Rossdale, Edmonton

The site of the Rossdale powerplant was a First Nations campsite from the time that people first moved into the Edmonton area after the retreat of the glaciers around 8,000 years ago. In the early 1800s it was used as the site for the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Edmonton and the North West Company's Fort Augustus, although this was only a theory until 2012 when a trench thought to be part of stockade wall was unearthed.{{cite web |url=http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/201208198535/Footprint-of-old-fur-trading-fort-found-in-Rossdale-Flats.html |title=201208198535 | Footprint of old fur trading fort found in Rossdale Flats |website=www.archaeologydaily.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821123145/http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/201208198535/Footprint-of-old-fur-trading-fort-found-in-Rossdale-Flats.html |archive-date=21 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}

Human remains have been discovered at the site multiple times, by EPCOR workers and archaeologists, from at least the 1960s to 2010s.{{Cite news|last=Hees|first=James|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/evidence-of-cemetary-found-under-power-plant-1.291320|title=Evidence of cemetary [sic] found under power plant|date=24 May 2001|work=CBC Radio Canada|access-date=27 April 2020}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/human-remains-rossdale-epcor-reinternment-1.3885546|title=Human remains reburied near Rossdale power plant |work=CBC Canada |date=December 7, 2016}} After a protest about the city's lack of consultation with the indigenous community, the provincial government directed the city to consult with the Papaschase band, other First Nations and the Métis Nation of Alberta. In 2005 and 2016, unearthed human remains were re-interred.{{cite web|url=https://papaschase.ca/index.php/4100-2/|title=Rossdale Burials – Papaschase|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-31}}{{dead link |date=February 2024 |fix-attempted=yes}}

In 2007, a monument commonly known as the Rossdale Memorial was constructed to mark the desecrated burial ground.{{cite web|url=https://www.manascisaac.com/work/traditional-burial-grounds-fort-edmonton-cemetery|title=Traditional Burial Grounds and Fort Edmonton Cemetery |website=Manasc Isaac Architects|access-date=2020-01-30 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20211021200815/https://www.manascisaac.com/work/traditional-burial-grounds-fort-edmonton-cemetery |archive-date=21 October 2021}}

In the City of Edmonton's 2012 municipal census, Rossdale had a population of {{nts|819}} living in {{nts|504}} dwellings,{{cite web | url=http://edmonton.ca/city_government/facts_figures/municipal-census-results.aspx | title=Municipal Census Results – Edmonton 2012 Census | publisher=City of Edmonton | access-date=February 22, 2013}} a -4.7% change from its 2009 population of {{nts|859}}.{{cite web | url=http://edmonton.ca/city_government/facts_figures/2009-municipal-census-results.aspx | title=2009 Municipal Census Results | publisher=City of Edmonton | access-date=February 22, 2013}} With a land area of {{convert|0.91|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},{{cite web | url=https://data.edmonton.ca/City-Administration/Neighbourhoods-data-plus-kml-file-/65fr-66s6 | title=Neighbourhoods (data plus kml file) | publisher=City of Edmonton | access-date=February 22, 2013}} it had a population density of {{nts|900}} people/km² in 2012.

While Rossdale is an older neighbourhood with residential development beginning during the early years of Edmonton's history, there has been a significant redevelopment of the area in more recent years.

According to the 2001 federal census, only one residence in ten (9.9%) in modern Rossdale was built before the end of World War II. Another one in five residences (17.6%) were built between 1946 and 1970 and one residence in ten (11.0%) were built during the 1970s. One in four residences (24.2%) were built during the 1980s and two out of five (37.4%) were built during the 1990s.{{cite web|url=http://censusdocs.edmonton.ca/DD23/FEDERAL%202001/Neighbourhood/ROSSDALE.pdf |title=2001 Federal Census: Period of Construction: Occupied Private Dwellings |publisher=censusdocs.edmonton.ca |access-date=19 February 2024}}

