Bevan Bradley has been commissioned to install a mural on the 7th Avenue overpass. Bevan is a resident of City Park as well as owner of The Stall Gallery in Riversdale. She has created many murals around the city such as the mural under the Circle Park bridge. We are excited to have Bevan on our team.
Category: News
Scottish Highland Dancers Receive New Kilts
The City Park Community Association regularly provides Scottish Highland Dancing lessons. Recently new kilts were purchased so that the classes can continue.
Claude Hutton is one of the those who are delighted with the new threads.
“I want to thank the board of CPCA for its generosity. We have given a great deal of satisfaction to many children and parents over the years. The current class of dancers will be thrilled to perform in public with the new matching kilt outfits. Please extend to your entire board as well as the citizens of City Park my sincere thanks.” Hutton said in an email to the CPCA board.
Scottish highland dancing are a regular part of CPCA community programs.
Hula Hoop Class
Where: City Park Collegiate
When: Every Monday from April 8th to June 10th (excluding May 20th)
Time: 6:30 to 8:00pm
Cost: FREE
BOIL WATER ADVISORY IN EFFECT
VISUAL ARTISTS WANTED:
VISUAL ARTISTS WANTED:
The City Park Community Association is looking for a visual artist interested in participating a community art project.
We are currently in talks with CP for permission to install a mural on the east and west walls of the railway underpass on 7th Avenue. We would like the mural to reflect the history and sense of community in City Park.
Interested artists should submit a proposal that includes:
– a proposed mural description
– five images of recent work-in jpeg format not to exceed 800 x 600 pix. including tile of work, media, dimensions, date of work/location, proposed choice of mediums and application
– a proposed budget with description of expenses
– a resume
– a one page artist statement that describes your interest and ability to work with the community on this project and themes or concepts reflected in your artwork
Please submit proposals to paul.pastor@ca.ey.com by February 15th.
The rink at City Park
The rink will be closed for this winter season. We recommend using the rink at North Park Wilson School for all your skating needs.
City food bank freshens things up with urban garden challenge
The Saskatoon Food Bank is issuing a challenge to businesses, community groups and citizens to take over a plot of the downtown vegetable patch and tend it for the upcoming gardening season.
The Saskatoon Food Bank is issuing a challenge to businesses, community groups and citizens to take over a plot of the downtown vegetable patch and tend it for the upcoming gardening season.
Over the past two summers, the 900 block of Third Avenue North, in City Park, has gone from a chalky run-down vacant lot to a vast well-kept vegetable patch, with the help of a core group of food bank volunteers and area residents. To date, the garden has produced 12,700 kilograms of fresh vegetables for food bank hampers.
This year, organizers are hoping teams from within the community are willing to join them and in getting their hands dirty and help contribute to the harvest.
“Hopefully, it’ll inspire groups to get involved in urban agriculture, generate some excitement and create some friendly competition,” said Jasmin Fookes, the food bank’s urban agriculture coordinator, to the StarPhoenix.
She said the challenge will run right from planting to harvesting, so it will keep teams busy and interested throughout the growing season.
The rare strip of downtown garden, which has been mostly potatoes and corn in recent years, will be expanding to other varieties of vegetables with a focus on companion crops, Fookes told the Starphoenix.
The food bank gets thousands of requests each month for emergency food and relies on donations and the garden patch to keep its shelves stocked, especially during the summer months.
“It allows us to provide fresh produce throughout the growing season,” she said.
Fookes said that with over 20 community gardens and the popularity of the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, the city is becoming more interested in fresh, locally-grown food.
“There’s a lot of vacant land in the city and the patch is the first initiative of its kind in Saskatoon,” she told the StarPhoenix. “Hopefully it inspires others to take on their own urban agriculture projects.”
The City Park Community Garden — located in Wilson Park — received a high volume of applications this year, and has assigned a full slate of plots. Gardening season should kick off in the coming weeks.
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Photo: John Pozadzides/Flickr
SP story by Jeremy Warren
Dog thefts on the rise in City Park
Two City Park residents who say their dogs were stolen from secure backyards in recent months have come forward to the StarPhoenix, worried that the incidents are related and warning dog owners in the area to keep a close eye on their pets.
Two City Park residents who say their dogs were stolen from secure backyards in recent months have come forward to the StarPhoenix, worried that the incidents are related and warning dog owners in the area to keep a close eye on their pets.
Their real names were not used in the StarPhoenix story because they believe the thefts could be an organized effort tied to dog fighting.
They say they have been in contact with a number of others living in City Park and North Park whose pets have also gone missing under similar circumstances.
The dogs were all stolen from secure backyards during the evening hours and the missing dogs are all medium-or large-sized breeds, such as blue heelers and pitbulls.
