The Buzz
LATITUDE
2020 VISION FOR NEW CANCER TREATMENT CENTRE
SMARTPHONE APP WILL TRACK MYSTERIOUS LOW-FREQUENCY HUM
Southern Alberta is finally getting its long-awaited cancer treatment centre, with construction expected to begin next year in Calgary. The province announced in July that the full-service centre will be built at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre campus. The facility was first proposed a decade ago. Replacing the Tom Baker Centre, it is expected to open in 2020. A price tag and construction timeline are expected to be announced this fall. New and expanded services at the centre will include additional inpatient beds, outpatient services, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. -Jacqueline Louie
Electrical and computer engineering researchers at the University of Calgary can now add sleuth to their resumes. The team has developed a smartphone app to track a mysterious low frequency hum that residents in Calgary’s northwest Ranchlands community have been complaining about for years. Headed by Mike Smith, P.Eng., a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Schulich School of Engineer- ing, the team has designed the app to help residents record the sound wave frequency of the approximately 40-hertz hum. They’ll analyze the information to try and determine what’s
causing the noise. -Jacqueline Louie
CARLESS CONDOS WILL COME WITH A FREE BIKE
GREEN HOUSING PROJECT TAKES OFF AT FORMER AIRPORT
It’s getting cool to go car-free in Calgary. Calgary city council has unanimously approved the city’s first parking-free residential condo tower in the East Village. It will have 167 units — but no parking stalls. N3 Condo, a 15-storey tower, is being developed by Knightsbridge Homes beside the former St. Louis Hotel on 8th Avenue and 4th Street S.E., one block from the City Hall LRT station. Condo buyers will receive a free bicycle and a $500 Car2Go car-sharing credit. -Jacqueline Louie
Construction has officially begun on Edmonton’s new Blatchford community, where the City Centre Airport once was. After a ceremonial sod-turning in early August, crews began removing storm sewers under runways. Soon they'll demolish the remaining six airport buildings. Redeveloping the 217-hectare site is a massive job, but the city hopes the first residents will move in as early as 2016. Within the next two decades, an estimated 30,000 people are expected to move into the neighbourhood, making it one of the largest sustainable communities in the world. The city’s plan for the area includes abundant park spaces, multi-use roadways to encourage walking and cycling, accessible transit, and high-efficiency buildings using renewable energy. In 2014 Edmonton city council selected Vancouver architectural firm Perkins + Will to come up with a scheme for the area. -Caitlin Crawshaw
ALBERTA’S MINIMUM WAGE TO RISE
In a move that makes burger flippers hopeful and business owners nervous, the province is moving ahead with its plan to increase the minimum wage from a $10.50 to $15 per hour. The hike will happen in stages, beginning with an increase to $11.20 per hour on October 1 and continuing in increments until 2018. The move will boost the minimum wage from one of the lowest in the country to the second highest. Some business groups and opposition parties have argued that the increase could harm the economy by raising the prices of goods and causing layoffs. The Government of Alberta argues that
NO CARS ALLOWED In Calgary, city council has approved the first parking-free residential condo tower. Residents of N3, in the East Village, will get a free bike with their purchase — but no parking stall.
12 | PEG FALL 2015
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