Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - King Eddy Renewal

Bigtime · 06-23-2011, 10:29 AM

The final design was revealed last night at an event at The Uptown. About 200 people there from all walks of life, after hearing the architect talk about the project I have come around to this design and am very excited to see it come to fruition.

Main entrance/lobby:

All images and video at: http://cantos.ca/ta-da

My rundown of last night:

A great turnout, I'd say probably about 150-200 people. Musicians, friends of the King Eddy, urbanists, all walks of life easily represented.

When the Allied Works proposal was first selected my response was "meh", however after the presentation last night the design is really starting to grow on me.

Here are the "hard numbers", the cost to build it $110.5M, to date they have $81M in funding. So almost 75% funded at this point, I think with some corporate sponsors they can easily reach their goal.

I think the design is incredible. The main entrance opens into a grand lobby, where one can look up and see the main performance hall above and to the east, this is due to the walls of this hall being able to open and close, depending on what is required. Like almost every part of the building this is being done to let the sound of music and instruments be heard throughout the building.

They are working with acoustic engineers and are also hoping that once the building is open the musicians will find spaces to create their music in.

The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio will be fully restored and on the side with the King Eddy, it will be available for recording sessions, as will another room that will have other recording equipment from the Cantos collection.

The sky bridge will have an open air space on the top level, and plenty of room in the inside section to allow for yet more performance space.

There will probably be about 10-12 "artists in residence" units, designed for them to be able to live on site.

The architect suggested that before the renovated King Eddy club is opened up they should have a "smokers night" and encourage everyone to spill lots of beer and vomit in the hallways, so that it has a little of the original flavour of the place!

With the roof of the Eddy being open now, there will be a rooftop patio on there as well.

There will also be busking stations (dumb city bylaw) all along the street front of the facility.

During the Q&A one person asked about the dirty word "parking". As of right now there will only be 48 underground parking stalls in the project, mainly due to the cost. But they did indicate there will be plenty of parking with the city building the 1500 stall parkade east of District Energy, plus the fairly close access of the City Hall LRT station. I would also assume in the future the SELRT will have a stop very close (9-10th Ave & 5th St?).

I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but it was very exciting and holds a lot of promise for not just the East Village but the entire city.

Now my only concern is that at some point this design get "Bow'd" and we end up losing some of the amazing features that will make it truly incredible (a la the Bow's atrium levels). With the funding so close to the final number I really really hope I'm wrong.

06-23-2011, 10:29 AM	#33
Bigtime Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Calgary Exp:	The final design was revealed last night at an event at The Uptown. About 200 people there from all walks of life, after hearing the architect talk about the project I have come around to this design and am very excited to see it come to fruition. YouTube Video Main entrance/lobby: All images and video at: http://cantos.ca/ta-da My rundown of last night: A great turnout, I'd say probably about 150-200 people. Musicians, friends of the King Eddy, urbanists, all walks of life easily represented. When the Allied Works proposal was first selected my response was "meh", however after the presentation last night the design is really starting to grow on me. Here are the "hard numbers", the cost to build it $110.5M, to date they have $81M in funding. So almost 75% funded at this point, I think with some corporate sponsors they can easily reach their goal. I think the design is incredible. The main entrance opens into a grand lobby, where one can look up and see the main performance hall above and to the east, this is due to the walls of this hall being able to open and close, depending on what is required. Like almost every part of the building this is being done to let the sound of music and instruments be heard throughout the building. They are working with acoustic engineers and are also hoping that once the building is open the musicians will find spaces to create their music in. The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio will be fully restored and on the side with the King Eddy, it will be available for recording sessions, as will another room that will have other recording equipment from the Cantos collection. The sky bridge will have an open air space on the top level, and plenty of room in the inside section to allow for yet more performance space. There will probably be about 10-12 "artists in residence" units, designed for them to be able to live on site. The architect suggested that before the renovated King Eddy club is opened up they should have a "smokers night" and encourage everyone to spill lots of beer and vomit in the hallways, so that it has a little of the original flavour of the place! With the roof of the Eddy being open now, there will be a rooftop patio on there as well. There will also be busking stations (dumb city bylaw) all along the street front of the facility. During the Q&A one person asked about the dirty word "parking". As of right now there will only be 48 underground parking stalls in the project, mainly due to the cost. But they did indicate there will be plenty of parking with the city building the 1500 stall parkade east of District Energy, plus the fairly close access of the City Hall LRT station. I would also assume in the future the SELRT will have a stop very close (9-10th Ave & 5th St?). I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but it was very exciting and holds a lot of promise for not just the East Village but the entire city. Now my only concern is that at some point this design get "Bow'd" and we end up losing some of the amazing features that will make it truly incredible (a la the Bow's atrium levels). With the funding so close to the final number I really really hope I'm wrong. Last edited by Bigtime; 06-23-2011 at 10:33 AM.