For over a year, we have been part of a once-in-a-century historical event…the COVID 19 epidemic. We have all curtailed our social activity, work has changed and so have we…Our last ‘live’ event was ‘At Home’ at the Bury (Heard) House, in Dec 2019. Since then we have given out about 600 copies of our Self-guided tour booklet (available at Mandolin books), and have posted a Virtual Tour, had our AGM on-line, but we haven’t seen your faces…until now.
On April 10, we held three short (~ 1 hour) tours. Then on May 1 we held 2 more tours for the NE Edmonton Rotary Club. There were a total of 39 ‘tourists’, limited by AHS COVID rules.
The tours were titled “Ada Boulevard: Narrowing possibilities”. They started in front of the Magrath Mansion, and concentrated on the changes that will be made by the Neighborhood renewal process as it reaches the South Highlands: between 57 and 65 Street South of 112 Ave. Everyone is looking forward to new accessible sidewalks and smooth streets. But we lament the loss of “Some of the city’s best preserved … streetscapes can be found in the Highlands.” (Kathryn Ivany: “Historical Walks in Edmonton”.
Instead, the city will narrow Ada from about 9 m across to 7 m, providing a shared use pathway (SUP) along the river side. Corners will be squared off along both Ada and 111 Avenue.
Hopefully the race between COVID variants and vaccinations will allow us to return to more normal times. We look forward to offering more walking tours in July. Due to the construction, these will concentrate North of 112 Ave.
Highlands Historical Society 