Devonian Gardens - almost ready to reopen

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Don't forget the construction/renovations and the cost of labour, which were almost certainly the two biggest expenses in this project.

I'm surprised that the media isn't making a bigger deal about this. The travesty that is the new Devonian Gardens could be the issue that unites people from both sides of the Peace Bridge debate.

Wouldn't the construction/renovations & labour costs be covered by the $23 million budget for phase 1?

The first, worth $23 million, was to cover the garden envelope — including ceiling, walls, floors, mechanical and electrical — as well as demolition costs associated with the existing gardens, said Kyle Ripley, manager of parks, planning and development services.

I was more curious about the $14 million 'phase 2' budget approval for dirt, trees, and shrubs.

[Table 5]

Personally, my beef is not that the city is spending money on this type of stuff, but just the terrible execution. In a lot of ways it seems like it's the fault of an uninspired designer/architect and whatever wiener was making decisions on the client side. Seems like such a C-level effort for an A-level budget.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Wouldn't the construction/renovations & labour costs be covered by the $23 million budget for phase 1?



I was more curious about the $14 million 'phase 2' budget approval for dirt, trees, and shrubs.

Dirt, trees and shrubs, as cheap as they can be, don't magically arrive from the tree farm/loam pile and then fly up and inside multi level buildings, and spread and plant themselves.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Wouldn't the construction/renovations & labour costs be covered by the $23 million budget for phase 1?



I was more curious about the $14 million 'phase 2' budget approval for dirt, trees, and shrubs.

I assumed Phase 1 was just for the structural work, whereas Phase 2 was all the interior design, pathways, plants, fountains, ponds, etc.

I could be wrong, though.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I assumed Phase 1 was just for the structural work, whereas Phase 2 was all the interior design, pathways, plants, fountains, ponds, etc.

I could be wrong, though.

That is how I read it as well.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Personally, my beef is not that the city is spending money on this type of stuff, but just the terrible execution. In a lot of ways it seems like it's the fault of an uninspired designer/architect and whatever wiener was making decisions on the client side. Seems like such a C-level effort for an A-level budget.

That's my complaint, too. I loved the gardens and was really looking forward to them re-opening. From what I've seen in photos, though (and posters here have said they're representative of the real deal), I'm hugely disappointed by this completely uninspired and pedestrian finished product.

Cue the comments about how a high school kid could design a better indoor park.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Those are some sad looking table and chairs.

What kind of pull does Calgarpuck have, can we get this thing fixed?

The last thing we need is more money wasted on it.

[Table 5]

$20 bucks says that article would mention the Peace Bridge in a negative light.

[burn_this_city]

Those gardens rival the ones in Heritage Square.

[jammies]

$38 million we could have used to build 20% of an interchange on some road currently overloaded by serving the blood-sucking commuters of Airdrie!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Terribly nomination. I have a face for radio, a voice made for the silent-era, and ramble on nonsensically like Grandpa without his meds.

Are you Don Cherry?

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Table 5

$20 bucks says that article would mention the Peace Bridge in a negative light.

This is why I think the Devonian Gardens can unite all Calgarians.

For those who opposed the Peace Bridge because they felt it is a waste of money, the garden renovation project was even more expensive! For those who supported the Peace Bridge because they felt it is a beautiful piece of architecture that makes the downtown core more attractive, the new gardens are anything but!

Has anyone come forward to support the new gardens yet? This is the issue that can bring us all together!

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I noticed you didn't price out the lifting each tree up by a crane or however the hell they got 680 tons of dirt up there. I guess the shrubs could go up by elevator or escalator, and it wouldn't take too long..

Come back when you have links to those things, because i would like to know as well.

On the other hand, if you are offering to supply and plant a tree on the top of multi level buildings for $750 each, that's another story and I think we could work something out where you should do some work for me...

The dirt would take approximately 8 elevator/escalator rides per ton in a standard wheelbarrow. So we need a total of 5,440 elevator rides at 30 mins per ride (15 up, 15 down) or 163,200 mins or 2,720 man hours. At $30/hour that's $82,000. Let's round to $100,000 to account for the guys filling up the wheelbarrows.

I'm not actually serious about this of course, I just wanted to know if there was a more complete breakdown of the costs available as I think it would be interesting to compare it to what a typical landscaping job would cost and how much the city paid for each of the items involved (material and labour).

[Regorium]

I dunno. For these projects, I never really look at the cost.

I don't think it's possible to quantify things like "beautification of the city" or "cultural value". As such, stuff like the Peace bridge did cost a lot, but I think it has gained widespread acceptance because it really does look amazing.

This "garden" is an absolute abomination, regardless of whether they paid 1 million for it or 100 million for it.

[Locke]

I'd contact the CBC but I dont really remember the old gardens and I havent seen the new ones, so I really dont have anything to say about it other than it seems like a colossal waste of money.

I dont mind spending money on city cultural projects, I think thats important, but you have to start getting some value out of it.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Regorium

I dunno. For these projects, I never really look at the cost.

I don't think it's possible to quantify things like "beautification of the city" or "cultural value". As such, stuff like the Peace bridge did cost a lot, but I think it has gained widespread acceptance because it really does look amazing.

This "garden" is an absolute abomination, regardless of whether they paid 1 million for it or 100 million for it.

I agree with you to a point, but if you're going to build something crappy you might as well not pay huge money for it.

As an analogy, Bouwmeester might not be the league's best defenseman, but he'd get a lot less crap on CP if he cost 2-3 million less.

Edited to add: Bouwmeester is pretty much CPs version of Godwin's law, so I figured, what the heck.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

That jungle gym is an abomination. Sure it's probably fun for the kids but it sticks out like an eyesore in the midst of all this hospital white and stainless steel modernized minimalism.

The many, many ####ty examples of modern minimalism will be the new brutalist in 30 years.... and we'll start tearing it all down again....

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Table 5

What bothers me most about this water "feature" and the park in general (and it's something I've noticed a lot with new calgary parks) is the lack of a place to sit around and lounge on something other than a chair.

The entirety of the Core mall feels like this - there's absolutely nowhere to stop end to end, and the way the escalators are laid out, you have to traverse the length of the mall to change floors. I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like about it, but it's definitely this aspect of the design.

[secol]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

The entirety of the Core mall feels like this - there's absolutely nowhere to stop end to end, and the way the escalators are laid out, you have to traverse the length of the mall to change floors. I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like about it, but it's definitely this aspect of the design.

and it's odd how some places you can only go up and some places you can only go down....thank god for service elevators

[You Need a Thneed]

Went there this afternoon. I'm guessing there's a whole bunch of furnishings and planting pots missing yet. There's got to be. The lower levels down the sides couldn't possibly be done. There's nothing there.

I'll wait until everything is done to judge it.


I hope there's more to come with the bathrooms, though. They look like the average truckstop bathrooms.


I would like more of the wood flooring instead of the tile.