Barb Scott Park Concept

The City of Calgary released a preliminary concept for Beltline’s new park. Created by Deron Miller of Scatliff + Miller + Murray, the design addresses many of the principles identified in an earlier open house conducted by Beltline Communities.

In the 2007 open house, participants said they wanted a park that would accommodate active and passive uses activities, provide trees, flowers and other plantings, include public art, allow for easy pedestrian passage through the park and be well-lit and safe.

The design concept includes a large oval greenspace at the centre of the site, called the “grand lawn” surrounded by a paved oval walk. This would provide an uninterrupted area for picnics, reading or people watching and also allows pedestrians to cut across or walk around the site.

Also included in the design are gardens at the northwest corner – something Beltline residents expressed a great desire for. Abundant seating and trees are present in the southeast corner of the site. 

There were plans for a stage at the south end of the oval which had been intended to be used for occasional programming. When not being used as a stage, it would have been a water feature, however these features have been removed due to budget constraints.

Opportunities for public art was realized in the creation of the Chinook Arc. The City had originally allocated $370,000 for the public art and the entire project originally had a $3 million budget.