Ritchie Community Engagement

Tier 2 The Community Assessment

April 28 2015

Angela Rout
One Block Village
5904 37st. SW Calgary Alberta T3E 5M7
403 830 9767
angelarout25@hotmail.com

Table of Contents
Tier 2 Community Engagement Process .......................................................................... 3
What Has Been Done so Far? ......................................................................................................... 3
The Purpose of TIER 2 ..................................................................................................................... 3
Team Formation ................................................................................................................................ 3
Training 1 ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Training 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Learning Reflection on Engagement Process ........................................................................... 5
Milestones Met ................................................................................................................................... 5
The Survey ................................................................................................................................. 6
Overall Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 6
How the Survey Results will be used .......................................................................................... 6
Summary of Survey Results ................................................................................................. 7
Demographics ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Programing .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Facilities ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Exterior ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Money ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Follow Up .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 10
Overall feel/mood/vibe: .............................................................................................................. 10
Flexible large space ....................................................................................................................... 10
Smaller space ................................................................................................................................... 11
Kitchen ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Outdoor Aesthetics ........................................................................................................................ 11
TEIR 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Public Meetings ............................................................................................................................... 12
Next Steps .......................................................................................................................................... 13
LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... 14
APPENDIX C - Space Adjacencies Diagram ................................................................... 15

Tier 2 Community Engagement Process

Ritchie community has completed TIER 2 of the community engagement plan. This
document outlines the milestones accomplished and the information gathered that
will be pertinent for further developments in the Ritchie Hall revitalization.

What Has Been Done so Far?

TIER 1 was completed in January 2015. It involved a series of 18 interviews with
those who are directly connected to the Ritchie Hall. The report included
recommendations for the Ritchie Hall Revitalization Team as well as the Community
League Board to consider fundraising, Hall design, Programing, and Community
Engagement. These interviews and this report was used to inform the SAIT
students, who were using the Ritchie Hall revitalization as a class project for their
final semester.

The Purpose of TIER 2

The purpose of TIER 2 is to engage with the Ritchie community, to gather
information about community needs and to engage as many people as possible into
the process of revitalizing the hall. In the initial proposal it was recommended that
this be accomplished through a series of training workshops where community
members would learn the skills to directly meet Ritchie community members at their
homes and gather information about the Hall revitalization.
As TIER 2 was implemented, certain learning made it clear that the methods
recommended should be altered to directly suit the current community culture. The
process of meeting community members at their homes was redirected to a mail-out
survey that was written, implemented and distributed by the newly formed
Revitalization Team. Even though the methods changed, the results of TIER 2 still
met its original goals of reaching every Ritchie household, providing opportunities for
members to voice opinions, to engage community and garner support for the
process.

Team Formation
The Ritchie Community Engagement project began in January 2015, and concurrent
to TIER 1 and TIER 2, the Revitalization Team was formed and consolidated. When
the project began there were three main members of the team and at this point the
team has grown to nine members. Much of TIER 2 has been dedicated to forming
the team, which was partially accomplished through the development and
distribution of a community wide survey.


Training 1
The training weekends were shortened to one day and the content revolved around
understanding community engagement, community learning, and discussing the
most effective way to move forward. At this meeting it was decided that forming the
revitalization team, developing the survey questions and distributing the survey to
every community member would be the redirected focus of TIER 2.
At this first training there were five Ritchie members in attendance and one City of
Edmonton liaison. Despite the low numbers the participants had a productive
meeting. The fact that the one community member present ended up joining the
team shows the level of commitment of Ritchie members when they are engaged.
After this first meeting, those who were in attendance decided that the survey would
be an excellent first project for the new Ritchie Hall Revitalization Team and a good
way to focus the group objectives. Between the first and second meeting new
members were added to the team and the new group held their first official meetings.
They brainstormed about the survey and were able to provide a first draft for the
second training.

