Feature Article

THE REJUVENATION OF CHURCHILL SQUARE

Written By: Lawrence Herzog
Published By: Real Estate Weekly
Article © Copyright Lawrence Herzog
2004-10-21

The City of Edmontons 100th birthday gift to itself, the redevelopment of Sir Winston Churchill Square, opened earlier this month, right on time for the grand centennial celebrations. The $12.6-million rejuvenation brings the heart of the citys downtown closer to the potential it has long reached earnestly towards, with such amenities as a tiered outdoor amphitheatre, bistro, tourist information centre and a waterfall.

The dream of a square as a plaza-like gathering place has been in the making for nearly as long as the city has been a city. In the early days of the 20th century, the land was occupied by wooden framed storefronts and the streets were populated with horses and buggies.

In 1912, Mayor George Armstrong directed the Minneapolis firm of Morell and Nichols to prepare a master plan to direct the character and growth of the city. The seven-block plan was to stretch from the riverbank across Jasper Avenue and north to a civic square with sweeping boulevards and gardens fronting a palace-like City Hall, flanked by pavilions and fountains.

The budget in 1912 dollars was $3 million an enormous amount of money for the day. Boom went bust and the grandiose scheme never saw the light of day. In the 1950s, the Detweiler Plan proposed a market, auditorium, theatre complex, childrens nursery and radio and television studios. Council approved to plan in principle but ratepayers voted against it.

During the mid-1960s, a plan was put forward to develop the square into a memorial park to be named after former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The site was to include a $5 million shopping complex, much of it underground, with a landscaped roof. The site was cleared of buildings.

To mark Canadas Centennial, Sir Winston Churchill Park was officially introduced as the new square in front of city hall. But the scheme ran into snags with money and design problems and funding was pared to nearly nothing. The land was used as a skating rink and, through the 1980s, became home for several Edmonton festivals.

On land with such a checkered past, its no wonder that this latest plan to rejuvenate the square ran smack into strong opinions and controversy. The project has been completed only through the dedication of community leaders and professional consultants who helped shepherd it through a rigorous workshop process.

The Edmonton 2004 Celebration Committee developed a vision based on input gathered from more than 60 major stakeholders and city council endorsed the project as the 2004 Legacy Project in November 2001. Designed to be a grand gathering space, the 13,000 square metre square takes its cues from the street edges and buildings that surround it including City Hall, the Winspear Centre for Music and the Stanley A. Milner Library.

We were mandated to create strong relationships spatially between the square and the space in front of City Hall, explains Craig Henderson, principal with HIP Architects. The goal was to create a visually enticing, flexible container for social and human expression year round.

Natural stone, similar to that on City Hall, and extensive use of glass lend the newly invigorated square an open, inviting ambience. The design team used as inspiration some of the people-friendly plazas in European cities including Paris, Vienna, Rome and Edinburgh and referenced the successful Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon. To respond to the functional, climatic and aesthetic needs of the varied users, large and small, a balance of soft and hard surface spaces were used.

Significant elements include the amphitheatre and interpretive pavilion located on the visual axis of the Friendship Tower, a formal treed edge to the east and the glassed open pavilion at the southern edge. The elements are tied together harmoniously with patterned paving and inspired landscaping and the result is an accessible, functional and usable space for large and small groups through the seasons.

Detailed to emulate the existing City Hall, the gathering spaces are framed with natural stone walls, ramped steps, natural gardens, a focal point water feature and the interpretive and caf pavilions. The pavilions include gas fireplaces, glazed roofs and in-floor heating to help take the bite out of the colder seasons and enable usage beyond the warmer months.

Landscaping has been chosen to represent the region from the prairie to the foothills and the mountains. The prairies are reflected in a series of grass sweeps at the northern edge of the square and progress to aspen parkland, characterized by aspen trees with an understorey of dogwood and snowberry. The foothills and mountains are represented by birch and larch. Familiar statues of Sir Winston Churchill and a park bench companion known as Lunchbox Joe re-assume their places in the new garden.

On the eastern edge of the square, existing trees were retained and stepped stone seating was added underneath them. Five narrative story poles and nine glazed arbors will provide interpretive space, a pedestrian focused edge to the east gardens and the design elements help link the square to the citys 99th Street Arts Promenade and Arts District, directly to the east.

The work was carried out while the businesses and services around Sir Winston Churchill Square continued to function, presenting logistical challenges for the general contractor, Edmontons PCL-Maxam, A Joint Venture. Attention to planning and exceptional site coordination were critical to keep the project on time and on budget.

Funding for the $12.6-million project was provided by all three levels of government (the city and the province each pitched in $4.2 million while the federal government provided $1 million) and more than 600 individuals, who contributed more than $3.6-million. Precisely 100 years after Edmonton became a city, the rejuvenated site was officially opened on October 8th. Lady Mary Soames, daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, travelled to Edmonton to rededicate the square to her late father.

Ralph Young, chairman of the Celebrate 2004 committee, called the rejuvenation the culmination of a 100-year collective dream. We dared to try, we dared to fail and we dared to succeed."

Alberta Community Development Minister Gene Zwozdesky said he hopes Churchill Square will be as famous as New York City"s Times Square and Trafalgar Square in London. "They, too, have humble beginnings and look where they are now."

If you'd like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com . For information on reprints of previously published articles, check out my website at www.lawrenceherzog.com