Town planners are encouraging citizens to show up in big numbers when the next set of public work shops for the revitalization of downtown are held July 19 and 20.
The hearings are being held as part of the town’s ambitious multi-million dollar plan to revitalize the downtown core along 50th Street, from McDonalds to Fas Gas.
The first public workshop was held in May. There will be two on July 19, with the first being held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the student gathering area in the Innisfail Junior Senior High
School. Later that day and evening a second workshop is scheduled at the school from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
On July 20, the workshops will continue at the same venue with the first from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and the second from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Craig Teal, director of Parkland Community Planning Services, said the goal is to collect suggestions for future improvements to the downtown area. As well, he added, the public is encouraged to discuss and create ideas which will be used to prepare options and plans.
“This will be good content to draft these plans,” said Teal, adding planners and relevant town officials will later go before the public for further review of plan strategies that arise out of the public work shops.
Teal said his office is looking for ideas that will increase the vitality and enhancement of the downtown area to go along with the million dollar infrastructure improvements the town will begin to make in 2012.
“It’s not just about parking and traffic,” said Teal. “It is also about buildings and how the area is used, and how it can attract, and how to make it an interesting place.”
He noted that many interesting ideas came out of the first public work shop in May, including the possibility of creating a one-way traffic circulation system between 49 Avenue and 53 Avenue.
Teale said this idea was part of a 1982 assessment of transportation issues impacting the downtown. He said the upcoming workshops are opportunities to revisit this concept as part of the potential future development concepts for the downtown area.
“We have to look at it as a historical take off point,” said Teale. “Does it remain the concept we want to pursue now, 30 years later?”
Other ideas that came out of the first public workshop included improvements to the front faces of buildings, better signage for visitors, additional parking, more attractive appearances for streets and improvements to intersections and roadways.
Background information on the downtown area and a listing of ideas and comments from the first open house are contained in the Background and Analysis Report available on the Town’s website at www.townofinnisfail.com
For more information on the upcoming workshops and to confirm attendance, citizens can contact Alanna Lindl at 403-227-3376 or email at [email protected].
