Updates on our Ritchie Hall Project

Please read our recent news regarding the hall and funding.

Drop-in at the hall to see drawings, learn about the process, and what the plan is for the site…for the trees, rink, parking lot, park area…

More Information

Project background

Why build a new hall and not renovate?

Isn't this a city Issue?

Past engagement

Can we afford it?

Meet the team

Where we're at? We got our Permit!!! We’re at Step 4

There are five key phases associated with the Parkland Change Process. At a glance, it looks something like this:

1. Strategy phase: completed 2016-2018

2. Concept phase: completed 2019-2020

3. Design phase: current phase

   1. Schematic designs - complete 2021-2023

   2. Construction drawings - completed Sept 2023

   3. City Permit Applications. APPROVED! Click for detailed drawings.

4. Secure funding phase

   1. Fundraising - we need $250k to get matching grants!!!

   2. Partnerships - we need to get creative

   3. The City of Edm funding is is simply not adequate.

   4. Capital Plan funding will be applied for.

5. Hall Construction: 2025 or later

   1. Construction tender and agreement package.

   2. Start date: TBD.

6. Site / Rink Phase: 2026 or later

   1. Grant funding for rink and pickleball court area.

   2. Resurfacing rink/court area.

   3. Re-build tennis courts

Now that you’ve seen some details, we’d like to hear from you on what you think is exciting.

RCL is submitting grants for the 2024 intake. This includes federal, provincial and city grants. Once we understand our grant success, we will look to have fundraising events and sponsorship opportunities to make up for funding shortfall.

Built in 1961, Ritchie’s hall has seen its fair share of action. Be it special events, meetings, weddings or regular programs, our hall has served us well. However, the 60-year-old cinder block building is falling apart, very expensive to heat, and just not serving the needs of an evolving community.

The Ritchie Hall Revitalisation Project kicked off in 2014 with the goal to create a contemporary, warm, and inviting space that is tailored to community needs. We want our hall to not only be the perfect host for Ritchie’s signature events, but to be the reason private functions are so unforgettable.

The Ritchie Community League is excited about delivering a great, net-zero, accessible facility and a revised site layout that delivers connectivity with park space and accommodates programming needs that will better serve the Ritchie and adjacent neighbourhoods.

The cinder block building was originally constructed more than six decades ago and although major renovations were undertaken in the late seventies and again in the nineties, it's time for a significant overhaul. 

In 2010, the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) contracted Stantec to review the halls structure. We can’t say we were shocked to learn that our hall has a number of deficiencies requiring attention.

More specifically, our kitchen, HVAC, fire safety system, bathroom and meeting spaces are outdated and energy inefficient. The building has an R2 insulation rating (so none), the floor has caved in the main hall, the ‘70s addition has sunk and is creating separation from main hall, the drainage is no longer repairable, the hall runs on three furnaces because there's no insulation. Renovations make sense when the foundation is sound - that's no longer the case for Ritchie’s hall and not good use of funds.

The hall is also struggling to meet the growing capacity requirements of many of our user groups. This led to a building design that cannot fit within the area of the current hall. The building design that best serves our programs and community needs is only feasible where the current rink is located. This would then move the rink to where the tennis courts are and move the old hall would be replaced with a tennis court area.

Ritchie hall is owned by Ritchie Community League and the land it sits upon is City of Edmonton parkland.

For $1, the City of Edmonton grants us a license to occupy the land and use it in accordance with an agreement signed by our league, the city, and the EFCL. The land is called our “licensed area.” Ritchie owns the assets which includes the hall, the parking lot, and the rink and court area. 

All changes and new developments within the “licensed” boundary must follow the City of Edmonton processes and obtain city approval. The city also determines what will be grandfathered for the site and what new requirements are to be expected.

In early 2015, we contracted a community engagement expert, who reached out to Ritchie community members of all ages as well as local and city-wide user groups. This work helped identify the following priorities, ranked in order of importance and used in developing the new hall:

1. indoor/outdoor connection between the building and the city park space and community rink;

2. sustainability in construction material, energy efficiencies and operational cost;

3. community kitchen enhanced for gathering and conversation;

4. large space - flexible and engaged community space;

5. support to the arts and fitness, but not necessarily organised sports;

6. an enhanced skate shack that enables winter recreation;

7. a lounge Area that is available for community gathering;

8. usable exterior spaces that enable coming together in natural surroundings;

9. better storage for programming opportunities; and,

10. front desk / reception that is welcoming and functional for community events.

With that list, we issued a request for proposals (RFP) to select an architect to design concepts. 

In 2019, we presented those concepts, collected community feedback and after consulting with two architect firms, we are now on the third for building the actual construction drawings.

Prudent savings and fundraising by previous boards of directors has left us in a very good financial position compared with many other leagues. As a recent article highlights, it is simply impossible for community leagues to save enough money to adequately fund major renovations or re-builds, despite decades of adequate maintenance.

Although we have a good idea of what a new hall and revised site will cost, being able to build depends on receiving grants, stable service and material costs, City decisions on grandfathering site requirements, and fundraising amounts in the bank.

Currently, RCL cannot apply for loans so before we proceed with city development permit application, all funding must be secured. This means that the all the grant commitments plus the cash in RCL bank must equal total cost of construction.

The RHRC’s dedicated volunteer members include:

• Carly Steiger (ex-officio member as league President)

• Jeff Ollis - (RHRC Chair)

• Jeff Yu - (RHRC Vice-chair)

• Carly Steiger - (RHRC Treasurer)

• David Woo - (Member-at-Large)

• Stuart Fix - (Member-at-Large)

• Genevieve Montomurro- (Member-at-Large)

For more information or to get involved please email us at: hall-revitalisation@ritchie-league.com