edmontonboss: The decision to close the Edmonton's City Airport ...

edmontonboss: The decision to close the Edmonton's City Airport ...: "The decision to close the Edmonton's City Airport was a blow to the history of the airport. Since its first operation in 1909, a lot of even..."

Edmonton City Centre lands development

Edmonton city council plans to go ahead with an ambitious re-development project that is in line with the City's Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and Transportation Master Plan (TMP), which focuses on a more compact urban form, and moves development focus away from the suburbs. The lands will be a mixed-use area, providing residence for around 30,000 people, and incorporating a significant amount of commercial and retail space in close proximity to the Downtown core.
The LRT North line running from Downtown to NAIT will provide easy access to and from the Airport Lands community. The 217 hectares of land on this site will be transformed, and will generate up to $500 million from land sales.
The 'Master Plan Design Competition" allowed applicants to submit design proposals for the redevelopment. A winner for the design concept will likely be chosen by the end of this year.

Closure of City Centre Airport

Edmonton city council approved the closure of the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) on July 8, 2009. The closure would take place in two phases, the first beginning immediately after the approval.

The closure of the Edmonton City Centre airport was very controversial, as there were quite a few services running through it. It is also considered a very historical site. In my opinion, the main reason behind the final decision to close the airport was the location. It is located in a very prominent area of Edmonton, and such a large site in such a developing neighbourhood created a lot of upset between the major developing companies in Edmonton. I believe it was a smart choice to close the airport, and the site it is located on could be used for more important things.

A visit to the Alberta Aviation Museum

Choosing the Edmonton City Centre Airport as a topic made me aware of the existence of the a Alberta Aviation Museum.I visited the Museum for the first time in seven years and it was worth it, therefore thanks to my blog teammates for the awareness. I managed to get pictures to one of the first planes to land on the airport.Closing of the Airport is going to affect the operations and revenue of the museum to sustain it,so they will have to rely on visitors and donors to keep it operational.

       The airport has a rich aviation history, being the first licensed airfield in Canada (1929). I feel a little pity for demolish the airport. But the city need to development, on the premise of kept the airport museum. I think demolish the airport is a good thing for city developmet.

       Edmonton City Centre Airport is mainly used for air charter , general aviation , flight training and medivac ( air ambulance ).
       The city council decided the eastern side of the airport is expected to be transferred to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology while the remainder will be a mixed-use business and residential development.

The decision to close the Edmonton's City Airport was a blow to the history of the airport. Since its first operation in 1909, a lot of events took place: the first licence to an airport (ECCA) was insured in 1929, used as a stop over during the World War 11,a weather station was established in 1937 to service the Prairies and the main cargo airport for North America.

Edmonton Mayor Forum, Question Regarding City Center Airport