The most common type of residence in Rossdale, according to the 2005 municipal census, is a mixture of rented apartments and apartment style condominiums. These account for half (51%) of all residences in the neighbourhood. Two out of three of these residences are in low-rise buildings with fewer than five stories while one in three are in high-rise buildings with five or more stories. Single-family dwellings account for one out of every three (35%) of all residences in the neighbourhood. Row houses account for one in ten residences (10%). Four percent of all residences are duplexes.Duplexes include triplexes and fourplexes. Three out of every five (62%) are owner-occupied while two out of five (38%) are rented.{{cite web |url=http://censusdocs.edmonton.ca/C05002/MUNICIPAL%202005/Neighbourhood/ROSSDALE.pdf |title=2005 Municipal Census: Dwelling Unit by Structure Type and Ownership |website=censusdocs.edmonton.ca |access-date=19 February 2024}}

RE/MAX Field, Edmonton's main baseball stadium, is located in this neighbourhood. The stadium hosts the Edmonton Riverhawks of the West Coast League as of the 2021 season. It was home to the Edmonton Prospects baseball team of the Western Canadian Baseball League from 2012-2020. The Edmonton Trappers of the AAA Pacific Coast League also called RE/MAX Field, then known as Telus Field, home up to the end of the 2004 season, when the franchise was moved to another city.

File:Rossdale Power Plant Edmonton Alberta Canada 01A.jpg

{{main|Rossdale Power Plant}}

Located next to RE/MAX Field is the Rossdale Power Plant, used by EPCOR to generate electricity. Originally built by the Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company, the owner Alex Taylor, sold the company to the city of Edmonton in 1902. The plant was shut down by EPCOR in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.rewedmonton.ca/|title=Rewed Mont on – The Edmonton Real Estate Weekly}} The plant sits on, and adjacent to, a native burial ground,{{cite web|title=The Great Edmonton River Valley Debate, Pt. 2: Rossdale and Epcor redevelopment|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/the-great-edmonton-river-valley-debate-pt-2-rossdale-and-epcore-redevelopment|publisher=Edmonton Journal|access-date=19 February 2024 |date=27 May 2014 |first= David |last=Staples}} and was named a provincial historic resource in 2001.{{cite web|title=Rossdale Power Plant|url=http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=5896|website=Canada's Historic Places|access-date=19 February 2024}}

EPCOR also operates the Rossdale water treatment plant located next to the power plant. The water treatment plant was constructed in 1903 and remains in operation.{{cite web|url=https://www.epcor.com/products-services/infrastructure/construction-projects/rossdale-site/Pages/default.aspx|title=Rossdale Site: Current Projects |website=Epcor |access-date=19 February 2024}}

The population in Rossdale is highly mobile. According to the 2005 municipal census, one in five (21.5%) of all residents had moved within the previous twelve months. Another one in five (22.4%) had moved within the previous one to three years. Only two out of every five (42%) residents had lived at the same address for five years or longer.{{cite web |url=http://censusdocs.edmonton.ca/C05022B/MUNICIPAL%202005/Neighbourhood/ROSSDALE.pdf |title=2005 Municipal Census: Length of Residence |access-date=19 February 2024 |website=censusdocs.edmonton.ca}}

• Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues
• Edmonton's historic river valley neighbourhoods:
• Cloverdale
• Riverdale

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite thesis |type=M.A. |last1=McCrae |first1=Teague A. |title=Sacred Landscape: Division and Convergence Between Past and Progress |date=2013 |publisher=Dalhousie University |location=Halifax |hdl=10222/35336 |hdl-access=free}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://censusdocs.edmonton.ca/DD34/MultiSource/Neighbourhood/ROSSDALE.pdf Rossdale Neighbourhood Profile]
• [http://www.epcor.com/outreach/rossdale/Pages/rossdale-site.aspx Epcor Plans for the Rossdale site.]
• [http://rossdale.ca Rossdale Community League]

{{Edmonton neighbourhoods}}

Category:Neighbourhoods in Edmonton

Category:Archaeological sites in Alberta