Mckenzie Lake Community Association

Description

The McKenzie Lake community is located in Calgary’s southeast. It is on the east side of the Bow River, North of the Marquis of Lorne Trail and East of Fish Creek Provincial Park. The area is named after J. McKenzie, one of the area’s first settlers. He arrived in McKenzie Lake from Montreal in 1882. With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1884, and the Calgary Macleod Railroad in the early 1890s many more people arrived from the east to settle in the area. Situated on good farmland, with easy road access to the city of Calgary, the McKenzie Lake area quickly became a prosperous farming region. The region was annexed by the City of Calgary in 1970. Residential development began in 1982. Today, McKenzie Lake is conveniently located near major roadways (the Deerfoot and Marquis of Lorne Trail). Several golf courses, Fish Creek Park and the popular McKenzie Lake are also in the area. The community offers excellent view of both the city and the mountains. Both public and separate schools can be found in the area.
McKenzie Lake’s community association offers a variety of programs to residents. Scouting programs, community based youth baseball, soccer and hockey programs, dance classes, martial arts, exercise classes, church group, Kumon math and drop in men’s basketball are just a few of the programs that are offered through the community association. Preschool and afterschool programs are also offered. One of McKenzie Lake’s more innovative programs is a youth justice council that seeks to give young offenders a second chance. The community’s outdoor skating rink is popular during winter months, as are special events such as jellybean dances, New Year’s and Children’s Christmas parties. It should be noted that not all residents in the community boundaries have access to the lake. The lake access boundary is different than the community boundary and ends just south of the Mountain Park school property line. The lake is run by the McKenzie Lake Resident Association a separately incorporated non-profit.