Gallagher Park in Edmontons River Valley Cloverdale Community: Part I What is Visible (August 13, 2024)
Wicked planning problems...
We respectfully acknowledge that the traditional land on which we reside is in Treaty Six Territory. We would like to thank the diverse Indigenous Peoples whose ancestors’ footsteps have marked this territory for centuries, such as nêhiyaw (Nay-hee-yow) / Cree, Dene (Deh-neyh), Anishinaabe (Ah-nish-in-ah-bay) /Saulteaux (So-toe), Nakota Isga (Na-koh-tah ee-ska) / Nakota Sioux (Na-koh-tah sue), and Niitsitapi (Nit-si-tahp-ee) / Blackfoot peoples. We also acknowledge this as the Métis’ (May-tee) homeland and the home of one of the largest communities of Inuit south of the 60th parallel. It is a welcoming place for all peoples who come from around the world to share Edmonton as a home. Together we call upon all of our collective, honoured traditions and spirits to work in building a great city for today and future generations. (Source: City of Edmonton Office of Indigenous Relations)
Vlog Overview
My vlog series is a collection of practice and research reflections. My practice included 32+ years of parks and urban planning experience combined with my Phd dissertation (2019). My research document and focussed on park land decision-making processes in Edmonton, Alberta, using institutional theory. My practice was engaged in municipal processes that included park lands identification, park land assembly, zoning, funding, construction, programming and maintenance. I seek to provide a balanced perspective, but I do offer strong opinions/biases on the importance and values of parks recreational and leisure benefits and outcomes sourced from both my practice and literature. As a life long learner, I continue my learning journey as a board volunteer with the North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society and the Canadian Institute of Planners.
Todays Ice Sculpture - Gallagher Park in Edmontons River Valley Cloverdale Community
Cloverdale is a busy river valley residential community home to the Muttart Conservatory and Gallagher Park. Indigenous people lived, worked and played in harmony with the rich natural landscape in Cloverdale area long before settlers arrived in Canada. Settlers from Europe started living in Cloverdale around 1870. Two farms began operation near the banks of what was to be called Mill Creek. By the turn of the century, the area had developed into a bustling commercial and industrial site, with brickyards, lumberyards, coal mines, an abattoir, acreages and a few houses for good measure.
Gallagher Park is named after former Mayor Cornelius Gallagher, who owned Gallagher-Hull Meat Packing Co. and the Hardstone Brick Company. Gallagher was elected Mayor of Edmonton in 1896 and in the early days of the 20th century lived in a grand house atop the river valley at 9902 111th Street, near todays High Level Bridge.
Today the Cloverdale community is home an assortment of single family and multi-family homes, the Muttart Conservatory, Gallagher Park (home to the Edmonton Folk Festival) and the Edmonton Ski Club, a new LRT line, the Peace Dove where in 1984 Pope John Paul III give a sermon as part of his cross country tour of Canada, the last time a pope visited Canada. Its also a place of larger homes on small lots that tower over diminutive older homes a fitting simile considering how modern times overshadow the neighbourhoods history Lawrence Herzog).
What You Can See…
1.1 Location
Gallagher Park is located on the southside of the North Saskatechewan River immediately south of the downtown and Louise McKinney Park and the Tawatina LRT/footbridge. The Cloverdale Neighbourhood is a residential community with a mix of old and new single family homes and a growing number of multi unit multi-family condominiums on the east side of the neighbourhood.
1.2 Geomorphology
Gallagher Park is a steeply sided grassed and treed area on the south side of the neighbourhood. The hill side offers an amazing amphitheatre opportunity for winter skiing and tobogganing, and the Edmonton Folk Festival in the summer.
1.3 Constructed Amenities
Currently there are limited bricks and mortar facilities at the base of Gallagher Park, but that will change. A community event centre is in the works that will accommodate the ski club and the Folk Festival. There are a small number of trailers and buildings that support the Ski Club and Folk Music Festival.
1.4 Programme and Activities
1.4.1 Edmonton Ski Club
The Edmonton Ski Club was first formed in 1911. It is a not-for-profit group that supports downhill skiing and tobogganing in the heart of Edmonton. Olympic skier Jennifer Heil began her mogul skiing career on this site. The ski hill provides active unstructured recreation, along with some special events for skiers of all ages. The club has hosted an ice climbing wall and competition. The ski hill offers close to home as well as learning opportunities for downhill skiers of all ages. It is one of three ski hills in Edmonton area (i.e., Snow Valley and Strathcona Skill Clubs. The ski club also runs day camps and bike camps in the summer. The site and club also hosts the Flying Canoe Festival in the winter season. A new facility, the Edmonton Ski Club Outdoor Activity Centre is planned as part of the Gallagher Park Concept Plan.
Funding of the facility is shared between the Federal Government (i.e., $6.6 million from the Government of Canada's Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program) and a further $4.8 million from the City of Edmonton toward the construction of the new River Valley Outdoor Activity Centre, a year-round, net-zero carbon building. The facility will also serve the the Indigenous Sport Council (Alberta), the La Cite Francophone's Flying Canoe Festival, the Cloverdale Community League, and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival Society. It The facility will also support the programming of the Action For Healthy Communities and Girls in Sport Alberta Council. The ski club, its partners and facility will employ 110 people aged 16-30, provide 2000 recreational programs free of charge, generate economic activity for local and neighbouring businesses, not to mention facility construction jobs.
1.4.2 Folk Music Festival
The Folk Music Festival began at Gallagher Park in 1981. It is part of a folk music festival “system” where acts travel between sites across Canada. The Folk Music Festival is operated by a not-for-profit organization. Festival goers sit on the side of the hill on mats and blankets and listen to a variety of well known and less well known groups and individual performers. The festival relies heavily on a very long list of 2000+ volunteers in any given year. Performers have included Joni Mitchell, Great Big Sea, Stan Rogers, Norah Jones, Loreena Mckinnet, Van Morrison, Mary Chapin-Carpenter and many others. This years festival is August 8-11, 2024. Performers this year include Blue Rodeo, Danielle Ponder, Elisapie, Don Ross, Ginning and Cormier, Angie McMahon, and many more on multiple stages.
The festival typically sells out in minutes with 12,000 four day passes and another 1,000 daily passes. The festival is an integral part of Edmontons arts and festival scene, which collectively is diverse and vibrant. Both of these programs have significant economic impacts and benefits for the community.