City paying $2.5M for new project cracking down on grime and graffiti downtown
The city is looking to crack down on unsightly messes downtown.
Edmonton is putting $2.5 million toward cleaning up and beautifying the downtown core.
The Clean City Initiative starts this month and runs until February 2024. Money will go to hiring more staff and increasing services for garbage collection and removal, green space maintenance, and cleaning up litter and graffiti.
“A strong downtown is vital to our economy," said Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack. "Our city's success does truly hinge on the success of our downtown."
"And we know that for a downtown to be successful, it has to be safe, it has to be clean and it has to be vibrant.”
The initiative will make cleaning and maintenance work downtown more effective by combining those services, the city said, which will allow staff to respond faster when services are requested.
The city announced Thursday that it is also giving $100,000 to the Edmonton Downtown Business Association (EDBA) to expand litter pick up and power washing services by the EDBA.
"Our sidewalks will be cleaner, our park spaces will be greener, and our public spaces will be much more vibrant," said Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson. "This project won't just make our downtown look better, it will make it feel better as well."
The new project is one of several underway to rejuvenate downtown Edmonton and address safety concerns in the area.
- $250K now available to businesses wanting to move into downtown Edmonton as revitalization efforts continue
- 'It will be an emotional moment': Edmonton to erect new $6M gate to Chinatown
- 'The goal is to create safer spaces': EPS moving officers to patrol LRT stations
- Edmonton trying to prevent fires in encampments through education campaign
The city said it will be surveying Edmontonians on their experiences living or visiting downtown, but no details have been given yet on how or when the survey will be carried out.
Requests for City of Edmonton services, including reporting graffiti or litter, can be made online or by calling 311.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in '9 to 5' and the nasty TV director in 'Tootsie,' has died. He was 92.
BREAKING Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.
Person charged in random assault on actor Steve Buscemi in New York
A person wanted in connection with the random assault on actor Steve Buscemi on a New York City street earlier this month was taken into custody Friday, police said.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
A look back at Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.