North Glenora Community Building Revitalization

North Glenora is a connected and inclusive community where we all belong. The Community League buildings – the hall and the rink shack – are an integral part of our community, providing places for neighbours to gather, socialize, and take part in fun and healthy recreational activities. 

Our rink shack was constructed in 1953, one of the first buildings to be constructed in our neighbourhood. The first community hall was moved here from Namao in the mid-fifties with several additions constructed over the years. The kitchen, washrooms and cloak room were added in 1956, the east side was extended in 1968, and the current hall was officially opened in January 1981 after receiving a substantial grant from the City of Edmonton.

Community volunteers have done an incredible job maintaining these buildings over the years, but due to the age of these buildings and regular wear and tear, the time has come for extensive upgrades and retrofits to bring these structures up to today’s code and energy efficiency standards.

Project Background

In 2021, the North Glenora’s Sustainability Committee began investigating the potential to upgrade and retrofit the League’s hall and rink shack to increase the accessibility and the energy efficiency of these buildings. Later in 2021, North Glenora was selected by the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) to take part in the Net Zero Pathways Project. Through this project, the EFCL arranged for the League to receive in-depth energy audits and outline a range of plans that would help achieve the goals of increased accessibility while getting the buildings closer to Net Zero. 

Buildings that are Net Zero generate as much energy as they consume. They do this using renewable energy generated on site. In Alberta, this means increasing the overall efficiency of a building by improving its insulation and decreasing air exchange with the outdoors, transitioning away from natural gas furnaces to electric heating and cooling, and powering it all with a roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system. 

The Net Zero specialists at Carbon Busters completed an assessment of our facilities and charted a path to get the community hall and rink building to Net Zero. We also looked at ways to increase the accessibility of the buildings. This report can be viewed here.

In 2024, the North Glenora Community League Board requested a full infrastructure assessment conducted by Senaltek. This service was provided free of charge by the EFCL. It is essential that the League take a “whole building approach” and consider all of the infrastructure updates that are required before taking on such a substantial upgrade and renewal project. This will save the League money in construction costs in the long run. The infrastructure assessment can be viewed here.

Currently the League is seeking funding through grants in order to be able to take on this important work, upgrading our community buildings for increased accessibility, safety, energy efficiency, as well as overall aesthetics and comfort.

Most recently, the board is reviewing engineering drawings for proposed changes.

If you’d like more information about this project or to join the Hall Renewal Committee, contact: [email protected]

Project Timeline

Click on the dates below to see details of the timeline.

Sponsors and Acknowledgements