Hi all!
I don't live in Edmonton currently, but I'm moving back there next week, which I'm excited for! I'm especially looking forward to living in Mill Woods again, which is the community I grew up in, but with that in mind, it's reminded me of this mystery I've had for quite some time now.
The lot circled in red has puzzled me for over a decade now. I can't help but shake the feeling there used to be a building here, but I have no idea what, since I can't recall ever seeing something there.
The planted trees and sidewalk in front make me feel this has to have been a building at some point. Same deal with the road curving into the land plot, almost like a docking bay. While it may have been removed since I lived there with the Valley Line construction, I also remember there being things sticking out of the ground, like what looked to be a black hose of some sort.
I don't remember ever seeing anything there, my family first moved there in 2005, and even then I think there was nothing there. Google Street View goes back to 2009, and shows the plot of land empty back then as well.
Appreciate any help in advance, it's always been a funny little annoyance never being able to sort this out. I tried posting this to the community on Reddit with a throwaway, but it was auto-removed because the account was too new.
I don't recall anything being there since at least the 90's; although, it is interesting that it wasn't included in the parking lot. I guess it is zoned for something, but never used. Likely stuck in some sort of bureaucratic deadlock. Perhaps those hoses were being used to upgrade the sewer lines or other utilities for the lrt.
*There was also nothing there before the parking lot went in. That was just a field for as long as I can remember. It had a little asphalt path going through it for access to TC. It was always full of seagulls during the summer.
I swear before the Valley Line the space was like that, even before the library moved out of the mall is the thing. There was the field where the gulls would hang out, but that portion of the parking lot was there well before the rest of the parking area for the transit terminal I recall.
Quick edit: Found evidence using ESRI WayBack, this is what the area looked like in 2017, right before shovels were in the ground in the area iirc:
I kind of think that's where they put all the snow removed from the main parking lots. A grader would push it up to the 'entrance' at the small end of the triangle and a skid-steer would push it into the area using the bottom bit of triangle to move about.