INNISFAIL - Bankers Corner will once again be adorned with a town clock.
After nearly 10 months since the idea was publicly unveiled by Debra Stoski, president and founder of the soon to be dissolved Innisfail Downtown Business Association (IDBA), the Downtown Clock Project with a total cost of $35,000 was officially approved by town council at its regular meeting on Aug. 12. The town's contribution is $17,000 while the remaining $18,000 is coming from private sources, including $12,000 saved by the IDBA, and $6,000 from the Rotary Club of Innisfail.
The last community downtown clock was on the upper front facade of the historic Berscht building on the southwest corner of 50th Street and 50th Avenue. The clock along with the entire Berscht building was destroyed in a 2009 fire.
With council's approval, town staff will now go ahead and order the towering four-sided clock, which will take between two and three months to arrive from the United States. In the meantime the town has to prepare the site beside the ATB building on Bankers Corner at 4962 - 50th St. If all goes well the new clock will be ready sometime in November.
Stoski said after council's approval she felt "excellent," adding it also signalled the official end of business for the IDBA, which was born nearly a decade ago to address concerns by Main Street businesses during the first phase of construction of the $9-million Downtown Revitalization Project. She said the IDBA will officially cease to exist when all monetary transactions for the new clock are made, and bank accounts closed.
"The one thing I would like to stress is that I know what people were saying, that the money should go to the skatepark," said Stoski. We wanted to pick something for the community as a whole and that is really difficult - where a clock can do every generation. It can also be for people visiting our town.
"It's not just a skateboard park. It's not just the seniors' centre. It is something for everybody," added Stoski. "That was what our goal was when we originally started the downtown association, that any money we put together would be for the community as a whole."
While conceding there has been some public push back on the initiative, Stoski said she's also pleased with the public support she has received.
"This is my hometown. This is where I grew up and the way people treat me is exactly what I expect. They are awesome. As long as you are not doing something that is totally off the wall they will support you," she said.
Mayor Jim Romane could not attend the Aug. 12 council meeting but was full of praise for Stoski and IDBA volunteers for the past downtown improvement work they have done over the years. He added the $12,000 they raised that is now going towards the downtown clock is a "nice reward for them and something they can be proud of.
"I think people once they see it (clock) they will be happy with it," said Romane. "There will be the naysayers who don't want to spend a nickel on anything but it's going to be a nice feature. I am very happy about it."
In the meantime, town staff is now moving forward to choose one of two comparable quotes for the new clock it received from a pair of American companies.
Steven Kennedy, the town's new director of operational services who presented a report to council, said staff needs to know which company can get its clock delivered the quickest. He noted the 10- to 12-week ordering period.
"We will probably start working (ordering) on it in the next week or two; start coordinating it," he said, adding the town will have at least two months to prepare the downtown site. "We have to put a concrete piling in that goes into the ground, have it ready and run a conduit to it for the power. That will all happen in the next couple of months, have it prepped and ready and we can have the clock put on.
"The delay obviously is getting the actual clock here," he said.
