Transitioning. STREETCAR REMINISCENCE PLAZA

It was a big day in Calgary on July 5, 1909, when the first streetcars rolled along the city’s thoroughfares. For the next thirty-seven years, streetcars snaked across Calgary, linked neighbourhoods and connected citizens. After their retirement in 1946, the tracks they left behind have still been parts of the urban systems as pieces of residual lands. And since they have no name, no custodian, they are left to waste or eliminated in endless cycles of urban renewal. What if we could revitalize these voids in the urban fabric? How might many small spaces, functioning as discrete elements but acting together, trigger a systemic change for a more livable community?

Inglewood is a neighbourhood in central Calgary since 1911 and this historical neighbourhood has managed to keep it charms for over a century. The streetcars running along its main street was the recipe for creating this vibrant community with appeal. A strategic site is a residual space adjacent to Inglewood’s main street, where the streetcars crossed by. Complex flows and intersections have caused this space less spatially defined. For a long time, it has functioned or dysfunctioned informally with no assistance or attention. The space is now poised for a transition to reinforce the continuity of the regional pathway system. This project finds a way to evoke memories of this derelict space by celebrating the flows of people, energy, and connectivity, reminiscing strong and continuous movements as once the streetcars used to carry people across Calgarians’ cherished Inglewood.