St. Patrick's Island Park

St. Patrick’s Island Park opened in the summer of 2015 after undergoing a major restoration and redevelopment. The island park lies in the Bow River between the East Village to the south, and the community of Bridgeland to the north. The park boasts hiking and biking trails, a public plaza and amphitheatre, children’s play area, public washrooms, a small hill, and restored river channels.

• The Tip – a vantage point and seating area at the island’s westernmost edge, with views of the river and downtown Calgary
• The Seasonal Breach – a restored channel where visitors can wade into the water and venture safely onto a gravel bar.
• The Rise – a grassy knoll, nine metres high, that provides a perfect setting for community celebrations, performances and movies in the park during summer, and tobogganing during winter
• The Lowland Channel – a seasonal riparian wetland at the heart of the island, with an elevated boardwalk for no-impact access to the wetland and the Gallery Forest, an important habitat for nesting eagles, owls and songbirds
• The Lookout Plaza – a gathering place with seating areas, a small amphitheatre and water features
• Bloom – a 23-metre tall sculpture made of connected streetlights that represent a towering flower
• Look for festivals, guided nature walks and family picnics to help you discover all the new park has to offer!

Situated across from the rapidly developing East Village, St. Patrick’s Island is one of Calgary’s oldest parks. Its development as a public space began in the late 1890s and gained momentum with construction of a bridge to the island in the early 1900s. In 2010, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) led an extensive public engagement program to inform the master plan for the park’s redesign. More than 6,000 Calgarians gave feedback into the vision for the park. St. Patrick’s Island takes a landscape design approach known as “biophilia” that nurtures a bond between people and nature. The flood of 2013 briefly interrupted the redevelopment, and the park reopened July 31, 2015.

St. Patrick’s Island Park is a public park, but will be managed and maintained by CMLC during the development of the East Village. For more information please contact info@calgarymlc.ca or visit calgarymlc.ca