Edmonton Minute: Blatchford Projections, KDays Attendance, and a New Green Space

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• There is a single meeting at City Hall this week. The Agenda Review Committee will meet on Tuesday at 8:30 am to set the agenda for the Council meeting that is taking place on August 20th.
  
  
• The former site of the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) in Edmonton, which operated from 1967 to 2015, will be demolished to make way for a new green space. Alberta Infrastructure plans to preserve the Government House and Carriage House buildings while converting the main building into a space for families to gather. Public input will be sought through an online survey to help design the new area. The cost of renovating the original RAM building was deemed too high, estimated at $150 million.
  
  
• It’s Heritage Day! The Edmonton Heritage Festival runs from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm today, and features several updates in an attempt to enhance the experience for attendees. The festival will be held at Exhibition Lands and Borden Park for the second time as Hawrelak Park is still under construction. To combat the heat, misting tents, water stations, and indoor rest areas will be available, and kid-world will move indoors. Improved transit options include increased LRT service and park-and-ride facilities, while parking on-site will cost $20. Additionally, the Edmonton Food Bank will be collecting donations at the festival to support those in need. More information is available online.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• Edmonton experienced an 11% drop in crime rates last year, contrasting with a nationwide increase of over 3%. Significant reductions were seen in property crimes, particularly a 15% decrease in catalytic converter thefts and a 27.5% drop in motor vehicle thefts under $5,000. However, the severity of violent crimes rose by 4%, driven by incidents involving firearms and weapons. Fraud and extortion saw notable increases, with extortions up nearly 25% and frauds over 7%, linked to a series of crimes targeting the South Asian community. What do you think? Does it feel like Edmonton is getting safer to you?
  
  
• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi predicted that Blatchford will eventually house 30,000 residents, although at the current rate of progress, that goal would take over a thousand years to achieve. Since the 2009 decision to convert the City Centre Airport into a residential area, only 90 homes have been occupied. Sohi defended the slow pace, attributing it to extensive preliminary work, including asphalt removal, contamination cleanup, and infrastructure development.
  
  
• KDays 2024 drew 741,905 attendees, marking a 33% increase from the previous year’s 557,000 guests. Despite challenging weather conditions, the festival's highest single-day attendance was 127,875. This year's festival featured 515 vendors, new thrill rides, a Happy Beer Garden, Park After Dark, and a Taylor Shines: Swifties Dance Party, along with eight misting stations for heat relief. In comparison, the Calgary Stampede set a new attendance record with 1,477,953 visitors.

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