Shelley Jodoin-Chouinard asks what Edmonton’s smallest park is. This episode continues our series on the history of parks and natural spaces in Edmonton, which kicked off with our live show in September.
We began by looking through the City of Edmonton’s online map of parks and parkland in the city, finding some amusingly tiny patches of green around the city.
We also took a look at a book called Mini-Parks for Edmonton, written by Leslie Bella in 1975 for the Edmonton Social Planning Council. It evaluated Edmonton’s stock of tiny parks, argued that tiny neighbourhood parks improve everyday life, and playtests methods to involve community members in creating mini-parks in their neighbourhood.
Then we spoke with Trent Portigal, an urban planner with the City of Edmonton, who had an answer locked and loaded, and told us about Alberta’s 1963 Planning Act that requires 10% of subdivided land to be provided as reserve land (ie land for a park or a school).
Scroll down once you’ve listened to the episode to see the spots Trent told us about.
Trent took us to Post Office Clock Tower Park, a spot you may have walked through many times, on the corner in front of the Westin Hotel downtown. Its address is 10145 100 Street.
This park was re-lotted in about 1973. The clock was salvaged from the iconic Downtown Post Office when it was demolished in 1972, and installed on this spot in 1978. The park clocks in at 185 square metres.
Other tiny parkland spaces Trent told us about in Edmonton:
Shout-outs in this episode to Alberta Blue Cross and connectFirst Credit Union. Thanks to our Patreon supporters, including Ghost Magpie level supporter Raquel Feroe. You can sign up to support the show and get a mug or a sticker too on Patreon.
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