Aerial image of Calgary (temple location indicated with red dot)
This original post, done far too late last night, mistakenly included an image of what I thought was the Calgary temple, but turns out to be the Vancouver Temple (although, it's not Vancouver either - it looks more like Rexburg). The new Calgary Temple design has not yet been released. The Canadian architect working on the project, ABBARCH Architecture, also designed the Vancouver Temple in Langley, BC, and this Temple is still listed under the 'Current Work' portion of their site. The link to the image can be found here.
These two temples, Calgary and Vancouver, share the similarity of being located at the furthest edge of development in their respective communities as shown in the aerial image above. As discussed in a previous post, the problems with this are increased travel time, limited access for people without a vehicle, encouraging of sprawl, and very little visibility or interaction with the community at large, especially compared to what it could be in the city center.
But wait, there's good news! Fortunately in the case of the Calgary Temple, in several years there will be an adjacent new light rail station to help remove the problem of limited access for this Edge Temple. The C-Train has been in operation in Calgary since 1981. The northern terminus, or ‘end-of-the-line’ station along the Northwest Line is called Crowfoot and was just completed two months ago.
The proposed new station will extend from Crowfoot further north through the median of Crowchild Trail (Highway 1A). Called Tuscany/Rocky Ridge, this station will become the new terminus, or ‘end-of-the-line’ in 2011 when completion is expected.
Calgary Light Rail System Map
Aerial image of Temple site adjacent to existing chapel. Also shown is transit site.
In addition to the new station, the transit hub will also include:
-Park and Ride and bus loops on both the north and south sides of Crowchild Trail with capacity for approximately 550 vehicles
-A pedestrian bridge linking the Park and Ride facilities with the LRT station
(From City of Calgary)
Tuscany/Rocky Ridge Station Site
Tuscany/Rocky Ridge Station Rendering
This light rail station will greatly facilitate the ability for all of Calgary’s citizens to visit or attend the temple. When the station is completed, it looks to be about a half mile walk from the temple. This is quite good, but may prove problematic for the elderly or those with special physical needs. Also, this distance may be uncomfortable or difficult in the wintertime. Fortunately a proposed sidewalk is shown linking the station to the temple. Hopefully by having transit options such as these available adjacent to the temple, more people will be able to serve and worship in the building as it was intended.
19 August 2009
Calgary Temple - update
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16 comments:
Well it looks beautiful, but somehow wish it was something else. I served in Calgary about 5 years ago and was thrilled to hear about this temple. The city is exploding, so I can see how obtaining a more central real estate would be harder, nevertheless...
You work at the church as an architect right? Does it really save money to keep similar models of chapels and temples? It just seems like the design of a temple is an afterthought when they all begin looking like clones.
1/2 mile? That will be great! I lived some years in Northern Virginia and worked in D.C. and was often frustrated by the difficulty in reaching the DC Temple by transit. (I suspect most members think it's impossible to reach the DC temple by transit. That's not quite true, though you can't get home if you attend very late in the evening.) I applauded the urban placement of the Philadephia Temple. Putting a temple in a suburban area but close to good transit -- that's like temples in much of the rest of the world.
My son just moved to Boston, without a car, and I wonder if he can get to that temple without hitching a ride.
Tod, yes, I agree it is a good design. I don't necessarily object to a repeated design as long as it is a good one, and this has a much nicer feel to it than many of the previous designs, including the small temple design or the chicago/boise/dallas design.
I do work at the church, but have nothing to do with temples. So none of this is any kind of insider info, just stuff I found online. Having a standard definitely saves money for the meetinghouses because of the number of them built, but I don't know how much it saves on temples with so few of them being built. One thing I would like to see is for each temple to be sculpted and shaped into forms based on our understanding of this journey of salvation.
Jim - I agree that the close transit option here is very good news. And it may even be slightly less than 1/2 mile - I was just eyeballing it from the scale on Google maps.
I definitely can empathize with you on access to other temples. When I lived in Portland, the only way to get to the temple was by car. They have an amazing bus and light rail system, but none were near the high-end neighborhood where the temple is.
Hey, thanks for the response. What kind of design work do you have interaction with? I have a friend who works in the building maintenance department, or whatever they've titled it, digitizing all of the chapel floor plans. Cool stuff nevertheless.
I work with the Historical Department on the recent George Q. Cannon Papers and it's always interesting to see how the administrative portion of the Church operates. I love my work though as I'm sure you must.
You know, I've been researching this for a while, and I don't think this could be the design for the Calgary Alberta Temple. It appears to be an early rendition meant to represent the Vancouver British Columbia Temple (which these same architects were in charge of), even though the design in the picture is nearly identical to the Rexburg temple and not so much to the Vancouver temple. The location of the project says "Langley, B.C.," which is where the Vancouver temple is located. It also says the project includes 3 buildings on a 4 acre site. Well, the Vancouver project is a temple, meetinghouse, and temple president residence on 4 hectares. At the bottom, it says the site was last updated in July of 2008. I used the "Way Back Machine" to see a copy of this page from 2007, and it lists the same four "current work" projects. So, perhaps a unique design for the Calgary temple is floating out there after all.
Oh really? Interesting Anonymous.
Anonymous - you are exactly right. Thanks for pointing that out. The image from the architect is for the Vancouver temple which is in Langley, BC. That's what I get for doing a post so late last night! :)
Tod,
I work with the meetinghouses, seminaries, institutes, etc. which is part of the Physical Facilities department in the AEC division.
So are you located in the new library?
Well I am not "employed" I work as an intern. So I do most of my work online, and sometime we meet at the new library. Wish I was cooler.
I heard that the residents of the community of Royal Oak are opposing the the temple in there community? Any thoughts?
Havent heard about opposition. Local bishops and stake presidents have seen the drawings. Appearently it looks like the Draper, UT temple and not the Vancouver temple as thought.
Your location of the Calgary Temple on the property as outlined in RED is incorrect. The Temple will be built immediately WEST of the Royal Oak Chapel that is already built on the property. The area you have outlined in red drops off dramatically from the north portion of the property. Temples are usually constructed on the highest or most prominent part of a lot or property, as is the case here. When the chapel was constructed the area immediately to the west of the chapel was graded to be higher and set aside for what could eventually be a Temple.
I served in the Tuscany area and went to the Royal Oak Chapel. The temple location is perfect, the residents of Royal Oak didn't want it to obscure the view of the mountains, so the temple is more underground than most. It still will be seen across the valley. It has also a unique design, I haven't seen any renderings like it before. I'm very excited for the dedication in 2012!
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/calgary/construction/
the location of the temple was chosen because its the highest point in Calgary. I helped build the ridiculous thing. the statue on top is literally the tallest, compared to sea level, thing in Calgary, its altitude is higher than the bow building.
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