Master Planning & Feasibility Study

From 2018 to 2019, B&A supported the City of Calgary on a Feasibility Study for a future civic and cultural centre in the community of Forest Lawn, proposing a unique opportunity to provide multiple civic services to an area with a diverse population that has been historically underserved. B&A supported The City through a multi-phased engagement program, working with numerous internal City service lines, civic partners and external stakeholders to identify space requirements, needs and opportunities for the site. Areas of opportunity included arts and culture, recreation, parks, emergency response, fire, library and community social programs and services. 

Individual and group stakeholder engagement took place between November 2018 and March 2019 to identify project challenges, opportunities, stakeholder requests and requirements, and to begin to define site redevelopment options. The public was engaged through several tactics including questionnaires/surveys, individual interviews (in person and virtual), and workshops with both internal and external stakeholder groups. A detailed report including all engagement results to share findings and learnings was used by the Facilities Management Department of the City of Calgary to provide recommendations within the Feasibility Study that were informed and supported by project stakeholders. 

Upon completing the Feasibility Study in 2019, B&A began working on the future civic and cultural centre through the Master Planning phase of the project. With a list of over 270 external stakeholders and approximately 20 internal City stakeholder groups, and 12 adjacent communities to engage with, the management, organization and maintenance of the stakeholder database was imperative during the two phases of public engagement. A key objective of this engagement program is to provide an inclusive and accessible engagement program that reaches a wide variety of demographics to ensure those unrepresented, or typically under-engaged groups are provided the opportunity to participate and contribute to the Master Plan process. 

The first phase of the Master Plan engagement program included a series of four virtual stakeholder sessions to introduce the project and collect ideas and aspirations for a future cultural, recreation and civic centre. The second phase of engagement included broad community engagement to raise awareness and collect a diverse range of perspectives on the needs and aspirations of the Greater Forest Lawn area.