May 22, 2008
(Red Deer, Alberta) – Renowned urban planners Michael von Hausen and Michael Geller are coming to Red Deer June 23 to lead the community in shaping a vision for downtown.
“We’re excited to have such depth of urban planning experience joining our team,” said Ed Morris, Greater Downtown Coordinator. “The downtown will benefit from extensive community input and vision to help build an urban design framework to serve Red Deer well into the future.”
On June 23, von Hausen will lead an evening workshop on the future of the downtown. From June 23 to June 26 his team will prepare key urban design concepts for downtown Red Deer. Concepts will be displayed for input June 24 and will be presented on June 26 based on the input received.
Geller’s main role will be to introduce the Greater Downtown Action Plan 2008 at a June 23 luncheon.
“We see this event as being a cross between a traditional urban planning workshop and a professional development day,” said Morris. “Our intent is to build knowledge, awareness and interest in key concepts while getting input for planning directions.”
The Greater Downtown Action Plan (GDAP) will encompass most of the areas in the river valley, north of the river, including the city commercial centre. Parkvale, Cannery Row and Riverlands. In addition, related plans such as the Chamber of Commerce’s Riverwalk project, known informally by the community as the canals project, will be fed into this review. These plans will be considered as part of the overall GDAP planning process.
Von Hausen’s award winning firm develops sustainable high quality environments in urban, suburban and rural settings that meet the needs of the community, the environment and local economic development. He has worked across North America in land development planning, finance and urban design.
Geller is an architect, planner and property developer. He oversaw the planning and development of UniverCity, a sustainable community planned for Burnaby that won the 2005 Canadian Home Builders Association Sales and Marketing award for best community development.
The City hired consultants Lorne Daniel and John Hull to coordinate a series of stakeholder and public input processes over the next six months. Part of the process includes bringing urban planners Geller and von Hausen to Red Deer to assist with public input and urban design concepts. Daniel and Hull were involved in the original plan adopted by City Council in August 2000.
More information on the Greater Downtown Action Plan and June 23 to 26 community participation events are available at www.downtownplan2008.ca or www.reddeer.ca/downtownplan.
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For more information, please contact:
Ed Morris, Greater Downtown Coordinator Lorne Daniel, Grandview Consulting
403-342-8265 403-346-6139
Craig Curtis, City Manager John Hull, John Hull Architect
403-342-8156 403-309-3690
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