Plans in the works for Civic Common
Lethbridge City Council celebrated the completion of the Civic Common Master Plan by passing it with a rare unanimous vote at last week’s council meeting.
Coun. Belinda Crowson, who chaired the steering committee for the master plan, feels the overwhelming vote of approval was a tribute to the nine months of hard work and intensive public engagement put into the project.
“We (the steering committee) didn’t build this so much as we worked with the community to build this,” says Crowson. “We had a great deal of public engagement. People had a chance to be at open houses, and had a chance to be in on the design charettes. We were using our time to guide this through, but public consultation was vital to it.”
The Civic Common encompasses city hall and all the publicly owned land in a rectangular area between 4 and 6 Avenue South and from 11 Street to Stafford Drive. It was once the home of the original Mounted Police barracks and over time has come over 90 per cent under the control of the City with the exception of the courthouse and current RCMP building.
City of Lethbridge downtown revitalization manager Andrew Malcolm says the Master Plan, which incorporates ideals such as creating public spaces for celebration, inclusion, contemplation of nature, vibrancy and walkability, is an important guiding document for City workers and councillors going forward.
“It gives us our marching orders in terms of what our expectations are when we are reviewing plans and development permits, project proposals, etc.,” he says. “It helps us work within a framework. This ensures all departments of the City and to some extent private investors are aligning toward a common goal rather than things going off in different directions.”
While most master plans incorporate specific timelines for completion, Malcolm says implementation of this document will be unique.
“Typically these planning documents we prepare are longterm in nature,” he explains,” but with this plan we are doing what we are calling an opportunity-based implementation, which is different than being time-based. We are not saying in the short term in five years, in the medium term in 10 years and long-term in 10 or 15 years. We are saying as opportunities present themselves in the Civic Commons area we need to be moving on those opportunities in alignment with this plan.”
Highlights of the Civic Commons Master Plan include plans for the development of a Civic Lane, an adaptable space which can be used for market purposes or civic events; the creation of a Celebration Way for large parades and gatherings; the development of a Civic Plaza as a square, or gathering area, leading into the Civic Lane; and the construction of a plug and play Market Plaza which can be reconfigured to meet the needs of specific events.
Crowson hoped future councils would take heed of the Civic Common Master Plan as opportunities arise to implement and budget for the gradual phasing in of these various elements.
“Every council can make their own decisions, but every council should listen to the public,” she says. “When a document is created with the public’s involvement as this one is, it should be a guiding principle which affects everybody in the future, too. It’s interesting when you look back at the visions for this space from the 1940s and the 1980s, there is always those common things. We need places where all people of Lethbridge can get together, where we can celebrate what we share in common, and discuss our future. And this place is one of them.”