The Canadian Pacific Railway Strathcona Station was built by the Calgary & Edmonton Railway in what was then the City of Strathcona, Alberta. It was started in 1907, completed in 1908, and expanded in 1910, and is located at what is now 8101 Gateway Boulevard, just south of Whyte Avenue. The building was initially the northern terminus of the Calgary & Edmonton Railway serving Strathcona and Edmonton, although Canadian Pacific later expanded that line north across the North Saskatchewan River via the High Level Bridge into Edmonton proper. The building was designated a Canadian Heritage Railway Station in 1991, when it was still owned by CP and therefore subject to federal regulation. After being sold by CP it was designated a Municipal Historic Resource in 2003, and a Provincial Historic Resource in 2004. Currently the building is home to the Iron Horse Night Club, one of Edmonton's largest nightclubs - 25 Oct 2009 Photographer unknown.

30 August 2011

Strathcona Junction Clicks with the Public

Edmonton Alberta - A long, skinny area that stretches south of Whyte Avenue to 63rd Avenue between the railway tracks and 104th Street was renamed Strathcona Junction by the city.
 
The change was officially approved last week, but planners had already started using it on certain documents and "it seemed to click with the public," Erik Backstrom, senior planner at the City of Edmonton, said.
 
"We started hearing residents talk about The Junction," he said.
 
Previously known as CPR West because of its location west of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks, the area has been slowly transforming from an industrial area to a more commercial and residential neighbourhood.
 
"The name change reflects the fact that the area's changing," Backstrom said.
 
"The word junction has a railway connotation, a junction also means a place where two or more things come together, and we just thought the word captured well what was going on in the area," he said.
 
Backstrom said the area had been somewhat marginal before because it is squished between the Queen Alexandra and Allendale neighbourhoods on one side and the railway area on the other. But it had a lot of positive things going for it on its own, so planners decided to give it a positive identity.
 
City planners are focusing on the redevelopment of a wider area that includes Strathcona Junction. Since the area includes Gateway Boulevard, some of the focus is on improving this gateway to the city. While they see the area as a place existing industries can stay, they also want to make the area more urban by encouraging certain types of development so it blends with bordering Whyte Avenue and its commercial feel.
 
But one thing the public won't see are signs indicating the name change.
 
"Older neighbourhoods generally don't have signs indicating an entrance or exit," Backstrom said, as opposed to the suburbs, where developers will put up displays with an area name.
 
"The identity is primarily going to be technical, so if you look at a map, or own land in the area, you'll see the name," he said.
 
"It's those things that help remind people of an identity."
 
Lana Cuthbertson.