Mattamy Homes Canada president Brad Carr, centre, attends the launch of the final phase of the Rotary/Mattamy Greenway on Wednesday. The company donated $5-million to Parks Foundation Calgary to help complete a 138-kilometre pathway system around the city.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
Peter Gilgan's philanthropic reach now extends from downtown Toronto to suburban Calgary.
The founder of Toronto-based Mattamy Homes, the largest home-building business in Canada with approximately 65,000 residences built here and in the United States, has presented a $5-million gift to Parks Foundation Calgary that will essentially complete a 138-kilometre ring of paved pathways around the city.
The Rotary/Mattamy Greenway, with its paths, 20 passive and active parks, and 10 wetland areas, will connect 55 communities and 400,000 residents within Calgary. It will also tie into the 1,000 kilometres of existing pathways around and through the city.
Creation of the Greenway began in 2010 with completion scheduled for 2017. Mattamy shares naming rights for the all-season pathway with 13 Calgary and area Rotary Clubs.
"I have a personal policy of participating in broader community development in the cities in which we are developing and building," the 64-year-old Mr. Gilgan said from his Toronto office.
Mattamy arrived in the Calgary area in 2009 with the development of Windsong in the City of Airdrie, just a 20-minute drive from Calgary, and was followed by Lakepointe in Chestermere, minutes east of Calgary. Then it was back to Airdrie for Southwinds.
The Cityscape neighbourhood was the first for Mattamy within the Calgary city limits, but two others are planned. Carrington will bubble to the surface in the north end of the city in 2016, and a year later ground will be broken in the deep south of the city for a project with the working name of Yorkville.
Mattamy is also active in Edmonton, where communities are planned for the city's southwest, and for Sherwood Park.
Mr. Gilgan was unable to be in Calgary to attend the celebration of the pathway system's arrival at Mattamy's Cityscape development in the northeast quadrant of the city that will, at buildout, contain 4,000 homes. Brad Carr, Canadian president of Mattamy, represented the company.
The Cityscape phase will contain three kilometres of pathway, as well as a large interpretative wetland and multiuse park.
An avid cyclist, Mr. Gilgan said being involved with the Greenway project was a natural fit for him, and is his way of saying thank you.
"Calgary has given Mattamy the privilege of working here, and we want to say thank you very much. We want to share that spirit of co-operation that has developed with city and provincial governments, other members of the housing industry, and the oil and gas sector," he added.
"The nearly completed Rotary/Mattamy Greenway project is an amazing amenity because it allows Calgarians to enjoy the natural beauty of our city," Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. "What is being done here is important to the city – and we're thrilled Mattamy is here in Calgary and is involved."
Myrna Dubé, chief executive officer of Parks Foundation Calgary, said the Greenway would not have been possible without the generous assistance of Mattamy Homes and Rotary, and all the other sponsors involved in this "world-class" project.
"There's nothing like it in the world; it's an unprecedented project. We don't know of another city in the world that has parks and pathway network that will actually surround the city," she said. "It's free and it's outside the back door for 400,000 residents – and it's making outdoor recreation more accessible for Calgarians."
Mr. Gilgan agrees.
"The uniqueness of this project is … not that easily replicated," he said. "And it resonates [with] our view of development in which we emphasize providing the ability to make healthy lifestyle decisions. Besides, it makes for a great way to meet neighbours and connect with the larger community."
Ms. Dubé said the arrival at Cityscape puts the overall project at 90-per-cent complete, with approximately 14 kilometres of pathways left to be built in five different sections along the system.
Mr. Carr said that at Mattamy, "there is a focus on community involvement, on health and wellness and in doing our part in building vibrant communities that enrich people's lives."
Past philanthropic endeavours by Mr. Gilgan include several in the Toronto area: $15-million to Ryerson University for the Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens; $30-million to St. Michael's Hospital for a patient-care tower; and $40-million to the Hospital for Sick Children's Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning.