ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR MORGUARD PLUS-15 BRIDGE
Construction has begun on what will be Calgary’s longest, privately owned Plus-15 walkway, without crossing a city street.
Located along 9th Avenue S.W., it will connect the two imposing towers of 11 and 20 storeys commonly known as Penn West Plaza, with Gulf Canada Square.
Planned by the original owners of the tower complex, it is now being completed by Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust, which purchased the property in 2012.
It is using the original design by Abugov Kaspar Architects that sweeps in a graceful curve to take pedestrians into the food court area of Gulf Canada Square and on into Bankers Hall and the maze of Plus-15 downtown connectors.
The design also features a single mast with radial cable supports towering above the structure that will give the walkway a pendulous form drawing attention to its location as an important visual stop at the south end of 2nd Street. This will be emphasized at night when LED -illuminated panels lining the curved portion of the skywalk will create an attractive wall of art.
Morguard regional general manager Randy Borisenko says the large interior space has been designed to include public furniture and a south wall capable of hosting public art and other displays.
Construction of the new walkway by EllisDon with Concept Consulting acting as project manager is a sign of downtown confidence by Morguard. It has taken some time, since Abugov Kaspar created the design before Morguard purchased the towers, and then it had to enter into negotiations with the city for permits, with Gulf Canada Square for the link-up, Calgary Parking Authority to cross the circular ramp from 9th Avenue, and CP Rail that has a street-level vehicle entrance to its railway shed.
With that completed, Morguard vice-president Darin Comrie says the $7-million project is scheduled to open to pedestrians by the end of this year. Notes:
Centron Group has completed the building of Inclusio, the 45-unit residential care facility for limited-mobility residents on 23rd Avenue N.W. in the community of Capitol Hill, and the nine alumni residents have already moved in. Inclusio paired Centron Cares with Accessible Housing under the RESOLVE umbrella to match people’s unique needs with an affordable and accessible home. A shared community, it has amenities on each of the four floors plus a dining room and meal service. Each resident will be able to open doors, change lighting and open window coverings using mobile technology. Residents will have access to many types of supports, including health-care aides and case management studies. Inclusio is one of several not-for-profit projects Centron has supported with its expertise and experience through its Centron Cares program. Meanwhile the Calgarybased company is busy with its 250,000-square-foot retail/commercial centre in the Eagle Ridge community of Fort McMurray, where Landmark Cinemas will open an eight-screen movie theatre. In Calgary, leasing is going well with Centron’s Fountain Court and Blackfoot Point office projects, and plans to begin construction this fall on the first phase of Chinook 58 on the former Crane Supply land along 58th Avenue S.E.
Boyden’s Guinness and Green was a huge success. Thanks to a matching formula by Shaw the executive search firm was able to raise almost $50,000 for Ronald McDonald House.