Historic Ortona Armoury reopens following rehabilitation
The Ortona Armoury has been rehabilitated and reopened as an event venue and creative space for artists. It was built in 1914 and has been a prominent historical landmark in Rossdale for more than a century. The Ortona Armoury has been used as studio space for artists/arts groups for the last 30 years. In 2004, the building was designated a Municipal Historic Resource, which legally protects it from demolition or alterations to the structure.
Rehabilitation work began in spring 2022 and was completed in fall 2024. Work included replacement of all external windows with replicas of the historical windows, restoration of the hardwood floors, installation of a new elevator for improved accessibility, restoration of the wood columns and roof trusses, maintenance of the original brickwork, and the addition of a covered courtyard between the north and south portions of the building (now referred to as the solarium).
The $16.28 million-project received $2.05 million in funding from the Government of Canada through the Canada Cultural spaces Fund, which supports improved physical conditions for arts and heritage cultural spaces for creation, collaboration, presentation, preservation and exhibition. Arts Habitat Edmonton operates the building, leases the space to artists, organizes programming and looks after the bookable spaces. https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/parks_recreation/ortona-armoury-building-rehabilitation-project
Add Ski Like a Girl to your podcast playlist
On December 13, a new podcast titled Ski Like a Girl entered the audio listener world. This podcast combines archival exploration with vivid storytelling about the lives and legacy of women in Canadian Nordic skiing history. With stories of cross-country skiers, ski trekkers, ski jumpers, and biathletes, this podcast shares stories about inspiring women who built community, pushed boundaries, and excelled in Nordic skiing.
The first episode is titled Tracing Ski Tracks: The UofA Varsity Ski Club in the 1930s. Based on her MA research, University of Alberta student historian Lyndsay Conrad traces the tracks of the Varsity Ski Club through the Great Depression. You can listen to this episode on Aviary and Spotify. The rest of the podcast will launch in January 2025.
Ski Like a Girl Podcast is a collaborative academic podcast that combines research from oral history interviews, archives, and other academic sources. The history research team behind the podcast is based at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. https://sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/ski-like-a-girl-podcast/home
Edmonton ranked 27th most liveable city in Canada
Edmonton is once again making the ranks as a fantastic place to live, with the city nabbing a spot in the top 50 as one of Canada’s most liveable cities. The Globe and Mail released its second annual list of Canada’s 100 Most Liveable Cities, which evaluated over 400 communities based on factors such as transportation, housing affordability, community vibrancy, and access to amenities.
Edmonton ranked 27th overall, third in Alberta, and placed highly in individual categories, including transportation at 10th and access to amenities at 15th place. Other rankings included 46th for broad demographics, 38th for education, 48th for healthcare, and 32nd for climate. St. Albert beat Edmonton slightly in the ranking at 25th place.
In early November, Edmonton was also named one of the World’s Best Cities for 2025 by Resonance Consulting and Ipsos Research. That report highlighted the city’s affordability, festival scene, downtown revitalization, new development in the ICE District, and the North Saskatchewan River Valley. https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/edmonton-canadas-most-liveable-cities
Sipikiskisiw (Remembers Far Back) by Michelle Sound, Telus Transit Shelter in downtown YEG. In October 2024, the work received a Public Art Sustainability Award from the Creative City Network of Canada. https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/sipikiskisiw-remembers-far-back
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