Lower Townsite Area Redevelopment Plan
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta

Armin A. Preiksaitis & Associates Ltd. led an interdisciplinary planning team retained by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to prepare an Area Redevelopment Plan for the Lower Townsite Area in Fort McMurray.

The three rivers that come together at the site of the Lower Townsite Athabasca, Clearwater and Hangingstone are among the most important aesthetic and historical features of this community.

The Area Redevelopment Plan sets out policies regarding future land uses, parks, recreation, transportation and parking. Improvements to storefronts and streetscapes are prepared to revitalize the older street-retail section along Franklin Avenue.

In this proposed vision for redeveloping the Lower Townsite over the next two decades, the riverfront once again becomes a focal point.

Implementing this Plan would transform what was once a working waterfront into a continuous riverfront park. The new park areas would offer opportunities for active recreation boating, cycling, running, cross-country skiing and so on as well as less vigorous pursuits. The riverfront has considerable potential as a focus for new residential, commercial and tourism-related development.

Client: Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
Completion Date: July 2001