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Downtown Edmonton only really comes alive as a place to wander on sunny days when office workers pour out for lunch; otherwise it's really not much of a place to linger unless you're in town for one of the city's many festivals. However, with time to kill the following low-key sites would keep you occupied. The Edmonton Art Gallery (Mon-Wed 10.30am-5pm, Thurs & Fri 10.30am-8pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 11am-5pm; $4, free Thurs 4-8pm; tel 422-6223), part of the Civic Centre on 99th Street and 102nd Avenue on the north edge of Sir Winston Churchill Square, deals mainly in modern Canadian artists, though it also hosts many visiting exhibitions. To get here if you're not already downtown, take the #2 bus or LRT to Churchill station. More satisfyingly offbeat is the Edmonton Police Museum and Archives on the third floor of the central police station at 9620-103A Avenue (Mon-Sat 9am-3pm, closed public holidays; free; tel 421-2274), which traces the long arm of Albertan law enforcement from the formation of what would become the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in 1873 to the city's current flatfoots. Marvel at handcuffs, old jail cells and a stuffed rat that served time as an RCMP mascot. Walk across the Low Level Bridge to the distinctive glass pyramids of the Muttart Conservatory (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat & Sun 11am-6pm; $4.75; tel 496-8755), just south of downtown and the river at 9626-96A Street. Three high-tech greenhouses reproduce tropical, temperate and arid climates, complete with the trees and plants (and occasional exotic birds) which flourish in them; a fourth houses a potpourri of experimental botanical projects and temporary exhibitions. If you don't want to walk, take bus #51 (Capilano) travelling south on 100th Street just south of Jasper Avenue as far as 98th Avenue and 97A Street, then walk one block south. Finally, you might stop by for a free guided tour of the domed sandstone Alberta Legislature Building (March to late May & early Sept to Feb Mon-Fri 9am-4.30pm, Sat & Sun noon-5pm; late May to early Sept Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm) south of Jasper Avenue on 97th Avenue and 107th Street (the nearest LRT station is Grandin). Set in the manner of a medieval cathedral over an ancient shrine, it was built in 1912 on the original site of Fort Edmonton. Topped by a vaulted dome, it's a big city landmark, its interior reflecting the grandiose self-importance of the province's early rulers, who imported wood for their headquarters from as far afield as Belize: the marble came from Quebec, Pennsylvania and Italy, the granite from rival British Columbia. Just to the north, amidst 57 acres of parkland that flanks the building, stands the Alberta Legislative Assembly Interpretive Centre , where you can learn more than you probably want to know about Alberta's political history and the building in which much of it took place (same hours as Legislature; tel 427-2826 for general information on the Legislature Building, tel 427-7362 for tour information and booking).
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