Mezzo tower sets bar high for Old Scona projects
Did city council just make a huge mistake that will threaten the vibe of Edmonton’s funkiest neighbourhood, Old Strathcona? That’s the position of numerous Old Scona residents, but it’s not the position of a majority of councillors, who approved the 16-storey Mezzo apartment midrise on 81 Avenue, one block off historic Whyte Avenue. It’s not my position, either.
But what if I’m wrong? And what if council got it wrong?
It’s crucial in any debate to take a hard look at the arguments made by the other side. In this case, it’s all the more important because more towers are planned for Old Scona and a new redevelopment plan is being prepared for the neighbourhood.
No one is arguing that height restrictions be lifted on Whyte Ave itself, but some think the sixstorey limit should remain for the rest of the neighbourhood, or that it should go to 10 or 12 storeys at most.
Opponents of The Mezzo made a number of compelling arguments:
The original vision to save the then rundown Whyte Ave area in the 1970s was to preserve the remaining Edwardian buildings and to build on the scale of those old businesses. Old Scona is one of only two designated Provincial Historic Areas in the province, and the exceptional height and the mass of The Mezzo does not jibe with that designation. “It will diminish the heritage value of a designated provincial historic area,” city planner Peter Odinga said.
Two taller buildings did get built in the heart of Old Scona in the bad old days, the eight-storey Metterra Hotel right on Whyte itself and the 14-storey Heritage House on 84 Avenue, so the plan has always been to prevent more modern buildings and especially tall ones.
Old Scona has numerous walkups and is already one of the densest mature neighbourhoods in the city. It’s open to more density, but doesn’t want to become a lesser version of downtown with all kinds of towers.
Approving The Mezzo means developers will want to build more towers, said Shirley Lowe, a longtime Old Scona booster: “It will make the buildings that don’t have protection very vulnerable, and that means that instead of replacing them with two- or three-storey buildings, it will now be 10-, 12-, 14-, 20-storey buildings. So it will be downtown; it won’t be Strathcona anymore.”
City planners refused to recommend proceeding with The Mezzo because it is out of whack with current plans and policies. If you go by the city’s guidelines for residential towers, the notion is to build an excellent podium at street level, as the Mezzo plan has, but to have a skinny or point tower on top, not a wide, blocky tower, as seen with The Mezzo. Said longtime Old Scona resident Dagny Alston: “It counters all the qualities that have made Whyte Avenue and its neighbouring communities attractive and successful. Some have mused that it will give the Post Office a hug. I would propose it’s like a hug from a King Kong-size gorilla, big, fat.”
The vibe of Old Scona comes partly from its vistas, which will now be ruined, Alston said. “The vista of the Post Office will never be seen again as the vista of the Post Office. It will always be seen as the backshadow to a 16-storey very modern building ... That will weaken the city because it will lose the flavour and character of this particular neighbourhood.”
Of course, city council heard all these arguments yet quite rightly voted to approve The Mezzo. Why?
The majority opinion was that The Mezzo is off Whyte by a half-block, so its negative impact and shadowing of the historic avenue will be negligible. On the plus side, it will provide social housing and affordable apartments, bringing hundreds of new clients to avenue businesses. Most councillors also loved the building’s handsome and architecturally sensitive podium structure, which is what people on the street will notice most. Councillors also noted Edmonton’s imperative to densify, which means Old Scona is going to have to go higher, too.
Mayor Don Iveson put it best when he noted the impact of The Mezzo is to set the bar high for any future developer that wants to build an Old Scona tower. To me, that’s the real message here, that we need to build higher in Old Scona, but the new mid-rise towers have got to be excellent. They also can’t be on Whyte Avenue itself and must complement that great street, not overshadow or significantly shadow it.