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The Edmonton Freezeway may soon become a reality

2015-02-26T19:37:00-05:00

If all goes accordingly, Canada might get another ice-skating trail known as The Freezeway to turn Edmonton -- a city that can get average below-freezing winter temperatures up to five months in a year -- into a hot destination. Or more like a winter wonderland. Proposed by Edmonton-born graduate student Matthew Gibbs, the 11 km Freezeway is a climate adaptive trail that would enable users to skate to different parts of the city.

Gibbs got inspiration for the skating trail when former city councilor Tooker Gomberg suggested, perhaps lightheartedly, back in the 1990s that the city "crack the fire hydrants open in the winter and flood the streets so people can skate to work."

In the summer months, the Freezeway would become a greenway for bikes and walking. According to Gibbs, the trail would promote a more active winter lifestyle, winter programming and social activities, and an alternative method of sustainable transportation.

Since the Freezeway was one of three winners in the annual ...

Ledcor to build new Royal Alberta Museum

2011-09-15T14:45:25-04:00

A design-build team led by Ledcor was announced Wednesday as the winning bid for construction of the new Royal Alberta Museum in downtown Edmonton.

Four firms get public [park] attention in Edmonton

2011-04-15T19:57:32-04:00

To use a pejorative, the City of Edmonton was a "competition virgin." Soliciting design for infrastructure through competition is a first-time endeavour for Edmonton and this competition was looking for the best firms, large and small, across North America. The intention of the competition was bring design to the parks of Edmonton and offer the public infrastructure to meet the needs of the outdoor spaces.

The four winning firms– Dub Architects Ltd. of Edmonton, Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative of Calgary, Rayleen Hill Architectureof Nova Scotia and two-time winner gh3 of Toronto– were chosen out of 64 companies who had submitted 135 designs. Before construction can begin, the firms will need to enter an agreement with the city and the designs will be finalized after input from the general public. These five projects will split a budget of $13,200,000 and are expected to open in 2012 and 2013.

Here are the winning designs chosen in no particular order:

Mill Woods Sports ...