Last year a review of Century Gardens was conducted by the City of Calgary Parks to determine redevelopment opportunities, and to provide guidelines for the park. The report was prompted by a recent land swap proposal that would have drastically altered the existing footprint of the park. Lucky for the park the proposal fell through...this time.
The complete report can be found on the City of Calgary web site at:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/ ... pment.aspx
In summary, the report found that:
- Century Gardens is highly valued by those who use it... In particular, the various water features are held in high regard – more than half of park users interviewed expressed liking them, and/or wanting such features in their ideal park.
- When asked about issues or concerns facing Century Gardens, the most frequent response given was “none”.
- Users strongly support retaining the water fountain in the SW Corner in any future park redevelopment efforts.”
- “Water Features”, including such things as ponds and fountains, was the single most frequently mentioned ideal park feature. But the most frequent “first mention” was “Natural Features” within the park...
- …almost half (48 %) of those who initially reported that keeping the fountain is “not very important” indicated that their opinion would change with the knowledge that the fountain is a heritage feature.
The report remarks that “the unique features of the park, most notably the water features, are held in very high regard among park visitors; retaining these features in general, and the heritage fountain specifically, is of high importance to people who enjoy visiting Century Gardens Park.”