Revised plan coming for Alaska condo
Developer Bianca Pollak and her associates will present a revised proposal for Sherwood Park’s controversial Alaska condominium development application when members of the working group meet for the last time on Dec. 10.
Formed following a raucous Sept. 11 community consultation meeting, the working group includes city planning staff, Ward 25 councillor Jaye Robinson and members of the Sherwood Park Residents’ Association, among others.
It has met twice, on Oct. 22 and Nov. 20, to study the building’s aesthetic fit within the neighbourhood’s early 20th-century architecture and to discuss transportation issues, says group member Belinda Karsen, who founded the Uptown Yonge Neighbourhood Alliance to fight the proposed development.
So far the developers seem receptive to the community’s concerns, Karsen said in late November.
“The third meeting will reveal just how committed the developer is to working with the community,” she said. “I remain hopeful that we will find a mutually satisfactory solution.”
Submitted in February, the Alaska’s original 11-storey design resembles a white steel waterfall, topped by an overhanging glass rectangle that echoes architect Will Alsop’s “table-top” building for OCAD University.
Neighbours at the September meeting were overwhelmingly against the proposal, expressing fears it would further jam traffic and saying that Alsop’s striking design belonged on a larger site.
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