The future of Devonian Gardens Redevelopment is up in the air because of unfulfilled funding requests, officials say.
While Phase 1 is on track to be completed by October, the fate of the $13.5-million unfunded Phase 2 is unknown at this point since requests for funding have not yet been answered by the federal government, a parks spokesperson said.
“As of now, the second phase has no funding and we cannot continue the second phase of the project until we have a funding source,” said parks, planning and development manager Kyle Ripley.
Despite the current funding situation, Ripley said the city is not overly concerned at this point.
“The government hasn’t said no and we’re looking into other options as well so until all of our avenues are dried then there will be no cause for concern.”
Ripley is hopeful funding will come through from the government and the city is looking into third-party options to fully revitalize the attraction that was previously bringing in a million visits annually.
Ward 4 Ald. Bob Hawkesworth said he hopes to see a happy ending for one of the city’s “favourite downtown spots.”
“It’s very popular place and once the restoration is done, Calgarians will fall back in love with it all over again,” he said.