Training 2
The second training was dedicated to two purposes. Firstly, it focused on training the
Revitalization Team in the process of engagement and the responsibilities that they
will have in the design, and construction of a revitalized hall. Secondly, the afternoon
was spent refining the survey, and engaging with community members to test drive
and improve the survey questions.
The bulk of the newly formed Ritchie Hall Revitalization Team was in attendance at
the second Training. The current Hall staff member who is currently in change of
programing, as well as City of Edmonton Liaison, and approximately 10 community
members were also present at various times during the day.
The First part of the training involved a presentation covering the roles and
responsibilities of a client in an architectural contractual relationship. This included
the 7 points for what a client does, from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canadas
document Canadian Handbook of Practice. This presentation included outlining
stakeholders, How to hire professionals, Preparing Budget and Costing,
Understanding Community Needs, Creating an Architectural Program, Team
Building, and Conducting a Survey. The course was a broad introduction to each of
these topics.
The second part of the day involved a dynamic cooperative group planning process
where the draft survey was edited, and tested by community members. The group
then made recommendations for the development of the survey questions to best
meet the needs of the team. It was decided that the team would use Canada Post to

distribute a postcard with a link to the survey, as well as paper surveys available at
local restaurants.

Learning Reflection on Engagement Process

The initial Community Engagement Proposal recommended a community outreach
training involving training community members to meet people at their homes and
gather information for the hall revitalization. Posters were displayed and an
announcement was made at a large Community Event (Chile Cook off). This meant
that there was a good number of community members who knew about the training
and intent of the project.
What was discovered is that the Ritchie Community members, for the most part,
were apprehensive about doing direct community engagement. Even though a large
scale engagement was not appropriate at this time, a small group of team members
has requested a shortened half-day community engagement practice where the
team will meet community members at their homes. This will occur on May 2nd 2015
concurrent with the start of TIER 3.
Reflection on TIER 2 suggests that, posters and public announcements are not
useful in activating community members for this type of process. Although, having
worked in Ritchie and witnessing the level of commitment and energy that the
members have towards the League and its events, I would say that Ritchie is poised
to succeed at a long-term engagement process.

Milestones Met
TIER 2 was an action oriented part of the process and depended strongly on the
Revitalization Team as well as the community members. During this TIER, the team
was formed and consolidated. The team has been able to actively engage, complete
more than one project deadline, attend team trainings and have started the process
of learning about their community.
A survey postcard was mailed to every household in Ritchie, meaning that many
community members were informed that there is a community league, that the
Ritchie hall is undergoing a revitalization and their opinion is requested. This is
important because not all Ritchie residents know about the league or the Hall as of
yet. Currently, many of those participating in events at the Hall live in close proximity.
The importance to outreach to those not often heard from is a good starting point for
community engagement.
At the time of writing this report there were 184 responses. 34 surveys were
complete on paper and remaining were completed online. 77 people who left their
email address to be contacted further, 77 who indicated interest in attending public
meetings and 21 who indicated they had skills to offer to the process.
The effect of TEIR 2 has been to support and activate a newly formed team, who
has now demonstrated an ability to complete projects on a deadline, outreach to

every household in Ritchie, gathered key information from those who answered the
survey as well as generating additional human resources for further project needs.

The Survey
Overall Objectives
The overall purpose of the survey is to gather the required information needed to
complete a detailed architectural program and secondly to engage and inform the
community in the process. It was understood that this survey may be a first point of
contact for many community members and therefore needed to include a level of
clarity and information for those very new to the process.
The final survey was developed to cover 7 main topic areas. These included an intro
paragraph, demographics, programming questions, facilities questions, exterior
aesthetics, money questions and follow up.
The introductory paragraph was used to familiarize members with the project and
provide a little history of the community league. The demographics outline
information about those answering the survey, programing and facilities questions
are directly related to the design of the hall and how it will be used. Exterior
aesthetics are intended to give an idea of priorities and money and follow up
questions give an idea of how engaged and willing to support the project the survey
answerers are.
The survey was created on Survey Monkey an online survey generator. A postcard
with the weblink was mailed through Canada Post to every household in Ritchie. The
Link was also advertised on the facebook site. Paper copies of the survey were
available through local businesses and at Hall programs for those who did not have
internet access.

How the Survey Results will be used

The survey will serve a variety of functions, but at this point the Revitalization Team
will use the survey results to compile a detailed architectural program. The program
will enable the team to undergo preliminary budgetary research and determine which
spaces/facilities are a priority. This will enable the League Board to have the
information needed to decide if a renovation or new Hall is required.
The findings from this survey will also be the basis by which the team engages a
Professional project team. It will help determine which architect is best suited to the
project as well as answer ongoing questions concerning the building design
throughout the process. Identifying priorities is key especially when there are tradeoffs required and limited resources. During design and construction, having

information available quickly is important and having completed this survey before
starting this process will be an advantage.
The team may have to conduct further fundraising for the project. The survey will
help by giving credence to the teams mandate and choices. It will also help if
applying for grants and public funding to have a large number of voices behind the
decisions made around a new hall.

