THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING.

Please click here for the Phase 3 What We Heard Report and the Verbatim. It is also in the links section.

The City of Calgary, in partnership with the University of Calgary, has created a Concept Plan for the City-owned Foothills Athletic Park and university-owned McMahon Stadium lands. It is an enduring home of recreational and competitive sport and is used by the entire city. The Concept Plan provides a roadmap for the future development of the site that reflects the needs of its users and the community.

The Concept Plan project focused on creating a vision for the lands that recognizes the tremendous opportunity of a potential new fieldhouse, improvements to McMahon stadium, and the growing trend toward entertainment focused mixed-use districts anchored by sports facilities. A mixed-use district is described as pedestrian-friendly area with a mix of residential, commercial, cultural, or institutional uses.

This vision was achieved through a design process supported by several technical studies along with public and stakeholder group engagement. The mission of the project was to create a vision and plan that integrates into and enhances surrounding areas, meets Calgarians’ recreation goals, and explores the significant economic development opportunity of this site.

While the Foothills Athletic Park and McMahon Stadium Lands are still heavily used, most of the buildings and facilities either need to be refurbished or demolished due to their age and condition. In 2010, The City of Calgary created a Master Plan for the Foothills Athletic Park, however a plan for the entire site, including the university-owned McMahon Stadium lands, has never been developed. This lack of planning alignment has resulted in an inefficient layout and an inability to recognize and respond to future opportunities.

To learn about the resulting Concept Plan please see below.

To view the What We Heard Report Phase 1 - Explore and results of the charrette Phase 2 - Create please see the links section on this page.

With an identified need for improved infrastructure, the site is primed for change. Calgarians now have opportunity to rethink what Foothills Athletic Park and McMahon Lands could be, and to plan for the future.

The redevelopment vision will be created based on input from public and stakeholder groups.

The engagement process will take place over three phases and will start (Phase One) and end (Phase Three) with participation from the public. In between, a design exercise called a charette (April 12-23, 2021) will take place with targeted stakeholder groups. The approach is further described below:

Phase One: Explore

In this phase, public engagement is focused on identifying how the site is used today, and opportunities to enhance it through the Concept Plan process. Findings will inform Phase Two.

Phase Two: Create

This phase is centered on the virtual charrette process. A charrette involves multiple engagement sessions with a broad range of stakeholder groups to provide input into creative design solutions for the project. To learn more about the charrette, please see a description in the section below.

Phase Three: Share

Following the charrette, a near final design concept will be shared publicly. Public engagement is focused on collecting feedback on the design concept.

What is a charrette?

A charrette involves multiple engagement sessions with various stakeholder groups to provide input into creative design solutions for the project established by the Core Design team. The core team presents preliminary design concepts to the greater group, and ultimately to the public for ongoing feedback to steer design.

The work falls into two streams:

• The first involves a design studio where the Core Design Team will work collaboratively to generate design concepts and illustrate ideas as they are continually refined.
• The second stream includes a series of focused topic sessions. Findings from these sessions are communicated to the core team and inform the design process.

Over the two-week charrette, presentations from the Core Design Team and focused topic sessions will be facilitated through Zoom Webinars. Members of the public are invited to watch these sessions to listen to subject matter experts, learn more about the site and watch the concept design generation and refinement, and may also submit charette-related questions/comments online.

At the end of the charrette, a near final concept will be shared publicly, followed by an engagement summary report, outlining what was heard and how input influenced the final design.

A schedule for the charrette is as follows:

How can I participate?

1. Phase One: Complete the pre-charette engagement questions (see below)
2. Phase Two: Watch the charette sessions (in real time and recorded)
3. Phase Three: Provide feedback on the DRAFT final plan

Below were the questions from Phase One engagement and webinars from Phase Two engagement.