“Maybe it’s all a coincidence, but why three stolen heelers in three months?” said Cindy (not her real name), who recently had her dog stolen, in an interview with the StarPhoenix.
Cindy said her dog, which has never left the yard on its own, went missing from her fenced-in City Park backyard March 17. Her dog was outside for 90 minutes when she heard a bark and went outside only to find the dog was gone.
A man in City Park said his pit bull disappeared from his backyard while out for groceries one evening in November. He said his dog could not of escaped because the yard is surrounded by a two-metre fence with padlocks on the gate.
“She didn’t jump the fence and none of the locks were broken,” Robert (not his real name) told the StarPhoenix.
Robert said he has been contacted by three other dogs owners who have fallen victim to dog theft, all with a similar story. He said the dogs have all been of breeds known to be aggressive, which gives him the impression the pets were stolen for dog fighting.
Saskatoon Police are investigating at least one of the thefts, and are asking others whose dogs have suspiciously gone missing to come forward.
As of April 9, the police said there is no evidence suggesting that a criminal dogfighting organization is responsible for the thefts.
The SPCA has been contacted and is going over missing dog reports to determine if their is a pattern, but initially nothing is pointing to an organized effort, said Tiffany Koback, SPCA Saskatoon shelter director, to the StarPhoenix.
“We are concerned that if there are a number of dogs missing from the area then we need other dog owners to contact us to determine is there is any connection,” Cindy said.
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Photo: stephskardal/Flickr
SP story by Jeremy Warren
The Next Big Thing: Seventh Avenue Gateway
The City Park Community Association voted last month to spend up to $20,000 on new projects in the community, including renewing the neighbourhood entrance at the 7th Avenue and 33rd Street railway crossing.
The City Park Community Association voted last month to spend extra funds on new projects in the community, including renewing the neighbourhood entrance at the Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street railway crossing.
Now, a steering committee has been formed to oversee the capital expenditure. Some early suggestions include hiring a local youth art group to mural the cement walls of the overpass and also to clean up the surrounding area. Canadian Pacific Railway has been contacted, and they too have shown interest in providing some financial support for the project.
The project was chosen from an official list of ideas from City Park residents, compiled by members of the CPCA for The Next Big Thing venture. Other suggestions included planting an apple orchard in Wilson Park, which could potentially be the first step to a full-fledged food forest. Also, some residents pitched the idea for a picnic structure in Wilson Park, equipped with an outdoor wood-burning oven.
However, according to the majority of the members of the CPCA at the February executive meeting, renewing the Seventh Avenue Gateway is top priority. Currently, the area surrounding the train overpass appears industrial and uninviting, says council members.
The cost of improving The Seventh Avenue Gateway is still unknown, but its possible there will be funds left over in The Next Big Thing portfolio for additional projects.
Going into 2012, the CPCA had accumulated a substantial surplus, therefore allowing the organization to tackle a major project. The earmarked money will still leave an appropriate operating budget for the remander of the year.
Anyone with comments or suggestions regarding The Next Big Thing project is asked to email CPCA Vice President Janice Braden at janicelbraden@gmail.com.
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Photo: Google Street View
33rd Street project great for cyclists
City council has approved the construction of a multi-use cyclist and pedestrian corridor along the south side of 33rd street. The pathway will stretch from Spadina Crescent to 3rd Avenue, directly along the border of City Park and North Park.
Biking is about to become easier and safer for residents of City Park.
City council has approved the construction of a multi-use cyclist and pedestrian corridor along the south side of 33rd street. The pathway will stretch from Spadina Crescent to 3rd Avenue, directly along the border of City Park and North Park.
The new three-metre-wide separated avenue is the first phase of a $6.7 million masterplan, which will eventually connect the University of Saskatchewan main campus with the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST).
According to a city report, the first phase — which will also be available to those in wheelchairs and scooters — will cost $1.67 million, with $1 million coming from the federal government.
The rest of the project ,which is yet to be funded, will include the continuation of the 33rd Street corridor, from 3rd Avenue to Idylwyld Drive, and additionally, a roundabout at Spadina Crescent and 33rd street, improved streetlights, landscaping, new benches and bus stops.
The planned corridor is one of a handful of attempts the city has recently made to improve bicycle safety, showing they are finally on-board to resolve the poor conditions cyclists face in Saskatoon.
In 2011, the city released a comprehensive how-to guide to cycling in Saskatoon. According to the city’s website, the guide “rates every road in Saskatoon, from novice to intermediate and expert, and provides suggested routes and facilities that have been identified by experienced local cyclists and City staff.”
The guides are free, and can be downloaded on PDF here, or you can pick up a hard copy from any library or leisure centre.
On the website you can also check out the city’s cycling newsletter, read about bicycle safety and research Saskatoon’s overall “plan for cycling.”
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Graphic: City of Saskatoon
City Park Community Association 