Our project team has been working to finalize the detailed design plans. Guided by thorough technical evaluations and feasibility studies, we’re carefully balancing these insights with the valuable feedback we received from Calgarians. Our goal is to create a park that not only reflects the community’s priorities but also aligns with practical design considerations.

Upcoming work

The City’s former Operations Workplace Centre (OWC) located south of Richmond Green Park, has been decommissioned, with demolition of the existing structures scheduled for winter 2024/2025.

By incorporating the former OWC land, there will be a net increase of approximately 4.5 acres of usable park space in Richmond Green Park.

The first phase of construction of the Richmond Green Park redevelopment is set to kick off in 2025!

During construction, specific areas of the park will be closed to ensure public safety and alignment with project schedules. We will work to minimize closures as much as possible.

Thank you for your continued interest in the Richmond Green Park redevelopment project.

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The tabs below show the archived information from the previous stages of the project and phases of engagement. We wanted to provide you with all the background information to date and detail the processes that have occurred in getting to a Final Concept Plan of Richmond Green Park. Scroll across to view all tabs, it has been a long journey.

Project Area

This figure illustrates the scope areas of the project site. A total of 48.5 acres will become a fully publicly accessible park. Due to the re-purposing and incorporation of the former golf course (+17.5 acres) and operations depot (+10 acres), an increase of approximately 22 acres will now be open park space available for free public use, despite the loss of the development parcel (-5.5 acres).

The Background Information:

• In late 2018, The City of Calgary’s real estate division is directed by Council to explore repurposing, decommissioning and disposition of golf course land to support the overall operations of the City’s Golf program
• In 2019, preliminary due diligence is completed for over 500 acres of City golf course land
• In 2019 Richmond Green golf course is closed by Council
• In 2020 real estate provides recommendations for further work at two (2) sites – Richmond Green and Shaganappi golf course
• In 2020 Council directs the real estate division to eliminate Shaganappi from the work program and only focus on Richmond Green, directing Administration to prepare and submit a land use application to enable the redevelopment of ±5 acres of land on the north-west portion of the site
• Council approves the land use application in July 2021
• In coordination with the land use approval, Council approves a funding model by which proceeds of sale of the 5-acre development site are to be directed to plan and implement a new Park Design Development Plan for the expansion of Richmond Green park, expanded thanks to the addition of the 10+-acre former City depot lands to the park footprint

What We Had To Work With:

The City of Calgary owns ~52 acres of land in south west Calgary between Sarcee Road SW and Crowchild Trail SW, south of 33 Avenue, as pictured below. The land includes the former Richmond Green golf course and operations depot, tennis courts, one large ball diamond, two small ball diamonds, one small office building, a toboggan hill and a child’s playground.

On November 2, 2020, Council directed The City’s real estate division to prepare and submit a land use application to enable the redevelopment of ±5 acres of land on the north-west portion of the site, identified below, and, if planning approval is obtained, continue to the disposition process for selling municipal land.

At the same time, Council also directed administration to complete a City assessment on the remaining ±46 acres to identify existing uses and amenities and determine future uses for the site. Finally, Council directed Administration to implement disc golf as an interim use in 2021 on the former golf lands.

There are three Council directed work streams for Richmond Green:

1. Submission of a Land Use Redesigination (re-zoning) and Subdivision applications for ±5 acres of land in the NW corner of Richmond Green Park, and if successful, market the property for sale.
2. Complete a “Needs Assessment” for the remaining land at Richmond Green Park to determine existing and future uses of the land.
3. Implement Disc Golf as a temporary use on the now closed Richmond Green Golf Course.

Stream 1 – Land Use and Subdivision work on ~5-acre parcel where 2 small baseball diamonds reside

Completed:

• Geotechnical and environmental reporting to determine suitability of land for potential redevelopment
• Hiring of planning, design, and public engagement consultant to assist City with determining re-development options for the parcel
• Develop City website and project update email subscription list
• Land use amendment and subdivision application submitted

Underway:

• Develop stakeholder registry
• Introductory project meetings with adjacent Community Associations and adjacent landowners
• Develop concepts for the parcel
• Undertake a Virtual Public Open House
• Open Engage Portal page for input, compile comments and produce a ‘what we heard report’
• Finalize approval process for Land Use Amendment and Subdivision Application (Q2 /Q3 2021)
• Attend a meeting of Council with a Public Hearing to seek approval for the Land Use Amendment and Subdivision application (Q3 / Q4 2021)
• Market the property for potential sale of land (TBD)
• Implement Disc Golf as an interim use at the closed Richmond Green Golf Course (2021)

Stream 2 – ‘Needs Assessment’ for remaining ~46 acres

Underway:

• Consider and validate the existing uses at the Park. This includes a review of the pathways, tot lot, tennis courts, tobogganing hill, ball diamonds, etc.
• Understand and determine the need for the water infrastructure that is located within the park
• Determine the lifecycle of the City depot
• Understand the alignment and new road that is extending from Currie Barracks
• Coordinate approval of report internally and with Council

Upcoming:

• Public engagement
• Prepare a report with Recommendations for future use of land

Stream 3 - Disc Golf

• Implement Disc Golf as an interim use at the closed Richmond Green Golf Course (2021)

A land use amendment and outline plan application was submitted on March 12 for a portion of 3435 Crowchild Trail SW and a portion of 2539 33 Avenue SW. This application proposes to redesignate the site from S-R Special Purpose – Recreation to MU-1h14 Mixed Use – General District and MU-1h22f2.0 Mixed Use – General District which will allow for a variety of multi-residential building types including townhouses and apartments with the option to include neighbourhood scale commercial. The proposed scale of development is intended to be sensitive to the neighbourhood context. The application proposes to subdivide ±2.21 hectares out of two parcels currently totalling 21.42 hectares, that make up the current Richmond Green park and operations site.

