January 22, 2007

CFB Calgary marches on to final building phase

The Currie Barracks have been seven years in the planning stages

SUZANNE ZWARUN

correspondent

CALGARY

After seven years in the planning, the third and last phase of the redevelopment of CFB Calgary is finally about to get under way.

Currie Barracks will be one of the largest urban development projects in Canada. Covering 80 hectares in southwest Calgary.

It includes as many as 3,000 single family and multi-family homes, 300,000 square feet of office/commercial space and 200,000 square feet of retail space with residential above the stores.

The Canada Lands plan calls for a long shopping and office street to run from Crowchild Trail at Flanders Road to Mount Royal College.

The new development, a major urban planning initiative, became possible when the Department of Defence declared the 750 acres military base as surplus to requirements.

The design also includes tree-lined boulevards, parks and streetscapes, a commemoration of military history and preservation of 14 buildings with a heritage designation including the Officers’ Mess, a stable, ornamental gardens and homes belonging to former base commanders.

It will be a high density urban development that is pedestrian-oriented but also public transit friendly.

Construction is set to start in fall 2008 and be completed in phases over eight years.

Since the armed forces departed Calgary the former base has been developed as the award-winning Garrison Woods, on the east side of Crowchild Trail, and Garrison Green, on the west side, south of Mount Royal Gate. The final phase of redevelopment will also be on the west side, north of Mount Royal Gate.

The main entry into the development will be past the existing guardhouse on Flanders Avenue, which will be renamed High Street. Designers are still at work on plans but the enormously popular existing Farmers Market could anchor the High Street.

An existing parade square will be divided into two spaces, one for recreation, the other as a commemorative area.

Currie Barracks will also pay tribute to Canadians involved in the Second World War and the Korean War.

Canada Lands is a Crown corporation responsible for the redevelopment or disposal of military land the government has deemed surplus.

Starting in 1995 with the development of the largely residential St. Hubert in Montreal it has grown to 14 offices with 93 employees across Canada.

The development of the mixed use Garrison Woods in Calgary in 1996 has provided a template for developments across Canada including the Village at Griesbach in Edmonton and Garrison Crossing in Chilliwack. Griesbach’s design features a Bailey Bridge built across a lake, statues of Major-General William Antrobus Griesbach and his wife and a plaza dedicated to the airborne regiment.

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