New LRT station aims to cut downtown crime

A new C-Train station has opened in downtown Calgary, as city officials hope the sleek platform will curb the crime associated with its predecessor, known as Crack Corner.

Calgary Transit, as well as city and provincial politicians opened the Eighth Street S.W. station on Friday morning, offering free hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies to passersby.

The new platform is equipped with surveillance cameras, and is more open and better lit than the old station which is located next to a small strip mall with a Mac's convenience store and a McDonald's restaurant.

The old C-Train station at the corner of Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue S.W. earned the dubious moniker, Crack Corner, because of rampant drug dealing and violent crime in the area.

In November, Travis Jordan Brunet was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Preston Matthews to death in a drug deal gone bad behind the platform.

"There's just too many punks hanging around and causing trouble: fights, gangs, people harassing the normal person on the corner," said a Street Talk newspaper vendor who identified himself as Nick D.

"We knew from years of research and complaints from citizens that the old station was a pocket of crime," said Ald. John Mar on Friday. "We've made huge gains to address that situation including the design of this new station which has incorporated all of the state-of-art thinking."

The new station, funded by the province and the city, also has no stairs for "barrier-free access," added Mar.

Demolition of the old platform, located about 100 metres west of the new one, will begin next week, said Brian Whitelaw, Calgary Transit's co-ordinator of public safety and enforcement.

"I believe it will be extraordinarily successful," said Mar. "We know that this is going to be a major, major transit stop for over 180,000 Calgarians coming to the downtown, combining that with the new west LRT for another additional 45,000 users per day."

All 11 LRT stations along Seventh Avenue are being rebuilt to accommodate four-car trains.