On July 18th, the City of Calgary held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the Sunnyside Flood Barrier project at Poppy Plaza. The event was attended by members of the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association’s (HSCA) Emergency Preparedness and Response Committee (EPARC), HSCA’s Executive Director Kate Stenson, Mayor Gondek, Councillor Wong, city administration officials, project team members, and media representatives.
The ceremony marked the beginning of construction of the flood barrier but represents 11 years of dedication and advocacy efforts of residents for flood mitigation infrastructure through HSCA’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Committee (EPARC). The Sunnyside Flood Barrier project is a powerful example of how community involvement and advocacy can influence City projects and lead to meaningful change. This project underscores the importance of a shared vision and a collective determination to find solutions that accommodate the diverse needs of the community. The commitment shown by EPARC over the past 11 years illustrates that achieving such a goal requires substantial effort, patience, and unwavering focus. This project did not come without challenges and required a high level of collaboration with the City and across HSCA’s own committees (EPARC, Sunnyside Brightening Commitee, and the Mobility Commitee). Although residents and HSCA committees wanted this outcome sooner, 11 years later, the outcome has addressed three important areas: better flood protection, mobility improvements, and enhancements to the public realm.
EPARC Chair, Charlie Lund, explains that there were many challenges along the way, including “sticking with the task for 11 long years”. Other key challenges included: convincing the City to increase the protection level from 1:20 to 1:100; challenging the City's engineering consultants' assessments; and advocating for public realm improvements. Despite these challenges, EPARC's persistence led to significant achievements, including securing a higher level of flood protection and incorporating important public space enhancements.
Looking forward, as EPARC's role in the Sunnyside Flood Barrier project concludes, the baton is passed to other HSCA committees: the Sunnyside Brightening Committee (SBC) and the HSCA Mobility Committee. These groups will continue to advocate for improvements in their areas of focus, ensuring that the community's voice remains a driving force in shaping the neighborhood's future.
This experience emphasizes the crucial role of community involvement in public projects and the importance of advocating for your community. It also serves as a reminder that significant achievements often require a long-term commitment and a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with decision-makers.
HSCA’s Sunnyside Brightening Committee and Mobility
To learn more about HSCA’s sub-committees and the important work they are doing, visit https://www.hsca.ca/subcommittees
Sunnyside Brightening Committee (SBC) – focused on the public realm and ensuring there was art incorporated into the designs. Successes include the mural painted on the lift station, as well as design elements that will be incorporated into the flood barrier itself. Learn more at hsca.ca/subcomittees
Mobility – ensuring the active pathways are designed to a high–standard, limiting impacts to those sharing them. The current pathways have challenging areas due to bike paths and walking paths converging, but with their advocacy they were able to highlight these pressure points and ensure that the current challenges are negated or lessened with the new design. Learn more at hsca.ca/subcomittees
For more information about the Sunnyside Flood Barrier Project, visit calgary.ca/sunnysidefloodbarrier.
