(Instagram/plan446.studio)

By Alison Sandstrom

New perspectives

U of S students draft plans for P.A. riverbank revitalization

Feb 7, 2020 | 11:44 AM

A group of University of Saskatchewan students is brainstorming ideas and drafting designs for Prince Albert’s downtown riverbank.

The results of the semester long project will be presented to city council and the public in April. On Wednesday the senior urban planning class was in P.A. to meet with high school students and residents to get their input on how they want to revitalize the space.

“Prince Albert North Saskatchewan River is such a treasure trove of ideas and wonderful things – the history and also what Mother Nature brings,” the course’s instructor Henry Lau told paNOW.

He and his 11 students are tasked with proposing ways to accentuate the area’s existing positive features and make it destination as opposed to a place to pass through.

“It’s holistic,” he said. “We’re thinking about how to make it more accessible, how to connect the river and the city. We’re going to be looking at lighting and planting and also bringing in Indigenous culture into the design.”

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Instructor Henry Lau said connecting with high school students, some of whom may be future University of Saskatchewan students, was a highlight of the day. (Instagram/plan446.studio)

Lau said embracing Prince Albert’s identity as a winter city will also be an important part of planning. During one of Wednesday’s sessions someone brought up that people used to place bets on when the ice on the North Saskatchewan would start to move.

“From an urban design standpoint, [you] could potentially project lights on to the river when the ice breaks up and all the form and colour changes, it could be very very beautiful,” he said.

The class is also working with the City of Prince Albert’s planning and development department to put together the proposal. Department Director Craig Guidinger, himself a University of Saskatchewan alumni, told paNOW it’s important the city takes advantage of opportunities for these kinds of partnerships.

“It’s always nice looking through the lens of a student; they have really good out of the box ideas,” Guidinger said.

Any major projects for riverbank revitalization will have to be approved by council and Guidinger said the public shouldn’t necessarily expect to see big changes immediately based on the students’ work.

“The purpose of this project isn’t necessarily to solidify any specific idea or what the riverbank is going to look like,” he said. “It’s really to get people thinking about different options. There is a lot of opportunity there and just to kind of open up people’s eyes to what the riverbank could be.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom