Ralph Klein Legacy Park and Shepard Environmental Education Centre

Graham was the Construction Manager for a portion of the 75-acre Ralph Klein Legacy Park, a regional park in southeast Calgary. The centerpiece of the park is its environmental education centre, which was constructed in the middle of a man-made lake on 22-foot-high columns that provide a home for local wildlife while offering educational opportunities to the community. Designed with school field trips and Calgary citizens in mind, the facility delivers state-of-the-art environmental education programs with an emphasis on teaching and learning for a sustainable future.

In addition to man-made wetlands, the park also includes learning gardens, wetland study stations, wetland viewing areas, an outdoor amphitheater, project area, interpretive trails, day use and group picnic shelters, and a waterfall. Graham was also responsible for hard landscaping, roads, parking areas, and service buildings.

The centre is environmentally sustainable, and, while it was required to meet a minimum of LEED Silver and targeted Gold, it achieved LEED Platinum. It features solar panels and reuses cooling water from the wetlands for ventilation.