Community Beautification

Community 'Hub' Project

We are very excited to announce this project! We are reimagining our outdoor community spaces, to contribute to the beautification of our neighbourhood. With our All-season rink makeover work nearly completed we want to further enhance our outdoor space into a true ‘community hub’. We just received approval for funding from City of Calgary Inspiring Neighbourhoods Grant and we will be adding 10 colorful low maintenance picnic tables around the rink area. With lots of all-season amenities in this area, we are positive that this will further encourage residents to gather, socialize, connect and be neighbourly. The new picnic tables will be a great addition for outdoor events such as YYCFoodtrucks Fridays, birthday parties, picnics, family gatherings, etc. The picnic tables are being designed to match Riverbend Community Association’s official branded colours of blue,  green and orange. Picnic tables were installed in June 2023.


Finally, to complete our all season rink makeover project we are adding basketball and pickleball court lines to the rink.


Garbage Cans Makeover

We were successful in securing a Community Standards Grant from the City of Calgary in support of community beautification. Thanks to this funding all 28 garbage cans around our community will undergo an extreme makeover.

We are positive that with the new look, garbage cans will be less likely to be vandalized by graffiti and residents will be more likely to dispose of waste in the garbage cans.

The work on the garbage cans will be completed in June/ July 2023.

Paths on 18th Street

New paths on east and west side of 18th Street between Rivervalley Drive (Riverbend Community Centre) and Riverbend Gate/ Riverglen Drive (MacDonald’s) were constructed in May 2023. The paths are a great improvement to our community as they greatly increase safety of our pedestrians and enhances the walkability for our neighborhood. 

Thank you Councilor Kourtney Penner for advocating for Riverbend to make this happen!

18th Street Refresh Project

Spring 2023

We are pleased to update that the majority of the fences along the 18th Street corridor have now been painted. We will tackle the remaining few fences this summer.


HUGE thanks to every resident who painted their fence, our amazing volunteer team, our donors (Bart and Tarryn Lamb, Remington, Cloverdale and Riverbend Hardware Store). Together we made a meaningful difference to the look and feel of Riverbend!

Spring 2022

We caught up with Patricia Medhurst, our Director of Community Beautification to hear about the 18th Street Refresh Project. 

How is the 18th Street Refresh Project coming?

It’s going really well. We’ve made some good progress this year and, by our unofficial count, approximately 16 fences have been painted so far in 2022! Special thanks to everyone who has painted their fence as well as to our wonderful donors and volunteers who chipped in to help some residents who needed a hand: Bart Lamb , Tarryn Hamilton, Remington Development Corp, Tracey, Graham, Delby, Jerry, Mark, Stephen, and Darryl. 

What do you hear from community residents about the project? Are they noticing?

Yes! Many have said they are noticing and that it is making a visible difference to our community. I believe there are approximately 20 fences that still require repairs and/or painting so we will continue to work with homeowners to get those completed. 

What have you learned or what has been surprising to you?

One of our  volunteers encouraged me to knock on doors to meet 18th Street homeowners and find out what some of the barriers are to painting them. Many homeowners asked about the possibility of replacing the grey fences with a concrete sound barrier. They were aware that there was a study done a number of years ago and didn’t want to spend a lot of time or money on their fence if it was going to be replaced so they’ve been holding off.

And will a sound barrier be built?

When the City of Calgary conducted a sound assessment along 18th Street a number of years ago, only the southernmost part of Riverbend was approved for a sound barrier (21st Street south to Quarry Park border) As an aside, those southern fences were built as single thickness whereas all the other fences are double thickness so that’s why there is a higher sound level in that part of the street).  All retrofit noise barriers across the City have since been put on hold indefinitely. More information on the sound barriers is available on City of Calgary website 

What else have you been working on?

We have been working with the City to address the farthest south centre median as it is bald and in need of attention. The City has agreed to pilot a program of tilling in “salt grass” to see if this method of planting will be successful. Typically salt grass has to be transplanted so this pilot program will test another planting method. Salt grass is a very hardy grass that looks similar to regular grass (it takes a bit longer to green in the summer) and thrives in salty road conditions. It will take a year or two to determine whether it will take successfully. We have also requested replacement trees be planted along that median.

What’s next for the Beautification Team?

We think there is more to be done in terms of landscaping. There are some opportunities for us to work on a few small garden areas, shrub beds, etc. along 18th Street and around Riverbend. We are in need of a small volunteer team to work on the landscaping/gardening project. If you like to garden and are interested in  getting involved and meeting others who are passionate about beautifying Riverbend please contact me at pat@riverbendcommunity.ca

With a few more volunteers we could have an even greater impact by applying for grants, doing some gardening work, or even just brainstorming ideas to beautify our community. All are welcome, it’s a fun and gratifying project.

3 Ways You Can Support Community Beautification

The City of Calgary has some programs for individuals, groups or families who are interested in helping with upkeep in our beautiful parks, green spaces, playgrounds, pathways, and natural areas. Check out the  "Adopt a Park" and "Litter Clean Up" programs. It's a great way to get the family outdoors in the spring to discover more of Riverbend and provide a little TLC to help keep our community beautiful.

Adopt-a-Park

This program provides opportunities for you, as a proud Calgarian, to volunteer as a steward in your local parks or greenspaces. 

Join us to learn more about available opportunities, such as shrub bed and playground general maintenance and grooming or litter cleanups, and how you can get involved.

Stewardship is everyone’s responsibility and you can make a difference in maintaining the health, beauty and biodiversity of your local natural surroundings.

Calgary Parks are awaiting the chance to work with you to ensure our parks continue to thrive for years to come!

If you’re interested in becoming an Adopt-a-Park Volunteer, please follow this link for more information and to register: Individual sign up -  or call 311.

Litter Cleanup

Groups make short commitments to keep park spaces clean.

Activities include:

Calgary is designated as a Clean Shoreline Community. Our partnership with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup helps us engage more local volunteers to minimize our impact on the environment and keep it healthy.

Volunteer in Parks

ActivateYYC

ActivateYYC is back in 2023! ActivateYYC is a tactical urbanism micro-grant initiative first launched in May 2016. It saw Calgarians temporarily change spaces to encourage people to “walk, play and be neighbourly”. This year, ActivateYYC seeks to provide micro-grants to individuals and organizations whose projects fit one of the three streams.

Check out activateyyc.calgarycommunities.com  for photos of projects from other communities from previous years. If you have an idea for a project we are happy to partner and support your application. Reach out to communications@riverbendcommunity.ca 

Beautification Ideas for Consideration

Community Beautification has been rated as the most important item by the Riverbend residents during Community Engagement Survey conducted in March 2021.

Projects and ideas that we heard about from the community were classified according to the cost and effort required as illustrated on the graphic. Please see more details for each item below.

All the ideas presented need passionate individuals to spearhead them and make our community more beautiful. If you are interested or know someone who would, please submit an expression of interest via our website on our volunteering page.

Welcome to ‘Riverbend’ sign

Playground in Carburn Park

Painting of Utility Boxes

Outdoor Fitness Equipment