Eau Claire Community Association

The April website edition of the newsletter is now available for viewing.

Mother Nature created some challenging conditions for ice rinks (especially one on a river), but the second annual Eau Claire Community Association Skating Party on Saturday was a great success. Friends and neighbours enjoyed skating, ‘ice cream tub’ curling and hot apple cider & cookies by the fire. Many thanks to KidSport for the use of their skate shack and to River Café for the refreshments.

Check out more pictures on our Photos page!

The ECCA produces a newsletter five times a year. Hardcopies are distributed to neighbourhood condo buildings. Read our February newsletter and find out what’s happening in the community. Back issues are available here.

Save the date! On Saturday February 25th from 11 AM to 3 PM, the Eau Claire Community Association is throwing its second annual skating party. The whole family is invited to the Prince’s Island Park lagoon to enjoy free skate rentals from KidSport Calgary and refreshments courtesy of River Café.

After a successful pilot last year, the City of Calgary has extended the skating area from the east end of the lagoon to well beyond the west side of the Jaipur bridge – more than doubling the rink’s size. There is also a new set of stairs at the west end of the rink, with rubber mats extending from the top of the stairs to the public washrooms on Prince’s Island. A sound system and lights help make the lagoon a popular winter playground during the day or evening. You can find out more about the process of turning the lagoon into a skating rink by watching this video from the City of Calgary. We look forward to seeing you at the skating party!

Have you noticed a part of Eau Claire that could use a good cleaning? Is litter becoming a problem? Your board will be investigating street clean-up and other beautification options for our neighbourhood. Funding from the city may be available. Stay tuned for more information.

Feel free to give us your thoughts by commenting below or contact us by email.

The new Community Liaison Officer for Eau Claire is Brad Niven. Brad will be attending our monthly board meetings starting October 2011. During our first discussion with Brad, he advised that there have been a series of weekend car break-ins in Eau Claire and that arrests were made during the week of September 12^th.

Brad has asked that all Eau Claire residents and visitors ensure their vehicles are locked and that any valuables they may choose to leave behind are secured in the trunk.

The Board appreciates the time and efforts of Kevin Whitely, our previous Community Liaison Officer, in both addressing policing issues and ensuring good communication between our community and the Calgary Police Service.

September 28, 2011 marked 20 years since River Café opened its doors.  A reception was held to mark the milestone, featuring tasty delights from their eclectic menu and live music by Steve Pineo, Kit Johnson and friends.

At the Community Association’s AGM, a representative from the City of Calgary gave an update on the Peace Bridge construction. Some serious quality assurance issues have been resolved recently and considerable progress has been made towards the bridge’s completion. Painting of the bridge surface is almost finished. Four coats of paint are being applied to help ensure durability. Twenty four glass panels have been installed and lighting installation has begun. By the end of November, The process of launching the bridge across the river by hydraulic jacks will begin. The bridge will then be moved sideways to its ultimate position and the pre-cast deck will be put into place.

The projected completion date for the bridge is the end of December 2011. At that point, the temporary bridge will be removed. The projected bridge opening is sometime in January. Tidying up of the site and surrounding area (including replacement of grass) will continue into the Spring.

More details and photos of the construction process are on the City of Calgary’s website.

The ECCA’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday September 22, 2011 at the Eau Claire Market in the Community Room Read the rest of this entry »