The City of Calgary officially reopened Sunalta park on Wednesday, unveiling a series of major upgrades designed to transform the green space into a more accessible venue for everyday leisure and larger community events.
Located beside the historic Pumphouse Theatre along the Bow River, the renewed park now features improved pathway connections, expanded parking, new water and electrical servicing, and increased gathering spaces including picnic areas, barbecues, and fire pits.
New Amenities and Community Focus
“The focus here is to really create an opportunity for the Sunalta community, but also Calgarians at large, to enjoy a lovely oasis adjacent to the river,” said Kyle Ripley, director of parks and open spaces for the City of Calgary. “We’re providing an opportunity for Calgarians to embrace our culture, embrace nature and connect with each other, and so to me this park perfectly meshes all of those things together.”
Construction began in the fall of 2024 and was delivered through the city’s established area growth and change strategy, which aims to improve and strengthen already developed communities throughout Calgary.
Among the park’s more distinctive additions are custom-built swings constructed from water pipes and fittings, a nod to the site’s industrial history, as well as a deliberately open central green space.
Dynamic Space for Events and Recreation
“We always want to try and make sure that the park can be dynamic,” Ripley said. “Having a large space in the middle creates an opportunity for informal play. It also creates an opportunity to host larger events here, so really it’s a dynamic, flexible park, which is the way we like them to be.”
For the Sunalta Community Association, the improvements represent more than upgraded infrastructure. “We’re always trying to get people to Sunalta, but I think this is actually going to be our chance now, where everybody is actually coming out to enjoy the river, watch all the rafters going by, enjoy the big family games that they have out here,” said Kaylee Bossert, executive director of the Sunalta Community Association. “It is absolutely an invitation for everybody to come out, check out Sunalta and see what our small community in the inner city of Calgary has to offer.”
Bossert said community organizers are already approaching her with future event and festival ideas that could make use of the revitalized space. “We’re gonna see an already vibrant Sunalta become ever more vibrant,” she said.
Community Celebration and Future Plans
Attendees of the celebration enjoyed a performance by the Untold Stories Theatre and a poem by recent Calgary Poet Laureate, Clara A.B. Joseph. For Helen and Azim Bhatia, who came out to support their son involved in the improvement project, the renewed park is already inspiring summer plans. “You do a picnic, you come down and have a little bit of exercise, a little bit of enjoying nature, it’s always good,” Helen Bhatia said.
Bossert added that the space will be a perfect spot to cap off long summer days. “(It’s) a great space to catch a summer sunset,” she said.
