Here’s the latest installment of the Transforming Edmonton Quiz, featuring some of the great things from last month about this city and the people who make it go. Answers are at the bottom.
1. Testing, testing LRT
Testing the new Valley Line Southeast trains along the route that will connect Mill Woods to downtown is giving Edmontonians a good look at what urban-style LRT service feels like. For the most part, the trains run on the streets—with traffic, pedestrians and cyclists—and not in tunnels.
“Trains will feel much more integrated with the communities and roadways, and trains will move with traffic at posted community speeds, just like any other vehicle,” says Brad Smid, the Director of Valley Line for the City of Edmonton.
The shiny trains themselves will be headquartered in a large, new operations and maintenance facility built by TransEd and named after a former City Councillor (aldermen they were called back then) who advocated for community-style LRT. Who was that city builder?
a) Ed Leger
b) Olivia Butti
c) Bettie Hewes
d) Gerry Wright
Here’s the story, and some of the voices, behind the name on the building.
2. Downhill to fly on!
Producer Daniel Cournoyer calls Flying Canoë Volant (pimihâw waskwayôsis) “a celebration of founding minority cultures of the Edmonton area [who are] here to celebrate with all of Edmonton.” In February, the finishing touches were put on the ice track at the Edmonton Ski Club, down which teams will race their canoes before battling each other in a log-sawing competition and, then, matching skills in what Canadian winter pastime?
a) Axe-throwing
b) Cribbage
c) Speedskating
d) Car-battery boosting
The festival, which runs March 1-5, features a Mill Creek Ravine walk programmed with light, music and culture, along with reverie at La Cité Francophone. Vive l’Edmonton! Vive l’hiver!
3. City builder
Titilope Sonuga has many talents. She once worked as an engineer at the City of Edmonton. Among the projects she had a hand in was the 23rd Avenue interchange. Sonuga has since put her protractor away and taken up a different profession. And, lucky for the City, she’s back as:
a) a Transit operator?
b) the Poet Laureate?
c) a firefighter?
d) a City Councillor?
Sonuga is also the creative force behind the Tenderness Edmonton project, which she describes as “a collage of really beautiful things, slivers of lights through hard times.” Read all about Titilope Sonuga in a Transforming Edmonton feature post. Photo above by Nicholas Yee.
4. Homecoming
“These are apartments,” says Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust. “Folks have leases. This is their home. It’s not an institutional response.”
McGee is speaking about supportive housing apartment buildings that have efficiently taken shape over the last few months in five Edmonton neighbourhoods: Wellington, King Edward Park, Inglewood, Terrace Heights and Wellington. The modular pods are pre-built at Northgate Industries and then craned in. In February, the final pods were set in place in Terrace Heights and Wellington, setting the stage for residents to move in and be at home.
Approximately how many living units will these five facilities provide for Edmontonians?
a) 98
b) 150
c) 178
d) 210
If you’re interested in learning more about our community’s work to get this project off the ground, here’s some background on how the supportive housing project took shape in Edmonton.
5. Being transparent
These clever structures started popping up in three City of Edmonton parks in February to help Edmontonians embrace winter. What are they?
a) Ice-fishing tents
b) Soccer ball public art. Go, Alphonso!!!
c) Winter domes for skaters and park users
d) Night sky observatories
The structures are waiting for you to enjoy safely in Hawrelak Park, Victoria Park and Rundle Park.
Stay warm, stay kind!
Answers:
1-d, 2-a, 3-b, 4-d, 5-c