Infrastructure
2024
- City reveals it has $818 million in working capital to help pay for new downtown arena | CBC News (Published April 26, 2024)
- “The chair of city council's event centre advisory committee, Coun. Sonya Sharp, said elected officials were aware that funds for the project would partially come from working capital accounts. Sharp praised administration for letting Calgarians know how much working capital is available. ‘To be able to front-end the project with our own money, on our own project, is really critical. Also we have a lot of control over that.’”
- Calgary rezoning public hearing day 3: Infrastructure, solutions and the youth movement - LiveWire Calgary (Published April 24, 2024)
- “Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said that Calgary’s downtown, in particular, was built for offices, not necessarily the flushing toilets of thousands of residents. She doesn’t believe the city’s done a good enough job to ensure the right infrastructure is going where there’s density. ‘As soon as you add people, you need more infrastructure. The toilet flushing is a big deal. Do we have the capacity in our streets?’ Sharp said. ‘That’s downtown, let alone some of the older neighbourhoods like Bowness or Meadowlark and things like that. Once you add more people, you add more infrastructure.’”
- Calgary event centre designs expected by July (Published May 6, 2024)
- Coun. Sonya Sharp, says the city is right where it needs to be when it comes to the project’s timeline, and they remain on budget. ‘I can’t provide any hints, I will say I am very pleased on the progress of the project,’ she says, adding she expects designs to be revealed by July, shortly after the official development permit crosses the council floor.”
- Final agreements for Calgary event centre released, construction pegged to start this year | CBC News
- “Coun. Sonya Sharp, who is also chair of the event centre committee, wrote in a statement that she was glad to see the agreements released publicly. ‘I think it's really valuable that everyone has the chance to understand the details of this project. Work is well underway, and Calgarians should expect to see enabling construction activity begin in the coming months. The next major milestone the public will see is obtaining permits,’ said the Ward 1 councillor. ‘2024 is going to be a big year for this project and for the area. I will be excited to see more details on the design, and I know many Calgarians will be, too.’”
- Councillors raise questions about cost of ongoing water crisis | Calgary Herald (Published June 19, 2024)
- City isn't ordering car washes to close but says it will turn off access if needed | CBC News (Published June 25, 2024)
- Bell: Calgary water crisis nears end, now bring on the investigation | Calgary Herald (Published July 1, 2024)
- Draft water main review guidelines raise 'red flags' for Calgary councillor - LiveWire Calgary (Published July 2, 2024)
- Bell: Calgary councillors and even Gondek blow up pipe probe plans | Calgary Herald (Published July 3, 2024)
- “I can tell you people aren’t happy,” Sharp told yours truly earlier in the week. “You can spin things all you want. People are not happy and they will not forget.” Sharp has been pushing hard for a real investigation into the water pipe fiasco.
- Ground broken on new Calgary Event Centre, design revealed - LiveWire Calgary (Published July 22, 2024)
- Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, who chairs the Event Centre Committee, and has been a steward of the project since she was elected to Calgary city council in 2021, said this was a big day for Calgary. “After a decade of talking, Calgary is breaking ground on a new event center, a project that promises to become a cornerstone of our sports and entertainment district,” she said.“This is a place where dreams will be realized or champions will be made and where our community will come together to celebrate, to be entertained, and to enjoy.”
- Calgary looks to change noise rules for Scotia Place to avoid millions in extra costs - Calgary | Globalnews.ca (Published July 24, 2024)
- Bowness residents demand more information about repairs to feeder main | Calgary Herald (Published August 10, 2024)
- “If we were going to go out and say this to those residents on this community on the street, we should have been prepared and armed with all the information — I feel like we’ve given these folks PTSD, so I’m a little disappointed.”