Summary of Survey Results

Out of a community of approximately 4500 residents in Ritchie, 184 responses were
given to the survey. This makes it difficult to make overarching statements about the
needs of the Ritchie community, or come to concrete conclusion at this point. With
this said, this analysis will take the survey at face value and come up with some
concrete hypotheses that can then be tested and discussed at the Open house,
combined with the results of TIER 1 to come up with a final analysis and
recommendation for a new or renovated Hall.

Demographics
As of April 20 2015, 184 people responded online. 82% of them live in Ritchie, half
have a membership to the community league, and the majority are adults (30yrs55yrs). Most come from households with more than one person, and have lived in
Ritchie for under 10 years. There were answers from those who live in every part of
Ritchie, and some from outside of Ritchie, but most were from North Ritchie
(between 99 St. and 96 St. and between 82 Ave. and 76 Ave.).
Survey respondents lived in households totaling 267 adults, 20 teens, 27 children
and 52 preschoolers and 65 Seniors.
Even though the majority of people that answered the survey live in Ritchie, still 31
people answered who do not live in Ritchie, indicating that there is interest and
participation by the rest of Edmonton in the Halls future.
The fact that half those who answered do not have a membership suggests that
there are a fair number of people who could be requested to pay membership fees,
and participate further in League projects.
The fact that most online respondents were adults, whereas paper respondents were
seniors is an indication that variety in means of disseminating information is
necessary to get a diversity of perspectives.
That most respondents come from a household of 2-4 people suggests that there
are a large number of families represented. Most households are made up of adults
and seniors with 99 people under the age of 17. This could be a reason why certain
programs are favored, and since it is a small sample size of the entire community,

the opinions of children and teens should be pursued further. This can be attempted
at the Mill Creek Clean Open House on May 3rd 2015.

Programing
Programing questions include questions 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, and cover the topics of how
the hall is currently used, and future programing options.
From this survey, most people have used the hall for the outdoor amenities, large
gatherings, indoor/outdoor events and mid size gatherings. Live theater and indoor
sports were next, The lowest use areas were board room style meetings
and higher end dining experiences.
Question 8 was divided into answers that were spatially unique. The different use
options were to help provide information as to what spaces were currently used and
how they might be used in the future. It is understood that the answers are affected
by the current condition of the hall and the spaces offered. People are more likely to
answer yes to this question if there are current programs offered in that area. With
this in mind, the answers let us know which current uses are most popular and the
comments were valuable to understand what is desired for the future, ie. Large
Gatherings and Outdoors were important.
Theater and indoor sports are two uses that require specific facility services and
might need to be paired up and examined to determine which is a priority if a
decision between the two is necessary. For smaller rooms mid size spaces were
more popular than boardrooms although this may also be because of the large
numbers of seniors who use the spaces for card games.
The comments focused on reasons why they were not able to attend, including
distance, available time, and age. It was mentioned in the comments that they did
not use the building for High End Dining was mostly because of the condition of the
current building, but they would use it for these purposes if the hall was upgraded.
The survey also shows that all ages are currently using the hall from those polled,
although adults use it the most, next seniors, next preschoolers, next children and
finally teens. These results can be compared to the Halls records to see the range
of use in terms of age. As per TIER 1 it was concluded that teens use the hall the
least, for various reasons.
Question 15 was intended as a chance for the League to let those answering the
survey know what activities are currently available at the hall. The most popular
current programs include Adult Fitness, Garage Sale, Summer Bar BQ, Chile Cook
Off, Oktoberfest, Mill Creek Clean Up, Community League Day, Pub night, Ritchie
Community League Meetings and Yoga.
Question 16 was an opportunity to show what programs could be offered, and gauge
interest. Both for programing and for future design. Of those listed as possible new
programs the order of popularity went: Music, Crafts and Hobbies, Cooking and

Food Prep, Art Classes, Theater and Drama, Dance Classes, Indoor Sports, Pottery,
Woodworking, Childrens Programs, Family Programs, Preschool, Tutoring.
In terms of size most people would use the hall for events accommodating 16-40
people, next up 41-75 people.