Session: Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan - Project Introduction Presentation
Date: Monday, April 12, 2021
Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm

View presentation

Session: Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan - Preliminary Concept Scenario Presentation
Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm

View presentation

Session: Civil Engineering and Servicing (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Time: 9:00am-10:00am

View presentation

Session: Transportation and Parking (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Time: 10:30am-11:30am

View presentation

Session: Recreation, Stadium and Fieldhouse (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm

View Presentation

Session: Parks and Public Spaces (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Time: 2:30pm-3:30pm

View Presentation

Session: Development and Market (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm

View Presentation

Session: Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan - Refined Concept Scenario Presentation
Date: Monday, April 19, 2021
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm

View Presentation

Session: Webinar #2: Civil Engineering and Servicing (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Time: 9:00am-10:00am

View Presentation

Session: Webinar #2: Transportation and Parking (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Time: 10:30am-11:30am

View Presentation

Session: Webinar #2: Recreation, Stadium and Fieldhouse (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm

View Presentation

Session: Webinar #2: Parks and Public Spaces (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Time: 2:30pm-3:30pm

View Presentation

Session: Webinar #2: Development and Market (Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan)
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm

View Presentation

Session: Foothills + McMahon Concept Plan - Closing Presentation
Date: Friday, April 23, 2021
Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm

View Presentation

Please note that new arenas and pool will be included in the Multi-sport Fieldhouse complex (1) to replace the existing facilities (Father David Bauer Arena and Foothills Pool).

Scroll through the images below to see different orientations of the concept.

Multi-sport Fieldhouse

• The proposed fieldhouse is a separate project from the F+M Concept Plan, however this plan is being developed with consideration of the future development of a multi-sport fieldhouse.
• Once built, the fieldhouse will serve as a major sports facility for professional and amateur sports and recreation including multi-sport turfs, an indoor track, fitness/training areas, arenas, pools, and spectator seating, with an ability to support international competition.
• Located in the northeastern portion of the site, the Fieldhouse will include new arenas and pool to replace the Father David Bauer Arena and Foothills pool.

Entertainment District, Stadium Front Door, Transit Interface

• The Concept Plan leverages two major sporting venues, a planned multi-sport fieldhouse and the existing McMahon Stadium to create a four-season mixed-use recreation and entertainment village.
• The Concept Plan also identifies a new front door for the stadium which is supported by a multi-use and four-season entertainment plaza. This area establishes a sense of place and creates a unique opportunity for entertainment uses, restaurants, hotels, and outdoor patios to enhance user experience and draw more people to the site throughout the year.
• A pedestrian parade runs along the north side of the stadium, providing formal tailgate parking area that connect to the entertainment plaza on the east side.
• The plan also depicts a widened land bridge across Crowchild Trail, improving the connection to the Banff Trail LRT Station.
• The project team considered potential upgrades to the existing CFL Stadium as part of the Concept Plan (such upgrades are a separate project).

Interface at University/24^th Avenue

• The University of Calgary, located north of the subject site, has been an active stakeholder in developing the current Concept Plan, therefore the Plan considers the development context of the University of Calgary and seeks to align with it.
• In general, a key aspect of the Concept Plan is to improve transit, pedestrian, and cycle connections within the site and to the regional network and identifies the following elements:
  • Inviting people into the site by providing a bike plaza along 24 Avenue NW, improving integration with the cycle network and the University of Calgary.
  • Reducing the focus on the automobile and encouraging pedestrian and cycling along internal “woonerf” (shared, pedestrian-friendly streets with traffic calming measures in place) streets.
  • Improving the connection to the Banff Trail Station by creating an enhanced and accessible land bridge over Crowchild Trail.

Central Green Space

• The Concept Plan contemplates three outdoor sports fields that can be arranged and programmed to support a variety of informal and formal sports and recreation activities. The fields have been arranged to create a “green finger” into the western/central part of the site, complementing the existing residential to the west.
• The central fields and track are bound by a walkable network with the pedestrian parade in the south and retail/patio activation in the north, supporting event programming and informal social and leisure activities.
• Existing fields will be upgraded with retaining walls to allow for better drainage to increase usage.

Redevelopment at University Drive

• The Concept Plan offers future opportunity for residential and commercial redevelopment that complements existing and future development at the University of Calgary. The project team conducted a market study to analyze small-scale neighbourhood retail opportunities throughout the plan area and quadrant.
• Several patio opportunities have been identified along south and west facing building frontages which provide views to the central sport fields.
• The Concept Plan identifies small blocks and building heights ranging from three to 13 storeys that step down to five storeys along University Drive and 24 Avenue NW.

South Infill/Parking Opportunity

• A key aspect of the Concept Plan is to minimize wasted space and maximize walkable, bikeable, and transitable connections to reduce the existing focus on the car. Therefore, the Plan maximizes redevelopment potential by managing parking in underground or above-ground parking structures.
• The south portion of the Concept Plan sites an opportunity for a multi-use structured parking facility that houses a sports field on the roof (Similar to SAIT’s innovative field and parkade concept).