- Calgary finalizing feeder main repair sites with plan to come on Thursday (Published August, 2024)
- Northwest Calgary residents concerned, frustrated about ongoing pipe repairs - Calgary | Globalnews.ca (Published August 21, 2024)
- Early phases of feeder main repair construction underway, 'significant impacts' expected | CBC News (Published August 22, 2024)
- "A lot of information that constituents in this area and residents in this area were not receiving. So we came out, I think, a little bit too soon with not a lot of information on hand."
- Calgary's new event centre 'officially under construction' | Calgary Herald (September 3, 2024)
- “There’s still some scrutiny around just the project and all that, but I think once people see this building being built, once it’s built and opened, I think everybody’s going to understand how important this project was for Calgary.”
- Montgomery businesses call for city support in wake of water main failure and repairs | CTV News (Published 20, 2024)
- 'Fix the damn roads': Tens of millions needed to bring Calgary roads up to snuff: Report - LiveWire Calgary (Published October 16, 2024)
- Given the level of need in upgrading Calgary’s infrastructure, Coun. Sharp said that people are telling the city what kinds of investments are important to them. That will be dealt with in the budget.
- Gondek criticizes administration for lack of update on feeder main | Calgary Herald (Published October 30, 2024)
- “People’s tolerance for that is very low,” she said. “I know administration can’t predict it, but there’s got to be some checks and balances to know that in some of these older communities, their infrastructure is probably failing. So what are we waiting for?”
- New pitch by Calgary councillors looks to keep Ingelwood pool open | CTV News (Published November 6, 2024)
- A motion from Couns. Sonya Sharp and Andre Chabot wants council to reconsider its decision last month to shut down the community pool at the end of this year.
- "We want to provide the community some more options and time to utilize the facility for physical activities, swimming, mental health and just have this operate until it can't," said Sharp, the Ward 1 councillor.
- Calgary wants to borrow $1B for water projects to meet demands of growing population | CBC News (Published November 8, 2024)
- Sonya Sharp, councillor for Ward 1. "I would say that there's a risk there."
- Activists applaud Calgary council's decision to revive Inglewood pool | Calgary Herald (Published November 23, 2024)
- While most of her proposed amendments were rejected during budget deliberations, Sharp said she was pleased to see a sizable majority of council support her pitch to maintain Inglewood’s aging aquatic centre.
2023
- Events Centre committee chair sees momentum on talks | Calgary Herald (Published March 10, 2023)
- “At this time, progress work is going really well and it was an opportunity for the committee to get an update from our . . . deal structure advisers, and a lot of members of council did come to the meeting today so that they could get up to speed on what’s going on,” said Sharp.
- With deal done, construction can begin on $1.2B Calgary event centre | Calgary Herald (Published October 5, 2023)
- “Sharp called the event centre an important investment in Calgary's economy and downtown recovery, adding the project will create 4,700 jobs during the construction phase and 1,500 permanent jobs afterwards. She also said the city predicts the completed Rivers District will attract 8,000 new residents to the area. ‘This isn't just a hockey arena,’ she said. ‘It's downtown's only community rink and a hub of culture and entertainment that will bring business, art and people together. It will also bring significant new mobility and street access improvements that will be essential to supporting the new businesses, residents and visitors this project will attract.’”
- Bow River bridge twinning nears completion, Calgary ring road project in final stage - Calgary | Globalnews.ca (Published October 19, 2023)
- “‘Our communities, businesses and amenities that are on the very edge of the city limits are now more connected than ever to this city,’ Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said. ‘I can actually still remember when there was a set of lights on Highway 1 coming into the city, and it’s nothing short of amazing to see how far this area has come.’”
- Calgarians question event centre spending as council mulls proposed tax increase - Calgary | Globalnews.ca (Published November 15, 2023)
- 'Hypothetically speaking, if we were to cancel the event centre project, that number would not change next week,’ Sharp said. ‘I think what’s important is everyone understands what operating (funding) is, what one-time (funding) is, and what capital spending is.' Sharp said the proposed tax increase is due to several proposals to increase the city’s operating spending, ongoing annual funding that goes towards various city services.