Fort Edmonton wants name on LRT station




The South Campus LRT station

EDMONTON - Fort Edmonton Park is fighting a decision to keep its name off the South Campus LRT station.

The city’s naming committee unanimously rejected an April request to call the facility the South Campus/Fort Edmonton Park LRT station, saying the change would create confusion, according to a city report released Thursday.

Fort Edmonton is a “significant” distance away and mainly open from May to September, and the normal practice is to name stations for nearby institutions, neighbourhoods or geographic locations, the committee ruled.

But Bill Demchuk, executive director of the Fort Edmonton Park Management Co., said Edmonton Transit started an hourly shuttle bus this summer between the LRT station, the fort and the Valley Zoo.

A new LRT name would help visitors using transit figure out how to find Fort Edmonton, which has limited parking, Demchuk said.

“We see it as being part of the bigger strategy. Fort Edmonton Park is the number 1 (tourist) attraction in Edmonton. It’s only four minutes from South Campus to Fort Edmonton Park by bus,” he said.

“Any other city, the transit that’s there will identify … the attractions along the way.”

Tour operators at a recent Edmonton trade show indicated they like the park but won’t book trips that include it because of poor transit service, Demchuk said.

The non-profit fort management company will appeal the name decision Wednesday to council’s executive committee.

The fort is about to embark on a major expansion at an estimated cost of $110 million, Demchuk said.

The top priorities are adding rides, games and shows to the midway ($15 million), building the indigenous people’s experience with camps and an interpretive and cultural centre ($35 million), and adding to the Selkirk Hotel ($5 million to $6 million), he said.

By the time all the work is finished in seven to 10 years, projections indicate annual attendance could double to between 500,000 and 750,000 people, he said.

“As we start to ramp up the park, there will be huge demand.”

The shuttle bus, which stops running Labour Day, will be back next summer.

In the long run, Demchuk would like the frequency increased to every 30 minutes, with fort tickets available on-board and at the LRT station.

“You go right to the fast-pass gate (at the entrance) and we get you in there quickly.”