Courtesy of K. Jack Cook Photography
Rossdale Power Plant on HCF’s Endangered List?
Great to have the profile, but we’re working on some great possibilities. Look for more on this as we look towards City Council presentations on July 8th.
Archive | June, 2013
The Birthplace of Edmonton and Alberta
25 Jun
First Nations tents in Rossdale, 1920. Photo courtesy of City of Edmonton Archies, EA-160-165
Named for pioneer settler Donald Ross, the area known as Rossdale is rich in human history. It was here that Edmonton began life as a fur trading post in 1801, and where Alberta was inaugurated as a province in 1905 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
In the early days of the 20th century, it was the birthplace of Edmonton Power.
Situated on the broad flat scoured by the North Saskatchewan River and now at the north end of the Walterdale Bridge, it’s easy to see why this was a place First Nations people gathered for thousands of years. The river was the principal transportation corridor in prehistoric and early historic times, and fur trading companies chose the north shore of the river right here for the trading outposts of Fort Edmonton and Edmonton House.
By Lawrence Herzog
Chelsea Boos’s Open Letter to the Rossdale Power Plant
14 Jun
The Mayor has warned that it may ask the province to remove the Historical Designation (for the second time) on this imposing yet beautiful piece of architecture, a landmark of Edmonton, a testament to the site where people have settled for thousands of years, and a symbol of the growth of the city as we know it.
It would cost only 7.4 million dollars to stabilize the complex of buildings, which have minor structural issues, plus 87 million dollars to save and later repurpose the plant into one of many fantastic visions already developed and studied. Meanwhile, the city has just announced that it will fund a 35 million dollar gondola from downtown to the Rossdale Community. Maybe I’m just cynical, but it sounds to me like a certain someone wants waterfront development, and thinks this old thing is in the way.
By Chelsea Boos
visit her website here
Rossdale ReGeneration 
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