80-storey tower stirs up anxiety among downtown-area residents

Some downtown-arearesidentsunhappy with the proposed 80-storey Quarters Hotel and Residence are hoping to stir up opposition to theproject before the city makes a decision later this month.

• City council delays Quarters tower decision for two months
• 80-storey tower proposed for downtown Edmonton

The highrise, also known as the Alldritt Tower,is proposed for thesiteeast of the Shaw Conference Centre on the embankment aboveLouise McKinney Park.

We have serious concerns.- CandasJaneDorsey,Boyle Street Community League

"I wouldmuch more prefer to see it ... closer to the other tall buildings downtownand further from the bank," said Riverdale resident AndreaWilhelm.

She worries the publicconsultation onthe project held in October only reached residents nearby, soshe's helping toorganizean open house for the wider community at the Boyle Street Plaza at 2 p.m. onSaturday.

The event's speakers include Calvin Bruneau, the chief of Papaschase First Nation, and Harvey Voogd of the North Saskatchewan River Valley Conversation Society.Citizens on both sides of the debate are invited, she said.

"More and more Edmontonians are asking questions about it, don't know enough about it. We're trying to provide information," Wilhelm said.

Candas Jane Dorsey,with theBoyle Street Community League, said the tower willobstructed access to and views of the river valley.

"Our community and community league is not anti-development, but we have serious concerns about the nature and placement of this development," she said.

"We would very much support other development opportunities that fit within the plan."

Wilhelmsaidshe alsoinvited the developerAlldritt Land Corporation, but they declined stating that the public consultation has closed.

CBC News contacted AlldrittLand Corporation but no one within the company was available for comment.

Apublic hearing is scheduled at city hall on April 24.

The towerwould be the tallest in Edmonton, much higher than the66-storeyStantecTowerexpected to open in 2018.

@Travismcewancbc

Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca