Officials with the City of Edmonton are pursuing a prestigious accreditation from a UK-based program, for one of the city’s busiest streets.
The Purple Flag represents safety, diversity and vibrancy – in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden the flag marks dozens of safe locations.
“It’s the gold standard for a place at night time, in the evening,” Jonathan Birkett, program manager with Purple Flag said. “It kind of symbolizes a safe and secure place, a place that’s diverse and that’s really vibrant and exciting.”
Now, City of Edmonton officials are trying to bring a Purple Flag to downtown Edmonton’s 104 Street.
“104 Street has always been active, it’s always been vibrant, it’s sort of an icon that we all look at in how the downtown urban area should evolve,” Bab Ursuliak with the City of Edmonton said.
This week, community members and City officials have spent time with experts to learn more about the process.
“There are 30 criteria that need to be identified in four or five core areas, we need to Canadianize that and make it more relevant to us,” 104 Street committee co-chair Jon Hall said.
Nearly 60 purple flags are spread throughout the UK, and Birkett says the program is successful.
“People are slowly and surely starting to pick where they go because of that quality mark associated with it, it’s a reassurance,” Birkett said.
Ursuliak said she thinks it’ll only be a matter of time before other North American cities get on board with the Purple Flag program, a trend started on 104 Street.
“I think there will be a number of North American cities coming on the Purple Flag program, and nobody can take away that 104 Street will be the first, if we get accredited,” Ursuliak said.
Officials hope to have an application submitted by October.
With files from Veronica Jubinville
