What do you think of this project?

  • I like it a lot

    Votes: 17 70.8%

  • I like it

    Votes: 6 25.0%

  • I neither like nor dislike it

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • I dislike it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I dislike it a lot

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    24
There's a large relief on the exterior ("Serving Youth Throughout the World"). Would there be plans to move it somewhere?

EDIT: may just be a carving, hard to tell from the photo and I don't recall from walking past
 
Got it. If it is salvageable I suppose it could be moved to the new-ish YMCA further west as a lobby feature item (that said, I haven't heard of anyone asking for it nor of anyone wanting to preserve it). The new doors would blow out the entire centre section of the ground floor with two out-swinging doors on either side of centre-pivoting doors, the latter would open up to the outside when weather allows (there might also be an issue with the Health Department in that regard). The plan is to have the ground floor connect to a 2-storey space hence the clerestory windows above the doors. Considering the make-over of the facade on these two levels, I can't imagine saving the bas-relief that has more to do with a YMCA idiom than anything planned for the re-do.
 
I searched around a bit, and there is a 2020 Facebook post from the group "Heritage Forward" that says:
Relief mural designed by Lee Kow Yuen, on the former Y.M.C.A. building at 10030 102A Avenue. The building is currently being redeveloped into Williams Hall, by Beljan Development. The mural will be saved.
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I hope this is true, because I think it's quite nice! It's also mentioned in this Edmonton Journal piece on Dane Ryksen.
 
I agree -- it should be saved if possible. Is the Heritage Forward group still focused on this (by the way, I like the idea of the group)?
 
Edmcowboy11 said:
The relief would be nice to be preserved and put somewhere that it can be appreciated.
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I believe it's going to be relocated inside of the building into the commercial spaces, but here is the approved DP elevation:

1744231207023.png
 
I believe these spaces are akin to what one would see in Los Angeles' Grand Central Market (https://grandcentralmarket.com/) and the Apartment spaces above (Grand Central Apartments -- https://gcmapartments.com). I think that the vibe is better described as "funky and hip" rather than "swanky". I love the idea that the lower floor begs for a Microbrewery with kitchen -- a real positive for the downtown scene. I expect that this building will, when complete, radically change the vibe of this part of downtown -- once again Beljan proves that they (the company) know what they are doing (they have obviously done the research!).
 
Markyeg said:
Nothing swanky at all about this development. The units are TINY and don’t even have in-suite laundry.
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Not having in-suite laundry isn't a deal breaker for many people, especially if the rents are reasonable. A lot of older buildings downtown have shared laundry. I've lived in one myself. It's fine
 
Dubas said:
They’re subsidized and supposed to be affordable. If it brings people downtown, it’s more than worth it.
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Not everyone wants or needs a lot of space and affordability is important to a lot of people.

This is well located, very central and if the building renovation proceeds as planned, they will have nice amenities and services right in their own building.

If it goes as planned, it will also change the vibe of this part of downtown
 
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