HISTORY OF THE RVA

Frederick Gage Todd & the vision for one connected river valley

The concept of a preserved river valley park was first presented to the City of Edmonton in 1907 by landscape architect Frederick Gage Todd.

No recent history of the Edmonton and Alberta capital region river valley is complete without a discussion of the influence of Frederick Gage Todd and his visionary ideas. In Edmonton, you can visit the Frederick G. Todd lookout at the 100 Street Funicular.

The 100th Street Funicular is one of the Phase I projects of the RVA and the City of Edmonton.

The Great Flood (1915)

At the time of the flood, there was much development along the city’s river valley.

With damage estimated at $615 million, the flood destroyed many businesses & properties along the river & filled it with tons of debris.

This led to much discussion about the future use of the river valley.

7 municipalities, 1 plan, 1 river valley

The RVA was formed in 1996 by seven founding shareholder municipalities bordering the Capital Region’s North Saskatchewan River: Town of Devon, Parkland County, Leduc County, City of Edmonton, Strathcona County, Sturgeon County and City of Fort Saskatchewan. On March 5, 2003, it was incorporated as a, not for profit company under Part Nine of the Companies Act of Alberta on March 5, 2003.

In 2008, the RVA released its River Valley Alliance released its conceptual Plan of Action for one connected, continuous river valley after extensive public and stakeholder consultation.

read the plan