There will be two community enhancement projects in Cliff Bungalow occurring late summer as a result of the approval of the land use amendment and concurrent development permit for the Riverwalk seniors residence at the corner of 25 Ave and 5th street, approved by council last year.
A condition of the approval was a stand-alone density bonusing provision (to allow extra height and massing on the site) in exchange for community amenity contributions for accessibility upgrades to Triangle Park fronting Cliff Street SW, 5th Street SW and 24th Avenue SW, and a community connector staircase and path from Cliff Street to the Prospect Trail pathway system on the escarpment behind the community hall.
Cliff Triangle Park
The development of this small park in 1937 was due to the vision of William Roland Reader, Calgary’s Superintendent of Parks between 1913 and 1942, and creator of many of our larger inner city parks as well as Reader Rock Garden. Feedback from the Community Association and area residents requested that as much of the natural feel of the park is retained as possible. Surfacing of the pathways within Triangle Park will be asphalt to follow City accessibility requirements and the width of the path will be as narrow as possible to preserve maximum amount of grass area within the natural bioswale, with zero tree or shrub removal. A paved sidewalk between 24th and 25th on Cliff Street, an obvious connectivity problem, would unfortunately involve removal of the 80 year old poplars along the right of way; so no sidewalk at this time but an alternate hard surfaced ‘floating’ walk pilot will be explored for the future. The heritage playground (it has baby swings!) will remain untouched.
Image: Triangle Park accessibility path
Prospect Trail Connector
The staircase and path enhancement will provide a link for all residents of the community to the viewpoint at Hillcrest Park and on to the natural area pathway system that extends through Mount Royal and Elbow Park to connect to the Elbow River at Sifton Blvd. The staircase up the escarpment will be in-slope timber stairs with a handrail to a natural surface trail with a short stair connector at the viewpoint.
A summary of the work and timeline is provided on the Verve Senior Living website. As of this writing in early July work is starting on the park with completion slated for the last week of July and some preliminary survey work has been conducted on the staircase, with construction to begin late summer.
Image: Prospect Trail stairs and path