Facilities
Facilities questions were numbered 10-14 and asked participants to rank a select set
of options around various facility requirements.
There were four facilities questions asked, covering four different areas: the kitchen,
the large hall, outdoor facilities, and architectural features.
For the kitchen having access to the outdoors and commercial kitchen equipment
were ranked marginally higher than a residential kitchen or learning space. For the
main space, having a flexible open space was ranked highest. Next was having a
large open space. Smaller rooms or acoustic separation were less important. In
combination with other responses concerning the kitchen, the comments in question
14 and 8, there was a general sense that the current kitchen is preventing use of the
Hall in a desired capacity and there is a priority to provide a commercial kitchen
adequate for catering.
For outdoor facilities the ability for the building to easily extend outdoors was ranked
the highest, and next was an outdoor covered patio. For architectural features the
importance of sustainability was ranked the highest next to outdoor views and
natural lighting. Live theater was ranked next with Community garden, while Wifi and
Indoor Sports were last.
Comments also included the need for grab bars, improved bathrooms and
accessibility for seniors.
Most people who answered the survey do not host functions in the space and from
those who do, the majority cook in the kitchen themselves, or use a caterer or bring
pre-made meals.
It is to be noted that of the paper surveys, 27 were not filled out correctly in the
ranking section and this resulted in fewer responses in this area.

Exterior
Question 18 covered the topic of exterior aspects of the building.
Long lasting and durable materials was the first priority for the buildings exterior, as
well as incorporating local art, whatever is most economical, a skate shack and
having a building that is modern looking. Comments included outdoor bathrooms,
non-corporate appearance, and green space. These responses suggest that Ritchie
is a practical community, that prioritizes the environment. A building that is

economical, efficient and conscientious is desirable. If there is room for more the
community supports local art and a welcoming, modern exterior.

Money
Most people who answered the survey would recommend reaching out to community
members and local business for fundraising. The comments recommend holding
fundraising events, and reaching out beyond residents and local businesses. In
terms of sponsorship 5 people out of 136 said they have contacts who would be
interested in sponsoring the new hall, and they have provided contact information.

Follow Up
In terms of follow up, most people polled stated that did not have any concerns. The
concern mentioned most often in the comments was how long the project was going
to take and whether the building would be out of use for that time.
21 people said they have skills to provide, and described their skills in the
comments. There is a lot of variety in the skills offered, from artistic to marketing to
audio visual. This should be a good resource for the Revitalization team. 57% of
those polled said they are planning on attending one of the upcoming 4 information
sessions. 61 people provided their email addresses for further contact.

Analysis
Overall feel/mood/vibe:

Earthy, connected to outdoors through views, natural light and openings,
sustainable. Egalitarian, grassroots. Refined but also homey and approachable.

Flexible large space

The ability to continue to hold, as well as improve upon, large community events is
important to the Ritchie Community. Improving the indoor/outdoor connection, as
well as allowing the space to be flexible is a priority as well as upgrading the general
feel of the space to be able to host higher end events, while avoiding a corporate or
sterile feel.
The survey identifies a few areas that are important to the program, particularly an
indoor/outdoor connection. This is a feature that is lacking in the current building and
is an important part of the current successful Ritchie events. The success of large
Community League events is reflected in the survey. Improving and building on this
success would be an appropriate response for a new design. In terms of the survey

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the importance of a large, flexible space had a higher profile than smaller break-out
rooms.
The balance between indoor sports and the arts is an architectural challenge since
both have a strong demand on spatial qualities and facilities. This may be an area
that requires either more research, if the two are incompatible with the resources
available. A definite feel, tone or vibe of the space would benefit from identifying
a main programmatic focus.

Smaller space
A smaller space may be its own room, or simply a spatial separation using a partition
or barrier. There are 4 types of smaller spaces that have been considered. These
include a boardroom, classrooms, lounge space, and a smaller fitness space. As per
the survey at this point, classrooms that would facilitate arts classes, and games, as
well as smaller sized fitness classes are a priority.
Adult Fitness, Yoga, Zumba and Karate are currently popular programs, but there is
a desire for arts based programming shown in question 16. The fact that the top 5
out of 13 suggested programs were arts related indicates that there is a desire to
facilitate more arts based programing. Building facilities that support these are
learning spaces that tolerate arts and crafts materials and clean up, sound
equipment, space for performance both for theater and music as well as spaces
suitable for lessons in both.
A smaller space that accommodate rentals for 16-40 people, would also be a benefit
since the survey indicates that this size of function would be the most in demand.