The application proposes to remove 2.21 ha of open space from the western edge of Richmond Green Park and add 4.03 ha of open space by adding the OWC site into the open space network. This results in a net gain of 1.82 ha of open space within the Revised CFB West Master Plan and community. This application is therefore in keeping with Policy 12.3.4 of the Revised CFB West Master Plan that indicates there should be no net loss of open space within the plan area.

This application also includes a policy amendment to the Revised Currie Barracks CFB West Master Plan to delete and replace the existing “Figure 4 General Development Concept” to remove this area from Parks and Open Space and to designate it as residential with the potential to offer a limited range of neighbourhood supporting commercial uses. All other figures and tables will be updated to reflect this change.

This application also includes a policy amendment to the Revised Currie Barracks CFB West Master Plan to delete and replace the existing “Figure 4 General Development Concept” to remove this area from Parks and Open Space and to designate it as residential with the potential to offer a limited range of neighbourhood supporting commercial uses. All other figures and tables will be updated to reflect this change.

*The concept pictured above is provided for illustration purposes only. If the land use/outline plan application is approved the property would be sold on the open market and the future purchaser/builder would create their own concept plan for review (within the constraints of the approved land use) at the development permit application stage.

VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE VIDEO (2021)

The project team has been working to refine the Preferred Concept Plan and we are ready to share it with the public. All of the priorities, suggestions and concerns captured in the concept design phase and previous phases have been considered, along with their feasibility. The plan will help improve park amenities, programming, and other opportunities to enhance recreation and nature in Richmond Green Park.

You can also review the PDF presentation of the Preferred Concept Plan process. Included in here is brief review of the history of concept designs and how we got to the Preferred Concept Plan shown above. Please note this is a concept design to show general design and uses. Final placement of features and amenities in the park will be determined in the detailed design stage. At this point we are seeking your comments on this overall Preferred Concept Plan and associated uses.

The opportunity for input is now closed. Thank you for your time and input on this project.

Provide your ranking in response to the questions below with 5 stars being it fully meets the design criteria and 1 star being does not meet the design criteria. The open comment box at the end is provided for you to add comments, questions or clarity to the previous questions response should you wish to do so.

Click on Preferred Concept Plan map below for reference if required.

You may notice a few differences between the Final Concept Plan and the Preferred Concept Plan shared during engagement in Spring 2023.

In the Final Concept Plan, the proposed pickleball and basketball courts were located in the southeast corner of the park. In the Final Design Concept, these courts have been moved to the north side of the park, next to the tennis courts, this puts all sports courts in the same area and minimize impacts to the existing topography and trees. As a result, the pump track has moved to the southeast corner of the park.

Please check out the Important Links section to view the What We Heard Reports from all rounds of public engagement. Thank you for continued interest and valuable input on this project.

March 2024

We are now progressing from the Final Concept Plan into the detailed design phase of the park redevelopment. Utiliizing the Final Concept Plan, the project team is working on the detailed design and the exact placement of amenities are subject to change as we move through this process.

The Final Concept Plan has been developed through an extensive and informed process. Multiple rounds of public and internal engagement and ongoing dialogue with the City project team and its partners has been important in refining the function and impact of the design. Click on the link for the full What We Did Report provided by our consultants. Also see map below for an overview of the Final Concept Plan.

Feedback received through engagement is considered and balanced in conjunction with other factors such as design principles and site constraints, as well as environmental, operational, and financial considerations, as we continue in our process of detailed design.

October 2022

Now that City Council has authorized Administration to publicly market the 5-acre mixed-use development parcel (the purchaser application process opened on October 3 and closes December 2), with revenue from this sale going directly into updating and developing the park space.

