Three years, three phases and $8.5 million later the Downtown Revitalization Project is now complete.
The Town of Innisfail held an afternoon barbecue on Oct. 10 to celebrate the completion of the ambitious construction project, which started in May of 2012 and will be finally completed during the third week of October with the final landscaping of boulevards on the eastern end of Main Street along 44th Avenue.
A good crowd attended the barbecue held adjacent to the Royal Canadian Legion parking lot to celebrate alongside Innisfail town officials and councillors the end of a long project.
“It's good to see Main Street fully open after three years,” said Rick Binnendyk, chief administrative officer of the Town of Penhold. “Innisfail is to be congratulated for their good management on a big dig.”
Innisfail councillors Mark Kemball and Doug Bos manned the grills alongside town employees and chatted with members of the public on the beautiful afternoon.
“The Downtown Revitalization Project began at the end of Main Street, into the railway intersection close to 51st Avenue and Fas Gas and ended at the left-hand side of 50th Street and 44th Avenue,” said Craig Teal, Innisfail's director of planning and operational services. “It was a long project and with our short construction seasons, we had to plan it in sections which worked well.”
He noted that the first section was the longest and most complex section to complete with an 18- to 20-week schedule.
“The Fas Gas corner was difficult with older utilities in the intersection and as we moved east towards the highway we encountered more business utility connections, which took time to do properly,” added Teal. “The improvements are also less obvious as much of the work was done underground, unlike the last phase which has more greenery lining the street, which when replaced, showed progress.”
Despite a week of unseasonable summer weather, the project experienced minimal delays in the completion of the third and final phase of the $2.3- million section. Town officials maintain the street was resurfaced efficiently, and the detours through parking lots and back alleys were effective in minimizing traffic flow problems.
“The entire project came in on budget at close to $8.5 million and was funded through Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding (less than 50 per cent), with the remainder of the cost coming from town reserves,” said Teal.
Calgary-based AIC Construction Ltd. was awarded the construction contract for all three phases of the project.