Kitchen
The community would like a kitchen that can facilitate large parties and commercial
catering, and that is accessible to the outdoors, and that has a bar with access to the
lounge and party space.
A large commercial Kitchen is desirable considering the popularity of large
community events and the opportunity for rentals for weddings and catered events.
The larger kitchen, in combination with outdoor access a bar and an improved
interior aesthetic would be improvements that would work simultaneously to support
larger, higher end events in the Hall. Another use for a larger kitchen is Food Prep
and Cooking Programs as mentioned in Question 16, which came second out of 13
options.

Outdoor Aesthetics
Outdoor appearance would prioritize practicality and economy, as well as local art,
modern style and sustainability. In addition to this, the indoor/outdoor connection

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would recommend a porch or covered area at the back of the hall, and facilities that
support popular outdoor uses such as the rink and spray park.

TEIR 3
Obviously there need to be trade offs and the community may need to compromise.
From the survey certain questions remain that can be analyzed at the Open Houses.
The more that new features can perform double-duty to meet a number of
programmatic needs, the more money will be saved.
Other areas for the Team address include fundraising and length of time the project
will take. Finding alternative places for seniors to play Bridge, Crib and Bingo would
alleviate concerns.

Public Meetings
The public Meetings that are being held for TEIR 3 will be based on the results of
TIER 2. Topics that the Open houses will cover allow the community to look at some
of the issues, trade-offs, dichotomies produced by their community needs, and try to
find solutions. Topics that will be introduced include:
1.How to design a large hall for both a Wedding, and Fitness activity
2.Can a commercial kitchen serve outdoors and indoors?
3.What would a removable stage for live theater look like?
4.Can we design attractive and functional partitions between spaces?
5.What are some ways to engage the exterior, when the building is closed?
6.What would an outside porch/deck to Spray park look like?
7.Design a display space for History
8.What are essential sustainable features?
9.What is a shape and design that represents Ritchie?
10.Design some great storage space.
11.How can we take a shorter time to build?
12.What are some cost saving ideas?
13.Fundraising Ideas?
14.Where can Ritchie folks go/do during construction?
During the Public Meetings we will have a chance to discuss these further as well as
come up with various ideas that can be of use to the committee.
A presentation will also be given to provide the community with information about
what the Revitalization Team has accomplished to this date and the survey results.
Five interactive activities have been prepared for participants at the public meetings
to record their thoughts and to gather qualitative information about the vision of the
Ritchie Community. The activities include, creating a fundraising tagline, preparing a

12

Vision Board, reading the Scenes of Ritchie, Problem solving, and identifying
priorities in terms of building facilities.

Next Steps
The Architectural Program has been edited for TIER 2, and is attached as an
appendix to this document. The Open houses will be an opportunity for the Ritchie
Community to express their ideas face-to face and to hear about the new Hall. At the
completion of these meetings a Final report will be prepared for the use of the
Revitalization Team.
The SAIT student work has been completed and will be brought to the Ritchie
Revitalization Team who will be presented with the work by myself and Blair
Marsden (the course instructor). The intention is to provide the Revitalization Team
with information about the students ideas, and considerations so as to ensure that
the value of the student work is translated to the Ritchie community and utilized in
the design process with the future architect.
When this engagement process is complete, the Ritchie Revitalization Team will hire
an architect and begin the process of preparing an official building design to be
displayed in September at the Community League Day.

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LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A Edited Architectural Program
APPENDIX B Survey Results at the Date of this Document
APPENDIX C Space Adjacencies Diagram

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APPENDIX C - Space Adjacencies Diagram

Exterior
Walkway
Rink

Outdoor Patio

Movable
wall

Bar/Serving

Large Hall
Bar/Serving
Service
Access

Storage

Kitchen

Partition

Parking Area

Bar
Bar

Sitting Area

Office

Reception

Coat storage

Washrooms

Out door
walkway

Partition

Smaller Space

Entry Foyer

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