January- April 2022

We wanted to share what we’ve been up to, having shifted our attention to planning the future of the expanded park at Richmond Green. At a high level, this will involve planning out the design (we'll create what's called a Park Design Development Plan), conducting community and stakeholder engagement to inform the proposal and obtaining the required land use and outline plan approvals. The consultant/City team has been formed and a project schedule and work plan is being prepared, with public engagement opportunities anticipated to begin in spring 2022 (TBC). Here’s what else is going on. Onsite work in progress Site walk to identify opportunities/constraints to better understand what may/may not be possible Environmental studies to determine remediation requirements on the depot lands Building studies to determine demolition parameters for structures on the depot lands Topographic surveys to determine existing grades and site elements Heavy Equipment onsite click here to view public notice Of note, there will be heavy equipment onsite starting February 1 and lasting approximately 2 weeks. The equipment will be used for geotechnical and environmental drilling as noted above. Temporary Use for Clubhouse Also of note, the former golf course clubhouse building has been leased to the Calgary Horticultural Society on a temporary basis. Its future permanent use will be discussed as part of the Park Design Development Plan work. Other work to follow Developing a public engagement / communication plan; ideally events would happen in person, however this is TBD considering COVID Preparing for a pre-application meeting with the planning authority Conducting an internal design workshop with the core project team Transitioning the engagement website to focus on the Park Design Development Plan Reaching out to stakeholders internal to The City such as the Indigenous Relations Office, Corporate Security, Calgary Transit, Water Resources, Parks, etc. Reaching out to stakeholders external to The City (Rutland Park, Richmond/Knob Hill and Killarney-Glengarry community associations, Carewest, Lutheran Manor, Calgary West Little League, Horticultural Society, Disc Golf Society). Drop us a line if you think there other groups/organizations we have not yet identified Communicating with Canada Lands Company regarding transportation obligations tied to the approval of the Currie Barracks land use and outline plan Transition of the now approved mixed-use site to operations The portion of the site that was approved in July 2021 for residential/commercial mixed-use development will now be handled by The City’s real estate sales group in accordance with The City’s real property bylaw. The public marketing of the site ‘for sale’ through calgary.ca/realestate will take place in 2022. The purchaser will be responsible for clearing the final steps in the development cycle, which include the Development Permit and Building Permit approvals.

December Updates:

Having received Council direction to develop a revised plan and program for the expanded park at Richmond Green, Administration has been building the consultant and City team that will complete what is being called a Park Development Plan. The team is preparing a schedule and work plan, with public engagement anticipated to commence in Q1 of 2022. Meanwhile the team’s focus has been to coordinate:

- Environmental studies for the depot to determine salt depth and remediation requirements

- Building studies at the depot to determine building composition and materials, which informs demolition parameters

- Topographic surveys to determine existing grades and site elements

In November, The City responded to a 2021 September 13 Administrative Inquiry submitted by Councillor Farkas. Click here (https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=186082) to view the response; and here (https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=cd49821d-b4ad-4b04-8311-98fde7981767&Agenda=PostMinutes&lang=English&Item=145&Tab=attachments; scroll down to item 15.2) for the inquiry.

There is also news about the former golf course clubhouse. On a temporary basis beginning in Q1 of 2022, the building is being rented to the Calgary Horticultural Society. It’s future permanent use will be discussed as part of the upcoming work, subject to consideration for municipal need and in accordance with The City’s Real Property Bylaw.

July Update:

Thank you for your input to the project. You can now view the What We Heard report here.

Verbatim document available in links section or click here.

To view the latest updated FAQ's please click here.

June Update:

Needs Assessment - June 8 (committee) and June 21 (Council)

The Richmond Green needs assessment report is anticipated to be on the agenda of the Priorities and Finance Committee (PFC) on June 8, 2021, followed by Council on June 21, 2021. The report, which includes land and funding recommendations, will be publicly available around June 02, 2021, here: https://www.calgary.ca/ca/city-clerks/legislative-services/agenda-minutes.html. Land Use Application - June 17 (Calgary Planning Commission) and July 26 (Public Hearing/Council) The Richmond Green land use application is anticipated to be on the Thursday, June 17, 2021, agenda of Calgary Planning Commission, followed by the Monday, July 26, 2021, Public Hearing/Council meeting. CPC will make a recommendation on the application for Council’s consideration, and Council will then make a decision during the Public Hearing after listening to members of the public speak about the application. Current vs. proposed allocation of land Subsequent to the May 4 virtual open house, the Richmond Green project team had follow up meetings internally with Transportation and Transit. A portion of the east side of Richmond Green park (widening of Crowchild TR) is required by Transit for a future bus route. May Update: We would like to thank everyone who was able to join us for the presentation and Q&A session on Tuesday May 4th. If you were not able to join us the recording of that session is posted on this page for you to watch. As outlined in the presentation, and in the timeline, we are seeking your input on both the Future Use / Needs Assessment and Land Use Amendment / Outline Plan (see tabs below). Although these two scopes of work are intertwined they do follow an individual process. The Land Use process will allow the securing of funding to explore opportunities to develop the overall park space to meet future needs of the community and park users. When looking at the entirety of the lands of Richmond Green Park this process will result in a net gain of green space and provide possibility for enhanced public use. We invite you to review the information provided on this page and then give us your input and thoughts. Thank you. View May Q&A Presentation (15MB)

As outlined in the timeline provided we conducting two scopes of work within this project. We are looking for your input on the Future Use / Needs Assessment which will gauge interest in future possibilities for consideration in moving forward with park development and the Land Use / Outline Plan Amendment as a piece within the plan to provide a funding source towards that development.

Thank you for your continued interest. You can continue to receive e-mail updates by clicking on the "subscribe" in the red Stay Connected box.