Design Development

In July 2020, The City shared two preliminary concepts with the public for feedback. Through this process, community preferences were identified – and this information helped to inform the redevelopment plan for Humpy Hollow Park.

The below park renderings reflect the “preferred concept”. These align with the visions and principles approved by City Council in December 2019 as well as the wishes and of the community members and public.

View the What We Heard, What We Did Report for more details on the City-led public engagement process to see how your input was used in the creation of the “Preferred Concept”.

Park Murals

A series of wall murals were completed in 2021 by the Beltline Urban Mural Project (BUMP). Toronto-based aerosol artist, Elicser Elliot coined this piece “Thanks for Being There to Hold My Years As They Burn”. Inspired by the energy, vibrancy and cultural diversity of Calgary, the mural centres on love, support and holding space for another – while encouraging patience and understanding for all.

PREFERRED CONCEPT

The City is always looking for opportunities to foster urban vitality with vibrant public spaces where citizens can connect with each other. In its previous state, Humpy Hollow Park was underutilized, unnoticed, and underappreciated – and a prime candidate for redevelopment.

In Spring of 2018, the Beltline Neighbourhood Association (BNA) was awarded a conceptual drawing grant from Parks Foundation Calgary to provide funding for the creation of a redevelopment concept for this park space. With the help of a consultant who led a series of engagement workshops, a concept and vision for the park was developed. This was then taken to the Beltline Community Investment Fund (BCIF) Committee to ask for a funding request. The purpose of this funding request was to take this project through detailed design, further engagement, permitting, and construction. This funding request was approved by the BCIF committee in April 2019, and then by the Priorities and Finance Committee (PFC) and City Council in December 2019.

The City then hired a consultant (DIALOG) to work through a series of site analysis and concept refinement exercises to create two preliminary concepts based off of the vision and principles developed in the 2018 community-led engagement.

In 2020, The City then initiated an additional round of public engagement and asked the public for their feedback and preferences on the two preliminary concepts. This information, along with the visions and principles approved by Council in 2019 were used to develop the “preferred concept”.

The Beltline is a community with one of the highest residential densities in the city, yet it has one of the lowest quantities of local open space. It is significantly below the city average for the total amount of park space provided per capita.

The Centre City Open Space Management Plan recommends that for every 1,000 residents, one hectare of park space be provided; the Beltline community offers less than one-third of this amount. Given this scarcity of open space in the community, the long-term value and quality of the Beltline’s existing parks like Humpy Hollow Park is essential to the community’s well-being.

Findings from 2018 community-led engagement

After completing several visioning exercises with community stakeholder groups in 2018, the following vision and principles were developed to guide the redevelopment of Humpy Hollow Park:

Humpy Hollow Park will be a welcoming, vibrant and dynamic community space for all to use and enjoy.

• Humpy Hollow Park will celebrate the local community and culture;
• The park will be a multi-use space considering the needs and desires of a wide variety of user groups;
• Artful, non-traditional play will be included in the design of the park;
• The park will be well-lit and welcoming

What we heard from the 2018 community-led engagement:

The park should include:

(Click to enlarge images)

(Click to enlarge images)