Who would have imagined that by participating in the twenty-four member Sesquicentennial Planning Committee over the past year, a group of us would be invited to develop a legacy project to complement a year of campus activities, all selected and fine-tuned to give that special U of A quality to the celebratory themes?
In addition to the four articulated Government of Canada’s themes of diversity and inclusion, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, youth, and environment, the Committee at its inaugural meeting came up with twelve celebratory principles, including authentically U of A, daring and surprising, and focused on the public good, among others. The invitation also came with a list of sample suggestions, such as 150 trees with 150 stories, a sense of permanence (i.e. a physical marker, sculpture or edifice), etc.
The moment of crystallization came when we discovered that no budget came with a year of activities or the legacy project. In true team spirit, members of the Legacy Committee shrugged off the challenges and contributed with energy to crafting a legacy gift befitting our university community.
The idea that was proposed and adopted by the Sesquicentennial Committee was to create a campus commons, in the vein of a city central park or a college quad, in the middle of an academic campus on South Campus. When fully developed, this place-making legacy project will be a focal point in the public realm, echoing the agrarian notion of a fallow (intentionally leaving land uncultivated for a duration to let it recover its fertility), a collegiate notion of sabbatical (setting aside time for field research and scholarship) and most of all a notion of a liberal education (pursuing the search for knowledge and understanding in juxtaposition with an engaging life of practical employment).
Thanks to one of our archival-minded colleagues, the design was inspired by worthy words of personalities who lived or are living among us, including Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, W.O. Mitchell, and Wilton Littlechild:
“This is a fortunate setting for a community of scholars: a place where there is a predisposition to open-mindedness and enquiry; a place not tied up in a monotone culture or restricted by narrow horizons; a place with an outlook as broad as your prairie landscapes and an awareness as high as your skies. Scholars know that only in such a setting can a university pursue its proper purpose; to seek out, as the motto of the U of A states, Quaecumque Vera.”
— Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Honourary Degree recipient at the Special Jubilee Convocation in May 1968)
“I would walk to the end of the street and over the prairie with the clickety grasshoppers bunging in arcs ahead of me, and I could hear the hum and twang of wind in the great prairie harp of telephone wires. Standing there with the total thrust of prairie sun on my vulnerable head, I guess I learned — at a very young age — that I was mortal.”
— W.O. Mitchell (U of A Alumnus)
“We are calling on you to open up your mind, to be willing to learn these stories, to be willing to accept that these things happened. This is not an Aboriginal issue, it’s a Canadian issue.”
— Wilton Littlechild (U of A Alumnus and TRC Commissioner)
The concept design is an arena stage, a simple circular form, gently laid onto a raised plateau adjacent to a depressed landscape — a carefully shaped utility storm water management pond.
The water feature is, of course, a practical engineering solution to water retention. But it also serves as a sustainability step towards caring for our environment and demonstrating our commitment to environmental responsibility.
The stage is a classical form of open invitation to engage and participate, whether it be through a gathering, a ceremony, an oratory, a performance or a reflection. The ingredients of the design are the natural elements of earth, fire, water, wood, stone and air. When combined and articulated, they give form to a dance between nature and human activity, conveying an authenticity of place, an authentic moment of time, an authenticity of purpose and a sense of timelessness through its ability to evolve over time.
The design provided an opportunity for naming as well. Evergreen Pond is a direct reference to the name of U of A’s yearbook, “Evergreen and Gold”. The word evergreen also conjures up images of renewal and regeneration that embrace the themes of environmental stewardship and youth. Pond suggests a place for repose. The Circle, the name for the arena stage, is non-prescriptive in its simplicity of nomenclature and its open-endedness for interpretation and use, embracing the other two sesquicentennial celebration themes of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples as well as diversity and inclusion.
This legacy project has been a most gratifying gift where the Committee is able to interest and assemble a village of engaging and committed participants through all aspects of project implementation as well as program planning for the upcoming celebratory event on September 24.
One could imagine and dream about the countless stories and memories of those who would come to experience this stage and the naturalized pond in the days ahead.
Would this Sesquicentennial legacy project be a welcomed new venue or perhaps an appreciated invitation to contemplate and rebuild relationships under an ever-changing but comforting prairie sky? Time will tell.
Ben Louie — University Architect
Ben Louie is the University Architect at Facilities and Operations and served in the Sesquicentennial Planning Committee. The Office of University Architect is entrusted with responsibilities in campus planning and campus architecture in support of the ISP, academic mission, campus life, student success together with budget realities of projects and facility operations.