HISTORY
In 1985, with only about 10% of the community developed, the Community Association formed. Because the Area Structure Plan had not had 3rd reading, delayed over transportation issues, the Association worked with the Ward Alderman and the developer to create significant changes to the community design.
The threshold of population for the community was moved down from 16,000 to 9,500 by upscaling lot sizes; the Community Centre site was moved from immediately north of Crowchild Twin Arenas to the interior of the community; 2 school sites were amalgamated between Scenic Acres Boulevard and Scurfield Drive, adjacent to the new Community Centre site; Scenic Acres Boulevard was re-aligned to create a significant shift to the south from its previous alignment with its connection to Stoney Trail, with the intention to prevent short-cutting; the Community Association successfully negotiated to have the site of the Nose Hill Drive LRT station moved about 200 meters to the west; a land-swap among three parties was negotiated to permit safe access/egress from LRT parking; and through public input, both the grade of Stoney Trail was lowered and the berm system built higher to reduce noise pollution from Stoney Trail.
DEVELOPMENT
The only land SACA has direct control over in terms of development, is the land at 8825 Scurfield Drive where the Volleyball Courts and Community Centre are currently located. The land along Scenic Acres Drive where the Tennis and Basketball Courts are located was, until very recently, designated to be the future home of school. So although recreation facilities have been built on that parcel of land they were built to be temporary and/or to be assumed by the school when it was built. Now the school board has handed the land back to the City of Calgary, the City controls the land; SACA can only advocate for its continued use as community recreation.
The land at 8825 Scurfield Drive was set aside by the Developer as community land to be developed to include community facilities. This is a matter of public record. Since SACA’s inception in 1985 is has done its best to develop these lands as per the needs of the community as a whole. This started with the building of the community centre in 1997, the extension of the centre in 2004, the addition of the Volleyball courts in 2006, the inclusion of temporary rinks in 2007/8, the re-landscaping of the lands to include a berm/trees to create a natural buffer between the community lands and residential homes in 2008 and the addition of a storage garage in 2012. The next phase, timeline dependant on funding, is to build a permanent base for the larger of the two temporary rinks.
