Work begins on Canada Packers smokestack
Construction of city’s new transit garage includes preservation of historic site
Residents driving by the city ’s new transit garage construction site will be getting a different look of the 40-metre-tall brick smokestack, part of the former Canada Packers plant built in 1936.
Scaffolding has been placed around the historic site at Fort Road and Yellowhead Trail within the last few weeks for upkeep work as it is transformed into part of a larger public space next to the impending transit hub.
Crews will look at the mortar on the structure and complete necessary touch-ups to ensure it is in tip-top shape, said Jesse Banford, the city’s director of facility infrastructure delivery.
“The intention behind that is preservation,” he said. “We want to ensure the longevity around it and for people to appreciate it.”
The area around the sole smokestack has been vacant for decades after the Canada Packers meatpacking plant closed up shop in 1994.
The refurbished site will be the centrepiece of a public space with walkways, benches and information panels designed to educate residents on the history of the area that will now be home to the majority of the city’s bus fleet.
Work on the new Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage for city buses — named after the Edmonton Transit Service’s first female bus driver — is continuing on time and on budget, Banford said, after a $10.3-million increase in May to make room for 40 electric buses.
“Right now, we’re trending green,” he said.
Initially valued at $200.4 million, the increased budget was required for increased infrastructure and battery elements for the much larger buses.
The new 46,450-square-metre building will be home to about 300 buses, as well as workspace for up to 700 transit workers.
Charging stations have been incorporated into the modified design to provide electrical capacity, Banford said. There wasn’t enough juice to hold 40 buses, so instead they will cycle around and be charged when necessary.
Construction on the vacant land began in 2016 and is expected to be operational by the end of 2019.
“This is a huge, huge facility and (construction) happens in phases and waves throughout,” Banford added, noting final painting is being completed in most of the space and millwork is starting to be installed.
The northeast development will replace the city’s Westwood Garage upon completion.