
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Realistically, if the developer wanted this project to go forward, he should have covered the rest of the parcel of land with low rise town houses backing on a small practice size golf course.

Then, when the environmentalists came and attacked it, he could have retreated to the concept presented today.

As many of you have mentioned it is unlikely something of this magnitude will go forward as planned, so it will need to be pared down.

Maybe all the developer wants is enough room for a 1000 family club.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 9:06 PM
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Originally Posted by freeweed View Post
Fair enough, BC's cities do see this as well. They've also done a heck of a lot better job preserving natural areas than most places. I was more thinking the US west coast. Tell me you've ever seen a coyote running through downtown Seattle.
I saw a skunk walking down the sidewalk in the Westend a week ago. Kind of startled me, but I have been told that it isn't too uncommon to see them here.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 9:07 PM
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^ Hey I grew up in Vernon too! Up in the BX there were lots of Coyotes, and we'd get a black bear every once in a while. Deer were fairly common, but I don't think any of these animals would venture down into town.
Excellent! My dad grew up in the BX as well. On the corner of East Vernon Road and McLeish Rd.

I on the other hand grew up on the other side of Swan Lake. Not much for wildlife there except snakes.
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  #18  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 10:14 PM
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Call me a bad person, but I don't see the big deal. I don't look to my city for wildlife... if I wanted that, I'd live in the country.
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  #19  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 10:57 PM
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Yay, the big box equivalent of the Glencoe Club, all the pretension, with none of the class. How this qualifies as big, or new, or good, as the original poster indicated, is beyond me.
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Old Posted Dec 4, 2007, 11:03 PM
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Really?

Can the population of Calgary really support a One Billion Dollar Venue with any type of sustainability?

Good luck!
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