Connecting communities and opening up Stampede Park 365 days a year
$128-million CMLC-funded project is also bringing transit users a new LRT station and gateway into Stampede Park.
A transformative infrastructure investment enhancing District connectivity and accessibility
CMLC led and funded the delivery of the $128-million multi-modal infrastructure project, creating a critical connection within Calgary’s emerging Culture + Entertainment District. The project opened a key corridor across 17 Avenue S.E. into Stampede Park for the first time in 40 years and modernized the busy LRT station to improve accessibility and to better serve Calgarians and visitors alike.
The 17 Ave extension makes it much easier for motorists, pedestrians and active transportation users to navigate in and out of The C+E.
An at-grade crossing of 17th Avenue and an enlarged platform give transit users a much shorter, more accessible approach.
CMLC’s improvements to the Victoria Park/Stampede station shortened the pedestrian journey across Macleod Trail from 400 to just 60 metres for nearly 13,000 daily users.
The extension of 17 Avenue into The C+E establishes a new connection-- that will catalyze further development in the area.
Next steps along the path to project delivery
CMLC managed the successful delivery of this highly complex project from design through to construction completion. To follow along with CMLC’s east-end transformation, subscribe to our newsletter.
Groundbreaking
July 2021
Street-level crossing opened
October 2021
Cutover to Temporary Station Platforms
September 2022
Permanent Station Platforms Operational
December 2023
Grand Opening
October 2024
Broke ground July 2021 – Completed October 2024
For CMLC and our communities, 2024 was a banner year for grand openings and groundbreakings, for development progress and programming activations. Our 18th year of master-planning, community revitalization, and major project delivery in downtown Calgary’s east end was one for the books, enabled by innovative partnerships, strategic investment and bold city-building ambition. Here’s just a taste of what we delivered together in 2024.
The 17 Avenue SE extension and Victoria Park/Stampede Station rebuild—our largest street-level infrastructure improvement initiative to date—is a tangible expression of our commitment to connectivity. Here’s how we brought the vision to life.
Transformative infrastructure investment enhances District connectivity and accessibility, providing pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicle access to Stampede Park from Macleod Trail for the first time in over 40 years.
Big year of development progress in The C+E continues with preparations for 17 Ave S.E. Extension & Victoria Park/Stampede Station Rebuild grand opening and warm welcome back to hockey fans.
Highlighting the vast outdoor plaza, spanning nearly 100,000 square feet, this all-season gathering area boasts art installations, nods to the Calgary Stampede’s history, and a rich variety of flora inspired by Alberta's natural scenery.
As several major city-building projects near completion in The Culture + Entertainment District, CMLC advances new 6 St S.E. Underpass project and prepares for construction on Arts Commons Transformation project.
Critical infrastructure, major vertical builds, development progress, innovative placemaking and collaborative partnerships underpin CMLC’s major accomplishments from 2023. These achievements not only solidify CMLC's role in shaping the city's future but also lay the groundwork for continued urban development and transformative growth for Calgary’s east end in the year ahead.
Victoria Park/Stampede Station switch complete, regular transit service resumes today. Transit customers now using new station platforms, final phases of station construction to occur through spring.
Important phase in Victoria Park/Stampede Station rebuild to require nine-day closure of Red Line between City Hall/Bow Valley College and Chinook stations, lane closures on northbound Macleod Trail.
Traffic and pedestrian detours will be installed this week to facilitate construction on more than $600M in major city-building projects in Calgary’s emerging Culture + Entertainment District, as well as The City of Calgary’s Green Line LRT project.
This fall, with most of the enabling works completed, the team is turning its attention to the construction of the new station, which will be more accessible and better integrated into the surrounding landscape. Development of the 17 Ave S.E. extension will bring people driving, walking and cycling across Macleod Trail directly into Stampede Park for the first time.
Construction on several major city-building projects in Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District is ramping back up after taking a brief pause during Stampede 2022.
With important construction underway throughout The Culture + Entertainment District, CMLC and its project partners have developed a new interactive map to help Calgarians navigate the impacts of construction as they travel to and through the area.
The hundreds of LED lights that illuminate Reconciliation Bridge were due to be upgraded this year and CMLC took the opportunity to re-evaluate its community lighting program and develop a new program that would prioritize Indigenous stories in the annual lighting calendar.
CMLC and the Calgary Stampede are committed to the long-term success of the district and remain optimistic that ongoing discussions being led by the City of Calgary ultimately result in a positive outcome for Calgarians and the Rivers District.
The 17th Avenue extension & Victoria Park/Stampede Station rebuild hits two major milestones today, just three months after its summer ground-breaking.Two new street-level access points open today on Macleod Trail at 17th Avenue & 14th Avenue SE
The Victoria Park/Stampede LRT station overhaul and 17th Avenue SE extension—key components of the Rivers District Master Plan— are breaking ground today at the site where 17th Avenue will enter Stampede Park.
We’ve been enthusiastically transforming downtown Calgary’s east end into one of the city’s most inviting destinations since 2007. Throughout 2021, with an unwavering focus on serving our community, CMLC will be kicking off the Arts Commons Transformation project; advancing three long-term city-bui
What a year it’s been! Hit by a global pandemic while the provincial economy was still reeling from low oil prices meant 2020 didn’t quite play out as anyone had imagined. But, despite the challenges of COVID-19, CMLC made significant progress on all the work we had lined up for the year. We saw ma
As everyone who lives here knows, Calgary and its citizens are remarkable and resilient. Over the course of a decade in East Village, the CMLC team has learned that Calgarians are also adaptable and curious, that you’re open to new ideas about where and how you live, and you’re enthusiastic and engaged builders of community.
CMLC’s on a roll with city-building infrastructure and construction in downtown Calgary’s east end, transforming the area into one of the city’s most exciting and inviting destinations.
CMLC has been enthusiastically shepherding exciting city-building and placemaking projects in east Calgary for more than a dozen years now. Our achievements to date in East Village, east Victoria Park and beyond have emboldened and inspired us to sustain that momentum through 2020 and onward.
Seventeenth Avenue is going places! We’re really excited about this new construction project for east Victoria Park. It is truly transformational for the neighbourhood!
Just eight months after receiving the City’s stamp of approval on the Rivers District Master Plan, CMLC's vision for east Victoria Park is rapidly—and dramatically—taking shape. A major expansion of BMO centre, a new event centre, and the much-anticipated extension of 17th Avenue SE into Stampede Park are just the beginning…
This report provides an overview of the engagement efforts led by CMLC specific to the Master Plan process starting in 2017. It details findings of a joint public engagement program in collaboration with the City of Calgary.
Published
Matthews Southwest Hospitality to develop The C+E’s first hotel
